The close of the twelfth week brought the close of the second legislative funnel.  This legislative milestone narrows the policy discussion for the remainder of session.  Going forward, only bills that have advanced through one chamber and through committee in the opposite chamber can be considered in addition to appropriations bills and ways and means bills.  Effectively, committee work on policy has come to completion for the legislative session.  Senate committees will continue to meet to consider Governor appointments, though that work is slated to be completed by the end of week 14 (April 15). 

Next week will bring a flurry of floor action, as the Senate will consider House bills and the House will consider Senate bills.  The 110th calendar day of session falls on April 30.  The legislature is not required to adjourn sine die by that date, but the per diem payments for legislators end on the 110th calendar day. 

Going forward, the emphasis will be on appropriations (and taxes).  We expect consideration of the tax proposals (Tax Bill SF576–accelerating the income tax triggers/phasing out the inheritance tax–and Property Tax Reform SF576) to be a significant portion of the shut-down conversation and final budget.  We have not yet seen budget bills released by either chamber, but the Senate has released an overall target of $7.99 billion ($110 million less than the Governor’s proposed budget).  In a typical year, work on the budget may take two to three weeks to complete, so the legislature is still on pace to finish session on time.  Last year, due to the delays imposed by the pandemic, the legislature passed one large omnibus budget bill during an eleven-day session in June rather than separate budget bills.

Two Governor priorities advanced this week.  Broadband Grants (HF848) passed the House 94-0 on Monday.  The bill will help the state achieve the goal of connecting all of Iowa to high-speed broadband although it merely provides the policy related to broadband service and the grant program, it does not allocate the funding for broadband. The House Ways and Means Committee approved the Governor’s Renewable Fuel bill (HSB185) on Thursday after amending the bill with a strike and replace amendment. The original bill restricted the sale of gasoline with an ethanol blend; the amended bill loosens those restrictions but includes a phase-out of non-ethanol fuels. The House and Senate now have two different versions of the Renewable Fuel proposal.

Bills that survived the second funnel:

Just this week, the following four bills advanced out of the Senate Education Committee, making them alive and eligible for further consideration this session.  These education bills continue to be a hot topic this session:

• Racism Training (HF802) — Establishes requirements for training on racism and sexism in schools and colleges and state and local government, including prohibiting teaching that Iowa is fundamentally racist or sexist.
• College Free Speech (HF744) — Requires the Regents and community colleges to develop policies for protecting 1st Amendment rights and free speech.
• Qualified Supplemental Appropriation (HF439) — Allocates state money (about $30 million) to K-12 schools to offset costs of COVID-19 in-person learning.  This funding is only available to those schools that complied with Governor Reynolds’ mandate that schools return to in-person learning. The number of in-person instruction days between August 10 and January 29 will be used to calculate supplemental appropriation.
• Charter Schools (HF813) — Establishes new provisions on charter schools, allowing the establishment of a charter school by founding groups under a school board, or under the State Board of Education.

Other bills that remain eligible for consideration:

• PPP Loans (SF364) — Exempt business PPP loans/federal jobless benefits from state taxation.
• Tax Bill (SF576) — Accelerates the income tax triggers and phases out inheritance tax.
• Property Tax Reform (SF587) — Revamps mental health funding and cuts property taxes.
• Tech Censorship (SF580/HF633) — Removes state incentives to big tech due to social media censorship.
• “Back the Blue” (SF534) — Enhanced police protections and penalties for certain crimes.
• Medical Malpractice/Trucking Accidents (SF537/HF772) — caps medical malpractice and trucking mishap awards at $1 million.
• Bottle Bill (SF470) — Revamps Iowa’s bottle redemption law and allows grocery stores to opt out.
• Number of Children at Daycare Centers (HF260)/Childcare Workforce Matching Grants (HF301/HF302) — Childcare bills that would expand access to and affordability of child care (GOP priority this session).

A number of the Governor’s proposals survived the legislative funnel:

• Affordable Housing (SSB1142/HF178) — Governor’s proposal to expand affordable housing.
• Broadband (SF390/HF848) — Governor’s plan to expand broadband grant program.
• Ethanol Expansion (SF481/HSB185) — Governor’s plan to expand ethanol.

Bills that died in the funnel:

• School Vouchers (SF159) — provides state-funded “student first” scholarships to private-school families.
• Compensation of Student Athletes (SF245) — authorizes student-athletes to profit from the use of their name, image, and likeness.
• Vaccine Requirement (SF555) — bars employers from requiring Covid-19 vaccinations.
• University Tenure (HF490/SF41) — ends faculty tenure at regent universities.
• Defunding the Police (SF479) — reduces state funds for cities/counties that “defund” the police.
• Discharge of a Sentence (HF818)/Felon Voting Rights amendment (HJR11) — defines when a sentence is discharged and voting rights can be restored/restores rights for eligible felons.
• Executive Order Override (HF815) — allows override of a presidential executive order.
• Mental Health Telehealth (HF294) — requires mental health insurance parity for telehealth services.
• Childcare Reimbursement Rates (HF292)/Dependent Care Tax Credit (HF230) —  expands access to and affordability of child care (GOP priority this session).

Cedar Rapids Gazette journalist Rod Boshart published a summary of bills that are dead and alive. Read his full list on the Gazette’s site.

Executive Branch

Governor Reynolds signed six bills on Friday, April 2, including HF756 Weapons Matters.  To date, the Governor has signed three dozen bills passed by the 89th General Assembly into law.  The Governor made the following statement upon the signing of HF756:

“Today I signed legislation that protects the 2nd Amendment rights of Iowa’s law-abiding citizens while still preventing the sale of firearms to criminals and other dangerous individuals. This law also takes greater steps to inform law enforcement about an individual’s mental illness helping ensure firearms don’t end up in the wrong hands. We will never be able to outlaw or prevent every single bad actor from getting a gun, but what we can do is ensure law-abiding citizens have full access to their constitutional rights while keeping Iowans safe.”

Federal

Rita Hart ended her contest to Iowa’s Second Congressional District election.  Rita Hart, a former State Senator, lost to U.S. Representative Miller-Meeks by six votes; Hart contended that 22 additional ballots should have been counted.  Miller-Meeks has been seated and representing the Second Congressional District of Iowa since January.