After two weeks of midweek snowstorms, legislative activity returned to normal with the first “full” week at the Capitol, which included a large volume of subcommittee hearings, committee meetings, and public events filling the Capitol rotunda. Week three came and went without the Governor’s high-priority Boards and Commissions reform bill, income tax cuts, or teacher raises being introduced. 

Reforming Iowa’s Area Education Agencies (AEAs) continues to dominate the conversation with no resolution after the Governor and legislative leaders announced their progress and amendment last week. 

The Governor announced the release of three additional major priorities on Wednesday: Three Bills to Protect Iowa Land, Cut Red Tape, and Stop Woke Corporatism.  

The Legislative Services Agency (LSA) continues to churn out bill requests from the Governor, Departments, Leadership, Committee Chairs, and individual legislators—bill requests have been streaming in since late last year.

Legislative Activity

The pace of work in the legislature picked up steam this week, with 90 subcommittees scheduled in the Senate and 104 in the House. Over 180 bills were introduced this week, up from 160 last week.

Social Media and Censorship

A number of bills aimed at deep fakes and obscene content had subcommittee hearings this week. House subcommittees approved these bills:

Last year, a bill limiting social media use for minors made it to the Ways and Means calendar but did not advance further.

Area Education Agencies (HSB542/SSB3073)

Causing quite the conversation at the Capitol is the Governor’s priority of reforming Iowa’s AEAs. The Governor announced this priority in her Condition of the State; a bill was introduced in the House in week one and assigned a subcommittee (Representatives Wheeler, Collins, and Steckman). A companion bill was introduced in the Senate during week 2 and assigned to a subcommittee (Senators Evans, Donahue, and Rozenboom).

The Governor and legislative leaders issued a release last week that outlined a course shift based on feedback from parents, legislators, school administrators, and teachers—this amendment would propose automatically shifting control of state and federal special education funding from the AEAs to Iowa’s public-school districts; it would allow schools to retain their share of AEA funding for general education services.

The Governor issued this Open Letter to Iowans on Friday to reaffirm her commitment to special education services in the state of Iowa.

There was no additional action taken this week, though it is likely much of the week was consumed with conversations and negotiations about AEAs behind the scenes. 

Foreign Land Ownership

Governor Reynolds introduced SSB3113 on Thursday; the bill is intended to protect Iowa farms from ownership by foreign entities. She said Iowa “has been a leader with one of the toughest foreign land ownership laws in the country” but believes there is room for more protections. The new legislation would add registration and reporting requirements with the Secretary of State and would give the Attorney General more enforcement powers. Last year’s incidents with Chinese spy balloons flying near military bases increased attention on foreign land ownership and the potential national security and economic implications of such purchases.

Last year, at least 15 states enacted regulations on foreign ownership of U.S. property. About 20 states have introduced bills that would place restrictions on foreign businesses or governments owning agricultural land in the U.S.

Executive Branch Update

Electric Vehicles

Governor Reynolds has joined with 16 Republican governors in asking President Biden to delay a mandate on electric vehicles. They urged the President to change course on a mandate “that two out of every three vehicles be battery electric by 2032.”

The governors wrote that they “are not opposed to the electric vehicle marketplace” but they have concerns about the impact that the electric vehicle mandate will have on the market and that they do not believe that the 2032 goal of the mandate is realistic.

Right to Self-Defense

Governor Reynolds and 24 Republican Governors issued a joint statement supporting the State of Texas’ Constitutional Right to Self-Defense:

President Biden and his Administration have left Americans and our country completely vulnerable to unprecedented illegal immigration pouring across the Southern border. Instead of upholding the rule of law and securing the border, the Biden Administration has attacked and sued Texas for stepping up to protect American citizens from historic levels of illegal immigrants, deadly drugs like fentanyl, and terrorists entering our country.

We stand in solidarity with our fellow Governor, Greg Abbott, and the State of Texas in utilizing every tool and strategy, including razor wire fences, to secure the border. We do it in part because the Biden Administration is refusing to enforce immigration laws already on the books and is illegally allowing mass parole across America of migrants who entered our country illegally. 

The authors of the U.S. Constitution made clear that in times like this, states have a right of self-defense, under Article 4, Section 4 and Article 1, Section 10, Clause 3 of the U.S. Constitution. Because the Biden Administration has abdicated its constitutional compact duties to the states, Texas has every legal justification to protect the sovereignty of our states and our nation.

Other signatories include: Governor Kay Ivey (AL), Governor Mike Dunleavy (AK), Governor Sarah Sanders (AR), Governor Ron DeSantis (FL), Governor Brian Kemp (GA), Governor Brad Little (ID), Governor Eric Holcomb (IN), Governor Jeff Landry (LA), Governor Tate Reeves (MS), Governor Mike Parson (MO), Governor Greg Gianforte (MT), Governor Jim Pillen (NE), Governor Joe Lombardo (NV), Governor Chris Sununu (NH), Governor Doug Burgum (ND), Governor Mike DeWine (OH), Governor Kevin Stitt (OK), Governor Henry McMaster (SC), Governor Kristi Noem (SD), Governor Bill Lee (TN), Governor Spencer Cox (UT), Governor Glenn Youngkin (VA), Governor Jim Justice (WV), and Governor Mark Gordon (WY).

State Auditor

The State Auditor Sand released a report on property taxes and held a news conference discussing the findings. The report reviews the property taxes over the last 10 years in Iowa and shows that the property tax levied in Iowa is regressive. The report says that “every $1,000 increase in an area’s median household income is associated with a 10.6 cent decline in overall property tax levy.”

Sand said, “Fairness in taxation is a big issue and knowing now, as we have now proven, that lower-income and middle-income, middle-class Iowans pay a higher rate on their taxes per thousand dollars of valuation than wealthy Iowans, I think that’s an important consideration for policymakers.”

According to the report, tax levy rates are highest in central and southern Iowa, and in Iowa cities, and lowest in northwest Iowa and northwest Iowa.

Retirement Tracker

No additional retirements have been announced since last week. In an election year, retirement announcements trickle in as legislators decide whether to seek re-election or not. However, after much discussion about House Majority Leader Matt Windschitl’s potential retirement, he confirmed in his weekly newsletter that he plans to stand for re-election in 2024.  The filing period for the June Primary Election ends on March 15, 2024.

What’s next?

As large numbers of bills continue to advance out of subcommittees, committees will have their work cut out for them in the coming weeks.  Leadership and Governor priorities will move forward, and bills will continue to be introduced as LSA catches up with the mountain of bill requests.

The next major milestone of the 2024 legislative session comes in week six, Friday, February 16, is the first legislative funnel. The full 2024 Session Timetable can be found here.