Week in Iowa, Jan. 2, 2023: Recap of news from across the state

Brenna Bird takes AG's office: Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird began her term by signing onto anti-Biden lawsuits and examining the office’s victim services division during her first day Tuesday.

Bird ousted Democrat Tom Miller in November’s election, campaigning on a message of challenging President Joe Biden’s administration in court and backing law enforcement. She signed on to lawsuits challenging Biden’s student debt forgiveness plan, vaccine mandates and a provision in the American Rescue Plan that bars states from using federal aid to cut taxes.

Legislators eye property taxes: With the Iowa legislative session beginning Monday, a top priority for Iowa lawmakers will be reforming and lowering property taxes. Republican leaders have not made specific proposals, but they hope they can pass legislation that lowers Iowans’ property tax burdens.

Property taxes are the primary funding mechanism for local governments’ budgets and fund things like police, libraries and parks. Democrats, who are in the minority, said they would be open to looking at property taxes, but they want to ensure county and local services remain well-funded.

School choice proposal to surface: A system of directing public school tax dollars to tuition assistance for private schools will be a top issue in the upcoming legislative session, as Republicans push to enact a policy that stalled in the House last year.

While neither chamber leaders nor Gov. Kim Reynolds have unveiled a specific plan, House Speaker Pat Grassley said he wants to take a holistic approach to funding for both public and private schools in the upcoming session. Democrats, and many education leaders, oppose the idea, saying it takes money out of already struggling public schools and would gut rural schools.

Lawmakers to wait on abortion measures: Iowa Republicans plan to wait on the outcome of a court case before deciding on new abortion legislation, as the state Supreme Court weighs a push from Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds to reinstate the so-called “fetal heartbeat” bill, which would ban abortions except in the earliest weeks of pregnancy.

Legislators said they won’t pass any bills before the Supreme Court decides on that case, which will set the precedent for the extent to which lawmakers can restrict abortion in Iowa.

They said …

“I’m going to serve all Iowans, whether folks voted for me or not. I’m here to work for everybody and serve everybody.” — Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird at her swearing-in ceremony

“We need to find that balance between ensuring the property taxes remain affordable but also that we have public safety, that we have ambulances, we have roads, that our public schools have funding.” — Iowa House Speaker Jennifer Konfrst on property tax proposals.

Odds and ends

Iowans in Congress back Kevin McCarthy: Iowa’s incoming U.S. House delegation, consisting of four Republicans, all backed Republican Rep. Kevin McCarthy, of California, during a disjointed nomination process for speaker of the U.S. House. McCarthy, the previous minority leader, did not have enough votes on the first 10 votes for speaker as of Thursday evening, as a faction of conservative House Republicans refuse to vote for him.

Legislators to rethink higher ed: Iowa House Republicans are again floating a proposal that would see higher education funding tied to the number of students in in-demand fields at Iowa’s public universities. House Republicans passed a proposal last year that would give scholarships and incentives for students to stay and work in high-demand fields.

Water cooler

COVID cases tick up: Iowa reported 2,246 new COVID-19 cases in the week ending Wednesday, a 5 percent increase from the previous week. The number of people hospitalized with the virus was 248, up from 242 the previous week.

Roby Smith takes over as treasurer: Republican Iowa Treasurer Roby Smith, who assumed office this past week, said he wants to do a “deep dive” into the programs administered by the office and look for areas of improvement. Smith defeated 40-year incumbent Democrat Michael Fitzgerald in the November election. He said he wants to set up a fund that will allow Iowans to save money tax-free for a down payment on a home.