116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Home / News / Government & Politics
Here's what is alive and dead at the Iowa Legislature

Mar. 4, 2021 9:35 pm, Updated: Mar. 5, 2021 10:10 am
Here's how some issues have fared so far this session in the Iowa Legislature:
Alive after first funnel
• Boost next fiscal year's state K-12 education funding by $36.5 million (SF269)
Advertisement
• Require K-12 schools offer in-person classroom instruction option (SF160)
• Provide state-funded 'students first' scholarships to private-school families (SF159)
• Enact permit-less 'constitutional carry' gun laws (HSB254/SF535)
• Allow student-athletes to profit from use of their name/image/likeness (SF245)
• Prohibit/remove most automated traffic enforcement cameras (SF516)
• Ban hand-held electronic devices while driving (SF330/HF392)
• Halt high-tech state incentives over social-media censorship (SF402/HF633)
• Amend Iowa Constitution to say there is no right to abortion (SJR2)
• Cut off state funds for cities and counties that 'defund' police (SF479)
• Bar employers from requiring COVID-19 vaccinations of employees (SF193)
• Governor's ethanol expansion proposal (SF481/HSB185
• Expand broadband grant program (SF390)
• Governor's plan to expand affordable housing options (SSB1142/HF178)
• Amend Iowa Constitution with gun rights statement (SJR7)
• Revamp early-voting/absentee-balloting election laws (SF413)
• Exempt business PPP loans/federal jobless benefits from state taxation (SF364)
• Bar employers from noncompete agreements with low-wage employees (SF496)
• Establish daylight saving time as the eventual official time in Iowa (SF335)
• End new faculty tenure at regent universities (HF490/SF41)
• Create crime for defrauding employment drug/alcohol test with synthetic urine (SF329/HSB22)
• Phase out state tax gambling casinos pay on marketing promotions (SF169)
• Allow parental request for child to repeat grade over COVID-19 progress concerns (SF90)
• Legalize esports wagering (HSB200)
• Create sexual assault forensic examiner program (HF603/SSB1154)
• Eliminate statute of limitation on criminal actions involving sexual abuse of minors (SSB1017)
• Create offense for slower drivers who 'camp' in divided highway left lane (HF494)
• Allocate state money to K-12 schools to offset cost of COVID-19 in-person learning (HF439)
• Place four-year limit on term of Iowa Veterans Home commandant (SSB1097)
• Give utilities authority to trim trees interfering with power lines (HSB149)
• Toughen criminal penalties for drivers causing death/injury due to excessive speed (HSB5)
• Require health professionals report vaccinations/immunizations to state registry (HF547)
• Bar loaded firearm when operating electric scooter (HF738)
• End requiring adult women have spousal approval to have hysterectomy (HF684)
• Create assault crime for pointing laser to temporarily blind another person (HF198)
• Grant liability immunity for commercial property that owners offer for wintertime recreational use (HF273)
• Restore voting rights for felons who discharged sentence (HSB231)
• Allow licensed cosmetologists/barbers to work at wedding venues (HSB215)
A• mend Iowa Constitution guaranteeing right to hunt/fish/enjoy resources (HJR8)
• Cap medical malpractice/trucking mishap awards at $1 million (SF537/SF1225)
• Create crime for assisted reproduction fraud (SF529)
• Reduce penalty for first offense marijuana possession conviction (SF533)
• Appropriate $250,000 for Iowa Reading Research Center (HF734)
• Allow more frequent veterans card game tournaments (SF510)
• Create task force focused on human trafficking (SF521)
• Enact 'back the blue' police protections/enhanced crime penalties (SF534)
• Change law on confidential law enforcement reports (SF395)
• Create public safety equipment fund (HF708/SF489)
• Establish new remote worker grant fund/program (SF491)
• Require in-person regent university graduation ceremonies (HSB246)
• Amend constitution to clarify lieutenant governor line of succession (SSB1211)
• Create crime for failing to assist someone in imminent danger of death (SF243)
• Allow smoking at Iowa Veterans Home under certain circumstances (SF257)
• Bar interference with transportation of agricultural animals (HF655/SF421)
• Allow school surtax/property tax levy for resource office expenses (SF258)
• Appropriate $21 million to finance Workday contract (SF284)
• Create civil remedy when sexually explicit images disclosed without consent (SF324/HSB31)
• Crack down on businesses selling glass/metal pipes used to smoke meth (SF363)
• Allow grocery stores to opt out of bottle-deposit law (SF470)
• Instruct Iowa DOT to install adult changing stations in highway rest stops (HF492)
• Make multiple traffic changes/shield police liability in vehicle pursuits (SF72)
• Create Department of Human Services asset/identity verification system for public assistance (SF389)
• Expand child care opportunities for Iowa families (HF1/3/6/multiple bills)
• Create 'safe and sound' public safety program in schools (HF585)
• Bar employers from knowingly hiring 'unauthorized aliens' (SF339)
• Establish liability immunity for agricultural tourism (SF356)
• Offer phased-in tax rebates for people who move/work/live in Iowa (SF490)
• Pare back state board appointees/commissioners subject to Senate confirmation (SF423)
• Repeal Iowa's inheritance tax law effective July 1 (SSB1026)
• Designate making/selling firearms/ammunition a lawful activity not unreasonably dangerous (HSB116)
• Create state public safety cold case investigation unit (HF63/SF151)
• Halt privileges to hunt/fish/camp for up to a year for Iowans convicted of littering (SF465)
• Require amusement ride attendants be at least 16 (SF114/HF558)
• Require regent universities to hire a public policy events director (HF2185)
• Implement process for collecting/tracking of sexual abuse evidence collection kits (HF426/SF751)
• Create transparency in prescription drug pricing (HF526)
• Phase out 2013 multi-residential property tax classification (HSB93)
• Grant liability immunity for veterinarians aiding authorities in a civil/criminal case (HF746)
• Require insurance companies to cover telehealth mental health services (HF89)
• Make over-the-counter birth control available at pharmacies for adult women (HSB121)
• Add new method for creating charter schools (HSB242)
• Clarify deceptive/unfair rental car practices (HF730)
• Allow landlords to pay delinquent water bills with security deposit (HF749)
Dead after first funnel
• Reinstate limited death penalty for kidnapping/raping/murdering a minor (SSB1004)
• Gradually increase state hourly minimum wage to $15 by July 2025 (HF122)
• Eliminate Iowa income tax/raise state sales tax to 11 percent (SF149)
• Repeal 2017 changes/restore previous public employees' collective bargaining law (HF179/SF141)
• Establish a COVID-19 oversight panel to track government expenditures (HF689)
• Provide 'religious freedom' protections for businesses (SF436)
• Allow parents to opt students in grades 1-6 out of gender identity instruction (SF167)
• Create alternatives to abortion program to promote childbirth/pregnancy services (HF515)
• Appropriate $20 million to establish drive-through COVID-19 vaccination clinics (HF688)
• Repeal declaration that English is the official language of Iowa (HF72/SF152)
• Prohibit sale/transfer of semi-automatic assault weapons (HF131)
• Establish campaign contribution limits for statewide/legislative candidates (HF67)
• Create legislative oversight of Supreme Court decisions invalidating a law (HF109)
• Repeal bottle law with six months to recoup nickel deposits (HF156)
• Eliminate casino gaming-floor smoking exemption under Iowa Clear Indoor Air Act (HF530/SF280)
• Bar construction/expansion of a confinement animal feeding operation structure (SF282)
• Require motorcycle/moped operators under age 18 to wear helmets (SF210)
• Allow cities/counties to ban/limit fireworks sale for public safety (SF99)
• Require school athletes to compete based on biological sex (HF184/HF334)
• Bar law enforcement racial profiling (HF130/356)
• Allow licensed dealers to sell motor vehicles on Sunday (HF296) • Limit authority of colleges/universities to mandate facial coverings (HSB162)
• Raise state cigarette tax by 50 cents to $1.86 per pack (HF733)
• Add emergency preparedness supplies to sales tax holiday (HF680/SSB1240)
• Create three-year, $200 million pandemic recovery grant program for schools (HF659)
• Appropriate $50 million for state eviction/foreclosure prevention program (HF657)
• Ban sale of 'E-zero' non-blended regular gasoline in Iowa (HF629)
• Repeal Iowa's teacher compensation/leadership/career path program (HF628)
• Require employers provide appropriate meal/rest periods (HF20)
• Establish an open season for hunting black bears (HF22)
• Set three classes of firearms violence protective orders (HF24)
• Create income tax checkoff for qualifying Iowa zoos (HF35)
• Establish school safety hotline/website (HF42)
• Require peace officers/tribal law enforcement to use/wear body cameras (HF43)
• Bar weapons in sate Capitol building/on Capitol grounds (HF126)
• Decriminalize marijuana possession offense to $25 civil fine (HF163)
• Limit refundable research activities tax credit paid to Iowa corporations (SF28)
• Exempt diapers and women's menstrual products from state sales tax (SF36/SF213)
• Ban sale/use of pesticides in neonicotinoid class (SF52)
• Bar school activities during presidential precinct caucuses (SF59)
• Prohibit manufacture/possession of multi-burst trigger activators (HF127)
• Ban sale/use/application of pesticide dicamba (SF66)
• Protect rabbits from mistreatment like other farm livestock (SF85)
• Provide free on-street city parking to wounded/disabled/Purple Heart veterans (SF56)
• Include cursive writing school curriculum so students proficient by third grade (SF89)
• Ban sale/possession of large capacity ammunition feeding devices (HF129)
• Impose $2 yearly vehicle registration surcharge to help fund Iowa State Patrol (SF101)
• Require state license for pool/billiards tourneys with more than 64 players (SF247)
• Require emergency retail employee bathroom access for eligible conditions (SF250)
• Ban single-use plastic straws/deposit for single-use plastic bags/containers (HF320)
• Earmark SAFE school infrastructure money to finance vacant school building demolition (SSB1182)
• Block internet-connected pornography/create adult entertainment fee (HF288)
• Add gender identity to Iowa's hate crimes law (HF614)
• Create multistate compact to phaseout 'corporate giveaways' (HF598)
• Test schools/child care facilities for lead (HF594)
• Allow nursing home visitors even in health emergency (HF571)
• Require minority impact statement for state budget bills (HF478)
• Bar discrimination based on individual's hair texture/style (HF471)
• Create private investigation state income tax credit (HF463)
• Exempt bathroom access policies from civil rights practices deemed unfair (HF405)
• Bar food service places from offering single-use plates/bags/containers/straws unless required (HF320)
• Exempt homemade food for sale from state regulation (HF319)
• Allow Legislature to meet at location other than Capitol in emergency (HF276)
• Prohibit using 3D printer to manufacture firearms (HF253)
• Create extreme-risk protection order against person with a firearm (HF252)
• Prohibit required child immunizations to attend school (HF247)
• Remove gender identity as protected class under Iowa Civil Rights Act (HF272)
• Legalize psychedelic mushrooms for medical use (HF459)
• Change medical cannabidiol program to aid manufacturers/dispensaries (SSB1177)
• Require transgender students use bathroom corresponding to sex on their birth certificate (SF224)
• Set state mitigation standards for COVID-19/other infectious diseases (HF703) • Conduct 10-year comprehensive review of Iowa Code (HF704)
• Review/divest/bar public investments linked to Chinese military/government services (SF499)
• Bar employers from reviewing credit information about employees (HF732)
• Establish experiential learning competitive grant program (SF518)
•Create grants for digitization of county records (SSB1239)
• Bar candidate/committee to send advocacy text if prior permission not given (HF208)
• Reduce state funding for schools whose teachers use anti-slavery '1619 Project' materials (HF222)
• Establish pandemic response review committee (SF519)
The ornamental decorations of the Iowa Capitol dome are seen from outside in Des Moines on Thursday, Dec. 19, 2019. (Andy Abeyta/The Gazette)