Big bills down, big bills to go for Iowa state lawmakers

DES MOINES — State lawmakers already have debated and moved some giant pieces of legislation — both literally and figuratively — during the 2023 Iowa legislative session.

With work completed on many bills that could have significant impacts on Iowans for years to come, state lawmakers now are turning their attention to a new spate of bills and the state’s $8 billion-plus state budget for fiscal 2024.

Among the session-defining bills already in lawmakers’ rearview mirror are:

The workload that remains is not necessarily any lighter. Other bills remain in progress in the Republican-majority Legislature that also promise to have significant impact on Iowans.

Legislative leaders in the Iowa House, both Republican and Democrat, discussed many of those bills over the past few days with Statehouse reporters.

So what is next on the legislative agenda?

Pipelines and eminent domain

The question remains unanswered: Will state lawmakers pass any new law that deals with carbon capture pipelines, three of which have been proposed in Iowa, and, more specifically, the use process of eminent domain to allow the pipelines to move across privately owned farmland?

House Republicans have been advancing legislation that would create higher thresholds for pipeline companies to meet before pipelines could be constructed in Iowa. Among the most significant provisions of House File 368 is that companies would need 90 percent voluntary participation from landowners before it could use eminent domain to secure the remaining land needed.

“I believe absolutely that eminent domain should be used only for essential government services, public use versus public benefit,” Rep. Steven Holt, a Republican from Denison, said Friday during recording of this weekend’s episode of “Iowa Press” on Iowa PBS.

Holt authored the House Republican bill, and also filed a formal objection with state regulators, stating he does not believe the proposed pipelines meet current requirements for the use of eminent domain.

“It’s a big issue for my landowners who do not believe that the blunt force of government should be allowed to be used to take their land for what is a private economic development project, because that’s what we’re talking about here,” he stated.

Holt said he expects the House will debate and pass his bill out of the chamber, but that he has not yet had discussions about his bill with Republican leaders in the Senate, who have been legislatively quiet on the topic this session.

Rep. Lindsay James, D-Dubuque, said on the same “Iowa Press” episode that Democrats have concerns for the environment and property rights. She said she would support requirements even stronger than the ones in Holt’s bill.

University settlements and DEI

Iowa, Iowa State and the University of Northern Iowa would be required to foot the bill for the entirety of lawsuit settlement agreements involving their athletics departments under legislation advancing in the House.

Holt said he plans to support the bill once it is put up for a vote in the House.

“It’s the athletics department, which makes a lot of money, that would be covering this instead of taxpayers. I support it,” Holt said.

The bill was created after the state, per state law, was to be on the hook for half of a $4 million settlement involving the University of Iowa after 12 former Hawkeye players alleged racism in the football program and sued. Amid public backlash, the university voluntarily agreed to reimburse the state for its half of the settlement from Athletics Department funds.

The settlement requires the UI hire an expert to oversee the implementation of its diversity, equity and inclusion programs. That is at odds with another House bill, which would prohibit public universities from funding positions for DEI programs.

Holt said he supports the bill to bar DEI hires, House File 616, but when asked about the apparent conflict with the UI settlement, said the bill may need an amendment.

James, the Dubuque Democrat, said Democrats support DEI programs and that bills like the one to prohibiting DEI programs at universities make the state appear less welcoming to prospective residents and businesses.

Behind-the-counter birth control

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds has proposed legislation that would allow women to buy birth control pills, contraceptive patches and vaginal rings from a pharmacist but without a prescription from a doctor.

That proposal has advanced in both the House and Senate, but in different forms. There is at this point no certainty about its legislative future.

House Speaker Pat Grassley, a Republican from New Hartford, told reporters Thursday that House Republicans will want any such provision to include safety measures like a requirement that a woman periodically meet with her physician.

If over-the-counter sales become law, Iowa would join 17 other states and the District of Columbia in legalizing the dispensing of birth control without a prescription, according to the Guttmacher Institute.

Property taxes

Republican lawmakers came into the session focused on addressing Iowans’ property taxes.

GOP leaders in both chambers have introduced proposals, but they are not close in format. So if any proposal is to make it to Reynolds’ desk this session, work remains for the House and Senate to come together around on proposal.

“Our goal with the bill, whatever it ends up looking like from the House’s perspective, is to really change the narrative around property taxes and make sure we’re providing certainty for the property taxpayer,” Grassley said.

“In 17 years here, I think we’ve talked about property tax, but it’s always been pieces. And I think we want to have a holistic approach. That’s why our bill tries to provide relief, as well as changing the way we currently do things in Iowa, to provide that certainty.”

Income taxes

In 2022, Republican state lawmakers and Reynolds spearheaded legislation that is gradually reducing Iowa’s state income tax rates over multiple years until most Iowa workers will pay the same 3.9 percent state income tax rate.

Sen. Dan Dawson, R-Council Bluffs, has proposed legislation that would accelerate those reductions, drop the eventual state income tax rate to 2.55 percent, and provide a mechanism to eventually eliminate the tax.

But Grassley said House Republicans want to see how the current reductions work before diving into further cuts.

“I don’t think our caucus has a problem with that — at the right time,” Grassley said. “We’ve seen revenues continue to grow.

“But as this thing phases in, we want to show Iowans that our plan works. So I think you will see a conversation on income tax continue. But I don’t think, from the House’s perspective, it’s probably going to be this session.”

State budget

Reynolds and Senate Republicans have proposed spending roughly $8.5 billion in the state budget year that begins July 1. That would be an increase of 3.3 percent over the $8.2 billion allocated for the current budget year.

House Republicans have not yet released their budget target, but Grassley said he doesn’t expect it to be drastically different from Reynolds’ and Senate Republicans’ proposal.

April 28 is the date legislators have set as a target to adjourn — it’s when their per-diem allowance ends — but sessions frequently go beyond that targeted date.

Comments: (515) 355-1300, erin.murphy@thegazette.com