Capitol Notebook: Iowa lawmakers advance bill targeting public employee pensions after felony convictions

Iowa Senate Republican lawmakers advanced a proposal Tuesday that would allow Iowa to revoke public pension benefits from public employees convicted of felonies, while acknowledging the bill’s current language is overly broad and will require significant changes.

Senate Study Bill 3051 cleared a three-member Senate subcommittee after Republicans agreed to move it forward with an amendment requiring that the felony be related to a person’s role as a public employee. The bill now heads to the full Senate Workforce Committee for further debate.

As originally drafted, the bill would have stripped public employees of all rights to their public pension upon conviction of any felony prior to retirement, regardless of whether the crime was connected to their public job. Under the proposal, affected retirement systems would revoke pension benefits, return the employee’s own contributions and seize the remaining pension value through civil forfeiture procedures.

The amendment recommended by the subcommittee would limit pension forfeiture to cases in which the felony is related to the individual’s public office or public employment.

Sen. Mike Pike, R-Des Moines, and Sen. Carrie Koelker, R-Dyersville, both signed off on advancing the bill, saying they wanted to keep the conversation going despite concerns about the scope.

Koelker said she supports moving the bill forward to allow more discussion, noting that similar laws exist in other states, but agreed the proposal must be narrowed to address equity and implementation concerns.

Sen. Tom Townsend, D-Dubuque, declined to sign off on the bill, citing unresolved legal and logistical questions.

During the subcommittee hearing, representatives from labor groups, law enforcement organizations, firefighters and educators raised concerns that the bill could punish employees for crimes unrelated to their jobs and undermine recruitment and retention in public service. Others questioned how the proposal would handle deferred judgments, overturned convictions, multiple pension systems or spousal and survivor benefits.

Several speakers noted that the most common felony convictions — such as third-offense operating while intoxicated — could trigger pension forfeiture under the original language, even though the conduct had no connection to public employment.

Andrew Ritland, the Mahaska County attorney, told lawmakers the forfeiture approach would represent a significant departure from how Iowa traditionally handles civil forfeiture, which typically requires a direct link between the property seized and the underlying crime.

Multiple groups said existing restitution and garnishment tools already allow courts to recover funds in cases involving fraud or theft by public employees, and urged lawmakers to focus on job-related misconduct rather than broad felony convictions.

Townsend said that if lawmakers proceed, the bill should be narrowly tailored to crimes connected to public service and include clearer safeguards.

Iowa Senate advances eminent domain legislation, striking out House bill

Iowa Senate lawmakers advanced a House-passed bill prohibiting eminent domain for carbon capture pipelines, amending it with legislation proposed by a top Senate Republican.

Iowa Senate Majority Leader Mike Klimesh amended the legislation, House File 2104, with language from his own proposal. Lawmakers on the Iowa Senate Commerce Committee voted 12-6 to amend the bill and 13-5 to advance the amended bill to the full chamber.

State Sen. Dave Rowley, R-Spirit Lake, was the only Republican who voted against amending the legislation. He voted to advance the amended legislation.

Klimesh initially brought the bill in subcommittee early Tuesday morning, less than a week after it was passed in the House. The subcommittee advanced the bill, but Klimesh said he intended to replace the language with his own proposal, allowing hazardous liquid pipeline companies to amend planned and approved routes to enter into voluntary easements with landowners and avoid using eminent domain, if they wished.

“It gives the ability for us to recognize property rights on both sides,” Klimesh said. “It gives us the ability to unregulate ourselves from the box we’ve placed ourselves in by allowing no mediation.”

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The Senate will hold a subcommittee on Klimesh’s initial proposal on Thursday, Jan. 29.

Iowa state Sen. Janet Petersen, D-Des Moines, questioned why the committee amended the House’s bill with the language from Klimesh’s proposal, as it is slated to hear his bill separately in a subcommittee on Thursday.

“Why are we doing that?” Petersen said ahead of the committee vote. “If we're going to have a subcommittee on this legislation tomorrow, why would we have a committee vote before we have a subcommittee on the legislation?”

Bill allowing bond elections on primary dates advances

Bond elections could be conducted in primary elections under legislation that was advanced by an Iowa Senate subcommittee.

Under current law, passed in 2023, bond elections can only be held in conjunction with city-school elections held in November of odd-numbered years or general elections in November of even-numbered. The bill, Senate Study Bill 3026, would add primary elections as a second option for bond elections.

Prior to the 2023 law, school districts could take general obligation bond referendums to voters multiple times a year. If a measure failed, districts had to wait at least six months to take it back to voters.

Lobbyists for education groups and architects and builders expressed support for the proposal, saying adding another option for bond elections would alleviate a backlog of projects that currently are being awarded just once a year.

A lobbyist for county auditors — the local officials who conduct Iowa’s elections — raised concerns about the logistics of holding bond elections during primary elections because Iowa’s are partisan primary elections, meaning voters have to register with a political party in order to vote.

The county auditors lobbyist raised questions about how such an election would work: whether bond voters would be required to register with a political party, or whether elections officials would need to create a third ballot, which the lobbyist said would be a significant logistical and technical problem.

Iowa Sens. Jeff Reichman, R-Montrose, and Dennis Guth, R-Klemme, signed off on advancing Senate Study Bill 3026 to the full Senate State Government Committee. Sen. Cindy Winckler, D-Davenport, declined to support the bill.

Second bird flu case of 2026 confirmed in Iowa

State and federal agriculture officials have confirmed a new case of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (H5N1 HPAI) at a multispecies game bird hatchery in Kossuth County, marking Iowa’s second detection of bird flu this year.

The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, in coordination with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, said the affected flock includes pheasants, quail and chukars. Both confirmed H5N1 detections in Iowa in 2026 have involved game bird operations in Kossuth County.

H5N1 HPAI is a highly contagious viral disease that affects both wild and domestic birds. While the virus can circulate in wild birds without visible illness, it is often fatal to domestic poultry, including chickens and turkeys.

State agriculture officials are urging poultry producers and backyard flock owners to heighten biosecurity measures to protect their birds. The department has made additional biosecurity guidance available on its website.

Officials emphasized that eggs and poultry products remain safe to consume when properly handled and cooked to an internal temperature of 165 degrees.

Public health officials say the risk to the general public remains low.

Gazette-Lee Des Moines Bureau