‘Tough on crime’ agenda makes it through first Iowa Legislature deadline

DES MOINES — Proposals to restrict the use of eminent domain to site carbon dioxide pipelines, an agreement on school funding and a “tough on crime” agenda made it through the first legislative deadline this week at the Iowa Capitol — but some bills targeting materials and oversight of public libraries and a proposal to ban almost all abortions in the state did not.

To make it through the first “funnel” deadline meant to whittle down the hundreds of proposals being considered, bills must have passed out of a full committee in either the House or the Senate to stay alive for the rest of the session, which is scheduled to end April 21 — although lawmakers often go into overtime.

To be sure, a bill that did not make it through the first funnel may not be truly dead for this session, as lawmakers have other tools available later in the session to resurrect a bill. And bills related to state spending or tax policy are not subject to the deadline.

The next funnel deadline, March 27, is tougher for a bill to meet — requiring bills to pass one chamber and a subcommittee and a full committee in the other chamber.

Several library bills did not advance

Republicans, who control both chambers, considered numerous bills aiming to restrict content in public libraries; roll back diversity, equity and inclusion policies; and ban almost all abortions in the state. But several did not make it through the deadline.

House File 2332, which would make it a crime for doctors to perform abortions in the state, failed to garner enough support in the GOP caucus.

Out of several library-related bills, Iowa House lawmakers advanced only one out of full committee. It would prohibit Iowa public and charter schools from entering into agreements with public libraries to provide students with access to books and other materials.

Two other House bills, prohibiting libraries from distributing “material harmful to minors” to children without parental consent, making any violation a criminal offense, and transferring library oversight from city library boards of trustees to city councils, were not considered in full committee.

And in the Senate, a bill repealing a section of the Iowa Code that provides exemptions from restrictions on obscene materials that applies to public libraries was not brought to full committee.

House Speaker Pat Grassley, of New Hartford, noted Republicans will focus on increasing parental consent and notification around library materials as the library-related bills were narrowed down.

“I know there's been a lot of different bills, a lot of different conversations,” Grassley told reporters Thursday. “If there's explicit material that needs to be in a different section, that's something we need to discuss.”

Senate Majority Leader Mike Klimesh, of Spillville, said that as a former mayor, he wants to “tread carefully when it comes to making changes to libraries,” noting the difficulties around building consensus on the legislation.

“As a mayor for 20 years, you know, I appoint the library trustees, and they're independent, right? And, you know, that relationship, I'm sure, in certain communities, it works well. In some communities, maybe doesn't work so well,” Klimesh told reporters.

Dems criticize GOP for focusing on 'divisive' issues

House Minority Leader Brian Meyer, of Des Moines, said Republicans failed to advance legislation lowering costs for Iowans in the first month of the session. He pointed to Republican-pushed bills focused on allowing Iowa to absorb Illinois border counties and enticing the Chicago Bears to build the team’s new stadium in the Hawkeye State, calling them “not serious.”

“They focused on, again, divisive social issues that have nothing to do with anything that Iowans care about and we will stand firm with those issues from the Iowa House Democrats,” Meyer told reporters.

During the second half of the session, Meyer said, Democrats plan to use procedural motions during floor debate to get Republicans on the record for election-year issues, including affordability and protecting Iowans’ rights.

Iowa Senate Minority Leader Janice Weiner, of Iowa City, said she was relieved to see a slate of bills fail to move forward, including the bill prohibiting libraries from distributing “material harmful to minors,” legislation allowing couples getting married to waive the option for no-fault divorce and House bills that would criminalize abortion.

She also applauded bipartisan support behind bills providing farmers with the right to repair, expanding the state public defenders pilot project on child welfare and increasing access to subacute mental health care.

House Republicans advance ‘tough on crime’ proposals

House and Senate Republicans advanced a number of “tough on crime” bills ahead of Friday’s deadline, aimed at discouraging violent and repeat offenders.

In January, House Republicans rolled out their three-part proposal, focused on longer sentences for habitual offenders, tighter bail standards and expanded public access to judicial performance data. It is one of their key priorities this session.

Ahead of the 2026 session, Grassley framed the package as necessary to keep Iowa from developing the kinds of public safety problems that have drawn national attention in larger Midwestern cities.

A Senate bill, Senate File 2011, which would rewrite Iowa’s mandatory minimum sentencing and parole eligibility rules for a range of crimes, generally requiring offenders to serve a larger share of their prison terms before they can be released, failed to advance out of committee.

Erin Murphy and Tom Barton of The Gazette Des Moines Bureau contributed.