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With a rise in safety concerns, Iowa Legislature eyes enhancing security for lawmakers
Reimbursement for home security systems, allowing professional weapons permits among the proposals
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DES MOINES — In her remarks on the first day of the 2026 legislative session, Iowa Senate President Amy Sinclair of Allerton urged lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to turn down the temperature on political rhetoric and be able to disagree “without being disagreeable.”
“I call on all of us to do better and to set a positive example of what civility looks like in our political discourse. We are all human beings created in God’s image, and we need to remember that, not just today as we rejoin, but every day,” Sinclair said. “In a time where our nation and our state, even our neighborhoods, have become divided along party lines, left and right, right and wrong, good and evil, I encourage each of us to tone down our rhetoric and to get to work on what Iowans are telling us they really want.”
Sinclair noted the targeted shooting that resulted in the deaths of former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark, and injuries to Minnesota State Sen. John Hoffman and his wife Yvette, and the shooting death of conservative media personality Charlie Kirk.
After Hortman and her husband, as well as Hoffman and his wife, were shot at their homes in the middle of the night by a masked gunman posing as a law enforcement officer, lawmakers in state capitols across the country had heightened safety concerns, including in Iowa.
This year, there is a bipartisan push behind advancing legislation in the state that would enhance protections for elected officials.
Proposals include allowing Iowa’s members of Congress, statewide elected officials and members of the Legislature to request their name be redacted from public county assessor or county recorder documents, and allowing home security system reimbursement for lawmakers.
Another state Senate proposal would allow for issuing members of the Iowa General Assembly a professional permit to carry weapons, which they could bring anywhere in the state at all times, including on school grounds.
Iowa House Speaker Pat Grassley, R-New Hartford, told reporters at the Iowa Capitol on Thursday that his caucus is taking lawmaker safety “very seriously” as members of his party continue to express concerns about the issue.
“I've been doing this for 20 years now. It's not the same,” Grassley said. “Any of those conversations aren't going to be driven from me, it's going to be based on what the caucus feels is best, and not just Republicans, but Democrats as well, when it comes to the safety of serving in these roles.
"It's crazy that we even have to have this conversation, but a lot of members feel that we should,” he continued.
House Minority Leader Brian Meyer, of Des Moines, assumed his leadership position shortly after the shootings of the lawmakers in Minnesota and said he had many conversations with House Democrats about how to stay safe as elected officials.
He expressed support for any legislation that would enhance these security protections, adding that lowering the temperature on political debate would be “very helpful for all sides.”
“The best thing you can do is lower the temperature, right, with some of the political debates that are going around,” Meyer told reporters at the Iowa Capitol on Thursday. “What we try to tell people is, be mindful when you’re at forums about some of the dangers out there. But we are public officials, and unfortunately, it's a risk as part of the job.”
Reimbursing lawmakers for home security systems
During a House subcommittee for House Study Bill 644, which would provide a one-time reimbursement of up to $5,000 for the installation of a home security system for members of the Legislature and statewide elected office, Republican Rep. Taylor Collins, of Mediapolis, who chaired the subcommittee, read a threat he received in February.
“I wanted to read one of the messages I got just last week: ‘I hope your skin is stripped and salted. I hope you die. I hope someone shoots you in the head,’” Collins read.
Collins said he has had to share three complaints about threats with the Iowa State Patrol this year alone.
“This is, unfortunately, reality for many members of my caucus at this point,” Collins said. “It's unfortunate we have to be considering this.”
Jake Braunger, representing the Electronic Security Association, said the organization has helped draft similar legislation passed in other states, including Alabama, Georgia, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Utah. He urged lawmakers to increase the reimbursement cap to $10,000, which is where it is set in other states, and consider allowing candidates running for office to use campaign funds for security purposes.
Starting last year, Minnesota lawmakers can draw up to $4,500 from their chambers’ operations funds for security cameras, deadbolts and other safety features, according to Minnesota Public Radio.
Caitlin Jarzen, with the Iowa Judicial Branch, suggested lawmakers should also allow judicial officers to be reimbursed for security features.
“There is one judicial officer that told me, this was probably three years ago, that when he gets death threats to himself and his family, he'll call his wife and say, ‘don't let the kids play outside today,’ which just really gives you a chill to think about,” Jarzen said.
The bill was advanced unanimously by the three-member subcommittee, including Collins, Republican Rep. Shannon Lundgren, of Peosta, and Democratic Rep. Adam Zabner, of Iowa City.
Zabner told the Gazette-Lee Des Moines Bureau on Tuesday that it's becoming more common to hear concerns about safety when recruiting potential political candidates.
“I think that all of these solutions are important, and I support them, and they're good, but there's a broader problem,” Zabner said. “They're all Band-Aids to a broader problem, which is a culture in our politics of violence that has become more and more normalized.”
Senate Minority Leader Janice Weiner, of Iowa City, said she is supportive of the proposal.
“Security issues are very real, especially for those of us who have family members at home while we're here at the Capitol,” Weiner told reporters Thursday.
Security at the Capitol
This year, some of the Iowa Capitol security guards who are typically stationed at the security checkpoints and metal detectors by the building’s entrances are stationed outside the House chamber. This change was made as a precaution after the lawmaker shootings in Minnesota, according to Chief Clerk of the House Meghan Nelson.
Currently, 34 states use metal detectors and bag screenings at Capitol entrances, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
And some Iowa lawmakers continue to express safety concerns both in and outside the Capitol.
On Monday, a University of Iowa doctoral candidate took a swipe at Republican Rep. Steve Holt, of Denison, as she was being escorted out of a higher education subcommittee meeting following a contentious back-and-forth over a bill that would prohibit any general education or core curriculum courses or content related to diversity, equity and inclusion and critical race theory at Iowa’s public universities.
As the student, Abigail Escatel, finished up her two allotted minutes to speak, Holt interrupted her to say her time was up.
Because she continued speaking for another 15 seconds, Holt had the Capitol police come in and escort her out. As she was being led from the room, Escatel appeared to move her hand across the table, swiping his cellphone off the table and hitting Holt in the arm.
Similar to Collins, Democratic state Rep. Ken Croken, of Davenport, said he also has received three threats this session. They were the first threatening messages he had received as an elected official.
The one he said concerned him the most accused him of treason and told him that it is punishable by public hanging. Croken said he reported the threat to the Davenport Police Department.
Croken said he first felt threatened as a lawmaker during a 2025 subcommittee hearing on a bill prohibiting cloud seeding and geoengineering. After he voted against it, he says he was “rushed” and “grabbed” by a group of attendees advocating for the legislation.
“It's an unfortunate place in time where people are extremely angry, and we've gotten to a point where disagreement often disintegrates into confrontation,” Croken told the Gazette-Lee Des Moines Bureau.
Gazette Des Moines Bureau Chief Erin Murphy and Vanessa Miller of the Gazette contributed to this report.
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