Government : Twelfth Week of the 2025 Legislative Session

During the twelfth week of the 2025 legislative session, we reached our second major legislative deadline of the year. The week was focused on reviewing House bills in subcommittees and committees, ensuring we concentrated our efforts on bills with enough support to progress. This kept us busy as we worked through the legislation, met with stakeholders, and interacted with constituents who visited the Capitol.
One bill that made significant progress this week was House File 889, the governor's proposal for paid parental leave for state employees, which passed the Workforce Committee. This bill offers four weeks of maternity leave, one week of paternity leave, and four weeks of paid leave for state employees who adopt.
Another key piece of legislation is Senate File 575, the governor's rural health care bill, designed to improve and expand programs addressing the state's health care workforce needs. It allocates $10 million to the Health Care Professional Incentive Program to identify high-demand health sector jobs across Iowa. The bill also partners with Iowa hospitals to add an estimated 115 new residency slots at the state's 14 teaching hospitals. Once fully implemented over four years, the program will train 460 new physicians. Additionally, the bill streamlines the state's certificate of need process and enhances oversight of the state's health information exchange.
Senate File 591 focuses on emergency disaster recovery and housing assistance. It incorporates policy changes based on lessons learned and best practices from last year's floods and tornado responses. The bill ensures that communities have access to necessary funding for disaster recovery and establishes consumer protections to regulate the insurance industry during recovery efforts. It also allocates funds from the Economic Emergency Fund to ensure immediate disaster response capabilities when the governor declares an emergency.
The Senate Commerce Committee also passed HF 639, which strengthens private property rights and expands protections for landowners in Iowa. This bill adds new requirements for members of the Iowa Utilities Commission (IUC), including the need for at least one member to attend public informational meetings and to pause those meetings if that member leaves. It also mandates that a majority of IUC members be present for hearings, particularly those related to eminent domain requests. The bill provides landowners with the ability to recover damages from projects, offers additional protections for crop loss and soil restoration, and includes indemnification provisions to protect landowners from damages throughout the duration of a project. Furthermore, it mandates quicker decisions by the IUC and promotes the use of voluntary easements, allowing companies to adjust project paths if landowners are willing to collaborate.

The Need for Property Tax Reform

Property taxes have once again become a central issue as Iowans begin receiving their property assessment letters. Calls for reform have grown louder, with residents increasingly concerned about their ability to afford to live in their homes. As assessments continue to rise, many Iowans are worried. It remains one of the most pressing concerns we've heard about, even after the significant reform in 2023, and it's easy to understand why.

When the legislature passed House File 718 in 2023, it was aimed at helping Iowans cope with rapidly increasing assessments. Since then, local entities have pushed back, with one official stating, "All they care about is the emails they get that say property taxes are too high." I suppose you could say that's accurate.

Stories continue to surface in newspapers across the state about how cities and counties are spending taxpayer money. "Washington County's supervisors received harsh criticism after voting to raise the pay of all elected officials - themselves included - by 20% in December of 2021. Another increase was more conservative for the current fiscal year, at 4% for such officeholders, while nonelected staff saw their hourly wages go up by $1.75 across the board," reported the Southeast Iowa Union.

One article highlighted a city that had to cut $5,000 in annual expenses to replace old Christmas decorations. Another county hired a new sustainability director with a salary of over $75k, while a city hired a diversity and inclusion coordinator. In Des Moines, a "sustainability program overseeing [its] climate action plan" was cut due to budget concerns. Another county, with near-stagnant population growth over the last 15 years, has spent over $270,000 on 12 public libraries. One city was considering financing a $150,000 study on the condition of their aquatic facilities as part of more "targeted spending." A Des Moines Register headline from last year read, "Polk County supervisors, who make more than Iowa's governor, give themselves another raise." The
article went on to state, "Despite dissenting votes, the Polk County Board of Supervisors has decided to give itself another pay raise - just like it has every year for at least the past 16 years."

Many cities and counties across the state are doing their best for taxpayers and have worked with us to improve the system for everyone. However, these examples highlight why we are once again pursuing property tax reform, aiming for the most significant overhaul in recent memory. The proposal we've put forward would completely transform the property tax system in our state, creating a better, fairer, and more transparent system for Iowans, local governments, and businesses alike.

Some local officials continue to resist, with some even claiming, "Politicians pushing this bill are gambling with the safety and well-being of our communities while sidestepping the consequences of their actions." The legislature has had to step in because many Iowans feel their local officials aren't listening. While some remain resistant to reform and fail to recognize the urgency of passing it, we are hearing from Iowans across the state. We know we are on the right path, and we are determined to enact significant reforms so Iowans can feel secure and comfortable in their homes.