Get Ready for 2026
The Iowa Legislature will reconvene on Monday, January 12 for a short 100-day session. Lawmakers will face new challenges with a budget shortfall that requires use of the Taxpayer Relief Fund, a Medicaid shortfall that may prompt more hurdles for people to access or retain services, poor water quality and high cancer rates that are demanding policy action, an aggressive plan to take on rural health access using federal grant funds (Rural Health Transformation Grant) and the overall desire of the majority party to cut property taxes while still giving local governments the funds they need to meet their own constituent demands.
Here are a few things to get you ready for 2026:
- We have had six special elections in 2025, including three since session ended. Both House and Senate Majority Leaders are new since the session ended, and committee assignments were changed following those leadership elections. We also have a new House Minority Leader, who was elected late in the 2025 session. You can see new member backgrounds, updated committee lists, and timelines for the session in the Iowa DD Council’s Legislative Guide.
- The session is compressed this year, so legislators who want to sponsor bills must get their request in by Friday, January 23. To stay alive, bills must be voted out of their originating committee by the first funnel deadline on Friday, February 20. Bills that survive that long have until Friday, March 20 to be voted out of one chamber and out of committee in the second chamber. If all goes according to plan, the Iowa Legislature will adjourn on or around April 21.
- LWVIA Capitol Day is Thursday, February 26, 2026. Details will be coming soon, but you can get ready by reviewing the 2026 Legislative Agenda. We will also be scheduling lobbyist check-in zooms throughout the session, so stay tuned here for more details.
- The Governor’s Condition of the State address will be on Tuesday, January 13 at 6 p.m. At this time she’ll announce her budget and priorities. It will be broadcast on Iowa Public Television as well as live streamed on the legislative website (House chambers).