Today (September 9), Axios did a deep dive on central Iowa’s nitrate problem, comparing outcomes to neighboring state Minnesota, which has much stronger water quality laws. You can read the entire article here. Here are the highlights:
Iowa’s nitrate levels regularly exceed 5 mg/L for decades; Minnsota’s average is at or below 3 mg/L.
Federal mandates require less than 10 mg/L, but public health agencies say 5 mg/L is too high.
Minnesota requires buffer strips, restricts fall fertilizer application, and strict permitting for large animal operations. Iowa’s nitrate reduction plan includes these suggestions, but it is voluntary.
Iowa has the largest number of acres that are tile drained in the country, a process that can quickly move nitrates to water sources.
LWVIA has included a stronger water quality statement in its 2026 legislative priorities, so the information in this article can help you with your messaging to state and federal lawmakers.
Prioritizing, protecting and improving Iowa water quality and ensuring its sustainable management.
Enact policies that safeguard clean water and address challenges of health risks, pollution, overuse and climate change.
Earlier this month, the Iowa House Republicans elected a new majority leader (Rep. Bobby Kaufmann). He replaces Rep. Matt Windschitl, who is stepping down from his leadership role in order to run for Congress in Iowa’s 4th District. That seat opens up after the announcement that US Rep. Randy Feenstra will run for Governor. This change in House leadership has triggered committee shifts, but we won’t know for a while how those committee chairs will change. Rep. Kaufmann had chaired the tax-writing House Ways & Means Committee. Rep. Carter Nordman, Rep. Jane Bloomingdale, and Rep. David Young are all rumored to want this post. They currently chair the House Human Resources Committee, House State Government Committee, and House Transportation Committee. Rep. Angel Ramirez, the late-session elected member from Linn County, still has not been assigned her committees. As you can see, some shuffling of committee chairs and membership is ahead.
Similarly, we still do not know whether Sen. Jack Whitver will remain Senate Majority Leader. Sen. Whitver was diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer and has had to step back and let his caucus members help with some of his leadership responsibilities as he continues treatment. There are a number of names floating around to replace him when appropriate, including Sen. Mike Klimesh (who chairs Senate Health/Human Services), Sen. Mike Bousselot (who chairs Senate Commerce), and Sen. Dan Zumbach (who chairs Senate Transportation).
Finally, the special election on August 26 to replace Sen. Rocky DeWitt has ended the Republican supermajority lock in the Iowa Senate after Democrat Catelin Drey won 55% of the vote. That means the Senate breakdown for 2026 will now be 32 Republicans & 18 Democrats, still a hefty majority to pass most policies brought to the floor.
The 2025 Iowa Legislative session, which ended on May 15, broke the record in the number of bills filed. In fact, there has never been a House File 1000 in the history of the State of Iowa (since records were kept from 1876). This year we got to House File 1055. If it felt like there were a lot more bills than usual, it is because there actually were a lot more bills than usual.
Tensions ran high this year with deep divisions on early childhood reform, pharmacy benefit manager reform, and most significantly, banning the use of eminent domain for private carbon pipeline companies. Of the 171 bills sent to the Governor, she signed all but two and she line-item vetoed one budget:
House File 383 (veto): Legalizing crystalline polymorph psilocybin upon FDA approval/rescheduling. The Governor’s veto message indicated this was putting the cart before the horse and taking away state decision-making on the matter.
House File 639 (veto): Restricting use of eminent domain for carbon pipeline projects. The Governor’s veto message states that she agrees with the intent of the bill but it goes much further and could destabilize Iowa’s energy industry.
Senate File 647 (line-item veto): The Governor took out one line-item appropriation to charge UNI students from border states in-state tuition. The rest of the budgets were signed as passed by the Legislature.
You can see the final status (with effective dates) of bills in the LWVIA Bill Tracker. All bills that are on the “inactive” list will come alive again in 2026. They begin where they ended in the legislative process.
Governor Kim Reynolds has until June 15 to sign bills into law (or keep them from becoming law with a veto). As of May 30, the Governor has taken action on 70% of the 172 bills sent to her this year. You can check on the status of all enrolled bills here.
Here are the bills she has yet to sign:
HF 330: Insurance coverage for autism (no age limits, max caps). LWVIA supports.
HF 383: Allowing the prescribing of crystalline polymorph psilocybin (synthethic magic mushrooms) immediately after the FDA approves its use.
HF 437: Establishing a Center for Intellectual Freedom at the University of Iowa.
HF 516: Giving Iowans and those with connections to Iowa priority in medical and dental residencies and fellowships at the University of Iowa (aka DEI for Iowans).
HF 639: Prohibiting use of eminent domain for carbon pipelines. The Governor may veto this – whatever she does, this issue was so divisive amongst Republicans, it’ll be the source of a major rift going into the next session.
HF 706: Reasonable changes to open meetings, open records laws.
HF 784: Governor’s bill to improve state math scores.
HF 787: Teacher compensation bill, includes allowing special ed students to be placed out of state, and makes adjustments for minimum payment for retiring teachers returning to the classroom.
HF 870: Allowing students to take a religious scripture class in public schools. LWVIA opposes this.
HF 876: Disclosing lead service lines to homeowners.
HF 928: Reforming the election recount process, as requested by county auditors.
HF 954: Election reforms that include ban on ranked choice voting. LWVIA opposes.
HF 969: Creating cancer diagnosis retirement benefit for first responders.
HF 1002: Adding volunteer firefighters and reserve officers to the length of service award program.
SF 146: Prohibiting the use of bots to buy event tickets on the Internet.
SF 175: Requiring middle and high school human growth & development classes include videos and ultrasounds not produced by abortion supporting organizations in schools that “depict the humanity of the unborn child.” LWVIA opposes this.
SF 288: Requiring colleges to reasonably accommodate students who have recently given birth.
SF 383: Regulating pharmacy benefit managers and protecting rural pharmacies.
SF 607: Governor’s unemployment insurance reforms (lowering amount paid by employers).
SF 615: Work requirements for Iowa Health & Wellness Plan (expansion population of Medicaid, per Affordable Care Act). LWVIA opposes.
SF 626: Federal Block Grant distribution (done every two years).
You can see all the bills the League supported, opposed, and tracked in the Bill Tracker. Remember that all “inactive bills” (the ones that didn’t make the cut this year) will become live again in the 2026 legislative session, so they are things that you can advocate for (or against) during the summer and fall.
The LWVIA tracks a wide variety of bills during each legislative session. This year not only did the Legislature introduce a record number of bills, they passed 70+ bills in the final three days of session, most with massive strike-after amendments. The LWVIA Bill Tracker is now fully updated with end-of-session actions. We will continue to update status as bills get signed.
The Bill Tracker is the best place to look for what happened this year. All bills that passed this year are in the default “Active” list. You can see where the rest of the bills landed in the “Inactive” list – they will become alive again in 2026 legislative session.
Once bills are signed we’ll post a final report on the session – so watch for news on this Policy Blog!
The 2025 Iowa Legislative Session ended this morning (May 15) at 5 a.m. Collectively the House and Senate passed all nine budget bills, the federal block grant bill, opioid settlement spending, a ban on the use of eminent domain for carbon pipelines, Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) reform, sports wagering revenue spending, the Governor’s rural health initiative, the Governor’s unemployment tax reduction, state government employee paid leave, Iowa Health & Wellness Plan work requirements, the Governor’s tax credit bill, local government DEI ban, crypto-currency ATM regulation, an expanded state adoption tax credit, and 32 other bills in the final three days of session. The did not end up making changes to the state’s property tax system (look for that next year) or pass a late-breaking tax increment finance (TIF) bill.
We will be spending the next two days updating the bill descriptions in the bill tracker and listing the final status of bills we were tracking. Once that is done, we’ll send out a final report for the year (sometime next week).
Once again, our intern Jessica and associate Chloe were life savers this session. Kudos to Drake University for cultivating these fine young future leaders!
UPDATED (5/8/25, 5:13 pm). We are one week into legislative overtime with no clear indication that we are near adjournment. Legislators blew past their targeted May 2 adjournment and are now working without expense reimbursement and personal staff. It’s a weird showdown between Republicans – Senate & Governor versus House. Right now the Senate and Governor have agreed to common budget targets and priorities. The House is holding out for more money and a different set of priorities. You know things are getting bad when the Republican Speaker of the House likens the Republican Governor to a “Democrat.”
You can check our bill tracker for all details on budget bills here. For now the House and Senate are running separate bills, but they will eventually merge as agreements are made. I’ll keep this blog post updated as the status of budgets changes, so check back here whenever you are curious about budgets!
There is a group of 12 Republicans Senators who are refusing to vote for a budget until they are allowed to vote on the use of eminent domain for the construction of a carbon pipeline. Protesters have been at the Capitol throughout session holding potlucks and flooding the rotunda with advocates in red t-shirts. Complicating session shutdown is a planned conference of Republican leaders in Arizona next week, so both Senate and House leaders will be out of the state May 12-15.
There are not a lot of “must do” bills, but here are a few that are on the list of priorities. Here are a few that might be on that list – really the only “Must Do” bill
Property Tax Reform:SSB 1227 will be renumbered and placed on the Senate Calendar today. Companion HSB 328 will be coming out of the House Ways & Means Committee later today. The goal of both bills is to create more predictability, sustainability, and transparency. The one issue that is concerning to some is the lifting of more education funding off property taxes – which means local schools must rely more heavily on state dollars.
Sen. Sandy Salmon (R-Bremer) introduced a concurrent resolution yesterday (May 7) that conveys the Iowa Legislature’s deep displeasure with the courts over gay marriage. Senate Concurrent Resolution 12 states that the 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges decision that legalized same sex marriage throughout the country was antithetical to the US Constitution. The resolution states that “Obergefell requires states to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples and to recognize same-sex marriages in complete contravention of their own state constitutions, state statutes, including Iowa Code section 595.3, and the will of state voters, thus undermining the civil liberties of those states’ residents and voters.”
The resolution states that Iowa rejects the Obergefell decision and calls on the US Supreme Court to reverse this decision. Resolutions are not law; they simply are a way for the Iowa Legislature to send a message, whether it is to a foreign country, a company or organization, or other elected officials. Therefore, even if this resolution were to pass, it would only be sending a message, not actually ending same-sex marriage in Iowa. I’m not saying that’s okay – for sure it is not! Resolutions like this damage Iowa’s reputation and make us a less enticing place for young people to locate and live. It also pushes progressive businesses away from our borders.
Look no further than a recent Des Moines Register article that found “Iowa went from being one of the first states to legalize gay marriage to now being the only state in the United States with a declining number of same-sex couples.” Hmm…I wonder if that is because of the recent wave of legislation that attacks and marginalizes the LGBTQ+ community. The resolution is wrong for many reasons, but it also literally got its facts wrong. The will of the people supports gay marriage – a poll last year found 75% of Iowans support same-sex marriage.
For now, don’t worry or panic. The bill is dead on arrival. It was sent to the Senate Judiciary Committee, which has completed its work for the year. However, it will become a live round again when the Iowa Legislature returns in January 2026.
Governor Kim Reynolds and the Iowa Senate have agreed to a budget target for next year. The House followed suit this afternoon and released its own target, which was slightly higher ($36 million more). In the famous words of former US Senator Tom Harkin, this less than 1% difference is “pencil dust.” While that difference is not much, it may mean the difference between a Medicaid rate increase, providing more funding for courts, or cutting property taxes for home owners.
The Senate has already released some of its budgets (which are linked below) and will move all budget bills out of subcommittee and committee this week. That gets them into position for fast action once the House, Senate and Governor agree to their final spending plan. Most likely session will wrap up next week.
Current Budget (FY 2025)
$8.948 billion
Governor’s Original Rec. (FY 2026)
$9.434 billion
Senate/Governor Budget Target (FY 2026)
$9.417 billion
House Budget Target (FY 2026)
$9.453 billion
Current (FY 2025)
Gov/Senate (FY 2026)
House (FY 2026)
Administration/ Regulation
$72,941,377
$73,461,809
$74,525,590
Agriculture/Natural Resources
$45,9234,745
$45,574,050
$47,305,670
Economic Development
$40,787,127
$40,187,127
$40,637,127
Education
$1,019,009,691
$1,026,386,031
$1,042,264,716
Health/Human Services
$2,215,601,301
$2,468,992,645
$2,468,514,264
Judicial Branch/Justice Systems
$915,462,616
$925,925,531
$928,933,800
Standings & School Aid
$4,637,632,218
$4,836,758,719
$4,851,312,672
TOTAL
$8,947,358,075
$9,417,285,912
$9,453,493,839
The Transportation budget is not included since it does not spend state general fund dollars (it uses Road Use Tax Fund to pay for its operations). The Federal Block Grant Bill is also 100% federal funds, so is not included in the state targets. Both of these bills are well on their way to being finalized.
“A budget agreement with Governor Reynolds moves this legislative session one step closer to adjourning for the year,” Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver said. “As we continue to work on important issues in the legislature and find agreement among legislators, this agreement marks an important step forward. We look forward to more conversations with the House of Representatives on how we can pass a sustainable budget for the upcoming fiscal year.”
Speaker Pat Grassley (R-New Hartford) expressed support for his caucus’ approach. “Our caucus is committed to delivering a budget that follows responsible budget practices, while funding the priorities Iowans care most about,” Grassley said. “Iowans expect to see their tax dollars used wisely to fund important services like nursing homes, paraprofessional pay, support for human trafficking victims, and more of that sort, and that’s what this House Republican caucus is fighting to deliver.”
Budget subcommittees will continue their work to finalize their individual budgets. We already have a few budgets to list. Check back here and we’ll update this list as new ones are introduced:
Watch for alerts hereas this week progresses! Also remember to check the LWVIA Bill Tracker for up to the minute updates on policy bills as session winds down.
