State Capitol Report January 16, 2023

Legislative Session Off to Fast Start

First Day of Session (January 9, 2023) - House (left) and Senate (right).

New Legislators

The 90th General Assembly includes a total of 53 new legislators: 39 in the Iowa House and 14 in the Iowa Senate. The 39 new House members include 23 Republicans and 16 Democrats, with one of the new Republicans having come from the Iowa Senate. The 14 new Senators consist of 9 Republicans and 5 Democrats, with 4 of the Republicans and 3 of the Democrats having come from the Iowa House. 

Chamber Control

The Republicans control the Iowa House by a 64-36 margin and the Iowa Senate by a 34-16 margin. This is an increase of 4 seats in the House and 2 seats in the Senate from 2022. This means Senate Republicans have the coveted "supermajority," which allows them to confirm all of the Governor's judicial, agency, and board/commission appointments without needing a single Democratic vote.

The Political Jabs Have Already Begun

The 110-day session started off with a fair share of political jabs.  Republicans said they won their big majorities in the Iowa House and Senate because of their work to lower taxes, “repair the budget,” and “push back against the radical social agenda being forced upon us and our children by the left.”  The Democrats pushed back by calling tax cuts “giveaways to the ultra-rich” and attacks on LGBTQ+ Iowans “using the power of the state to bully them.”  Yet every single leader spoke about the need to work together to find solutions to the problems facing Iowans.  

These opening day speeches also give you a sneak peek at the priorities the majority and minority party will go after this year.  You can see how they differ below. You can read the opening speeches here.

Republican Leadership Priorities

1. Allowing more choice in schools, by allowing public (taxpayer) money to be used to send kids to private school.
2. Reforming schools, including a focus on “parents’ rights” and limiting schools’ ability to talk about gender identity.
3. Lowering property taxes, which pay for schools, parks, trails, libraries, police, fire and other city and county services.
4. Getting Iowans back to work, which may mean more help finding childcare or requiring those getting public assistance like Medicaid or food assistance to get jobs.

Democratic Leadership Priorities

1. Lowering costs for working families by making sure childcare is affordable and available, and businesses are paying a living wage.
2. Investing in public schools, instead of giving tax dollars to private schools.
3. Legalizing marijuana, so Iowans can use it both medicinally and recreationally as Missouri and Illinois have already done.
4. Protecting reproductive freedom and making Iowa a safe space for all Iowans, including those identifying as LGBTQ+. 

Governor's Priorities & Budget

Governor Kim Reynolds listed many of the same priorities as her Republican colleagues in her Condition of the State speech on the second day of session.  She did not include property tax changes on her list, but added several additions to her top requests:

• A school choice proposal that allows any Iowa student (after a 3-year phase-in) to be able to take the $7,598/year that would have gone to their public school, instead using it to pay for private school tuition.

• Major new restructuring of state government that will reorganize the duties of 37 executive branch entities and shrink cabinet level offices to 16. All professional licensing will move from the Iowa Department of Health & Human Services to the Department on Inspections and Appeals. We do not know details on these moves yet, but one thing government restructuring requires is re-writing rules (so not sure how that comports with the moratorium on new rules the Governor signed last week).

• Big investment in her registered apprenticeship program to create more career pathways to go beyond nursing, and include EMS and direct support professionals. She also wants to incentivize behavioral health providers to create career pathways and apprenticeships for community health workers, behavioral health counselors and substance abuse counselors. The Governor asks for a total of $15 million (an increase of $12 million) to expand this effort.

• The Governor is also recommending improving specialty care in rural areas by expanding her "Centers of Excellence" initiative that partners large health systems with small rural hospitals to focus on maternal health, cancer treatment, and surgery. The additional $575,000 will add two additional centers of excellence (bringing total to four). The Governor also plans to pass legislation to allow designation of rural emergency hospitals, which brings with it additional federal funds to stabilize emergency outpatient services in rural areas.

• The Governor’s Empower Rural Iowa Initiative will expand grant funding to pilot a new delivery model for EMS in two rural counties in order to decrease emergency response times. Grantees will get $50,000 to support volunteer recruitment and training, and purchase lifesaving equipment for each volunteer.

• Expanding the MOMS (More Opportunities for Maternal Support) program with an additional $2 million and providing grants to organizations that will engage dads. She also wants to provide all state employees with four weeks of paid family leave to moms who give birth to or adopt a child (one week for fathers).

• Funding for four one-year obstetrics residencies ($560,000) for family physicians who commit to practicing in rural areas.

• The Governor again recommends allowing a pharmacist to provide self-administered hormonal contraceptives over the counter without a prescription to adults.

• The Governor leant her support for tort reform, capping jury awards for “non-economic damages” after a death, disability, or injury resulting from a medical error.   

• To combat the increasing number of deaths due to overdose, the Governor is recommending enhanced penalties (zero tolerance) for manufacturing and distributing fentanyl laced products, but making naloxone more accessible by adding who can be secondary distributors (including police, fire, EMS, health care providers (including behavioral health), schools, public health departments, and state agencies.

• Finally the Governor has put a focus on state investments, including IPERS retirement funds. She wants to pass legislation that prohibits any investment firms that manage the state's money from boycotting fossil fuel energy or firearms companies and divest any holdings in companies that engage in ESG (environmental, social, governance) strategies.

The Governor's budget increases state spending by 3.3%, but only spends 88.2% of available revenues (far below the 99% limit). The total $8.487 billion budget leaves a projected $2 billion ending fund balance, about 23.5% of the state's budget. In addition to the noted programs above, the Governor's budget includes;

• $15 million increase for Medicaid to increase rates paid to 430 nursing homes. Medicaid is expected to have money left over at the end of the budget year (June 30, 2023) – about $322.7 million will be unspent.  The Governor’s budget will bring that down to $104.2 million at the end of June 2024.

• $6.5 million increase for MH/DS regions, bringing the total to $141 million.

• $82.8 million to public schools (2.5% increase) and $106.9 million for private school scholarships (this would fund scholarships for 14,068 students).

You can read more about the Governor’s budget and policy priorities below:

• Governor's budget brief (including Condition of State speech)
• Non-partisan Legislative Services Agency analysis of Governor’s budget.

IARHC Bill Tracker

With the Governor’s address in the rear view mirror, the Legislature will now spend the next seven weeks introducing bills by the truckload. Legislators have until February 10 to request bills, and until March 3 to get them out of their committee of origin (the infamous "first funnel" that kills off bills not making forward progress).

The IARHC bill tracker is the best place to find updates on where bills are in the legislative process. Bills are added daily, and bill status is in real-time, so you can always know where a bill is in the legislative process. There are already bills that:

• Designate Rural Emergency Hospitals (HF 13).
• Change the mental health professional loan repayment program.
• Create a tax on nicotine solutions used for vaping.
• Prohibit non-compete contracts with mental health professionals.
• Expand the non-compete contract ban enacted last year.
• Eliminate the certificate of need process.
• Create a team of legal experts to allow CBD use in nursing homes and schools.
• Establish a professional counselor license compact.
• Eliminate barriers to prescribing psychologists.
• Add more eligibility screenings for public assistance programs, including requiring recipients to verify their identity online (similar to what people do for bank access).
• Update child car seat laws to align with new recommendations.
• Prohibit schools from discussing gender identity and sexual orientation in grades K-3.
• Prohibit schools from accommodating gender non-conforming students unless parents approve (and requiring teachers to "out" kids if asked by parents).

That's just the first week! Watch the Bill Tracker for daily updates; we're just getting started!