Monday, March 27th will mark Session Day 78 of the scheduled 110-day session, almost 3/4 of the way to the April 28th date when legislative per diems end for the year. The Legislature has historically been able to wrap up the session “shortly” after that date. 

Second Funnel

Monday will also mark the first day of both the 12th week of the session and the Second Funnel Week. By close of business Friday, March 31st, any policy bill that has not been approved by committee in both chambers will be dead for the year. Bills in three committees – Oversight, Appropriations, and Ways & Means – are exempt from the funnel deadline. For that reason, those three committees are the ONLY ones that will meet after this week.

In an effort to move bills through the funnel, there will be no debate in the Iowa Senate this week, and most likely little or no debate in the House. Instead, legislators will have a flurry of subcommittee and full committee meetings to maximize the number of bills that clear the deadline. Since this is the first session of a two-year General Assembly, remember that any bill that dies in either the first or second funnel this session becomes alive again next year. 

Budget

With the Revenue Estimating Conference’s (REC) March projections in hand, and a directive to start putting together budgets based on the earlier (and lower) December REC projections, the House and Senate will start moving forward on assembling the Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 State budget. The House and Senate took the first step in the budget process this week by setting their overall budget targets.

• The state’s current budget is $8.21 billion.
• The Governor’s budget recommendation was $8.486 billion, which is a 3% increase.
• The Senate set their budget target at the Governor’s level, $8.486 billion.
• The House target is a little higher at $8.58 billion, which is a 4.5% increase.
• The House said they want to use additional money to provide toward nursing homes.

The Legislature is allowed to spend 99% of the money the state collects, but they have set targets well below the $9.65 billion spending allowed.  They are only spending about 88% of what they are allowed, the rest of the money, nearly $2 billion, is set aside for future tax cuts.  

The next step in the process is for the House and Senate to divide their overall numbers among the seven Appropriations Subcommittees. Those subcommittees and the full Appropriations Committees will then assemble and start to move roughly ten appropriations bills that will enact the full FY 2024 budget.

What Else?

An interesting difference in this year’s session is that we’re not sure what else will end up being enacted beyond the budget. In a typical session, we reach this point of the year and we have an idea about 3-4 main priorities still in play for the Governor, the House, and the Senate. 

This year, the Governor’s agenda has largely been passed already, and the House and Senate haven’t honed in on issues they absolutely NEED to see finished before adjournment. We certainly know there are some big priorities (property tax reform, for example), but we don’t get a sense that any of the big remaining issues HAVE to be completed before the Legislature goes home.

Library News

As many of you know, even though time is beginning to run short on the legislative session, it is a critical time for a handful of library issues. Keep weighing in with your thoughts and concerns. A number of bills that would have had a negative impact on libraries have died for the year, but there are still number of bills on which we are keeping a close eye.

Governor's Education Reform (One)

The Governor's first education reform bill, SF391 (Link), was amended by the House and is back in the Senate. The bill contains in Division II two major changes that will have detrimental effects to the teacher librarian profession. First, it places into the Iowa Code language saying the Board of Educational Examiners (BOEE) "shall not require an applicant for a teacher librarian license to have a master's degree". Second, beginning July 1, 2023, it allows a school district to employ either a teacher librarian or "a person previously employed as a librarian by a public library."

The House's amendment to SF391 did NOT alter the library provisions of the bill, so at this point, it is unlikely the Legislature will make any more changes. We anticipate the Senate will take up and pass SF391 early in the week after funnel week.

Governor's Education Reform (Two)

As you may recall, the Governor introduced a second Education Reform bill (now numbered SF 496 - Link) that would make a number of school policy changes. Of concern to Iowa's library community was a provision that would require written parental consent for a student to check out a book that was removed from ANY school district in Iowa. ILA has argued that such a one-size-fits-all approach to book removals would have a hugely damaging effect on Iowa schools and students, and would have the potential of having the book list system abused and exploited.

During debate on SF 496, the Senate struck and replaced the entire bill with their own amendment. Many of the provisions of the amendment remained the same as the original bill, however the Governor's book list provisions were replaced by the "Age Appropriateness" provisions contained in House File 597 (Link), which we explained in more detail in the last Capitol Report. While ILA would rather see no new restrictions pass, we recognize that the age appropriateness language is an easier provision to work with than the book list.

SF 496 does also contain some original language from the Governor's bill that requires schools to post online a comprehensive list of all books and instructional materials at the school. This will undoubtedly be difficult for many schools to implement, but a number of school districts started to have those conversations after similar efforts last year just barely came up short of being enacted.

Government Reorganization

The Governor's Reorganization bill (SF 514) is now awaiting the Governor's signature. This bill contains over 1500 pages and several hundred Code changes in an effort to modernize state government and reduce the number of Cabinet level positions in Iowa from 37 down to 16. Among those many changes, the bill will move the State Library and related programs from the Dept of Education over to the Dept of Administrative Services. It will also make the State Librarian position one that serves at the pleasure of the Governor rather than being appointed by the Commission on Libraries.

Advocacy

Remember that NOW is the time to be weighing in on the issues you want to see taken up yet this session (or the issues you want to see permanently put on hold!). Be contacting your legislators and the Governor’s Office to make sure your voice is heard AND reach out to family and friends and grow your advocacy network!  

For Those of You watching the Tax Bills

Property Tax Reform

Whether the House, Senate and Governor end up enacting property tax reform this session is a question on a lot of your minds. There are a number of bills in the House and the Senate, but the major packages include HF1 and SF 356 (formerly SSB 1124).

We have summarized these bills earlier, but we wanted to pass along some new information on SF 356, including a fiscal analysis (HERE) and the League of Cities' Link to be able to analyze the effects of the bill on your community.

As we have said previously, the approaches taken by the two chambers are very different from one another which often makes it difficult to reach consensus before adjournment. Keep watching these issues closely and talking with your legislators.

Income Tax Reduction

On the heels of legislation last year to phase the income tax in Iowa down to 3.9% by 2026, the Senate this past week moved legislation (SF 552, formerly SSB 1126) out of committee to go even further. The bill would reduce the rate to 2.5% by 2028, and then would start in 2030 to reduce it toward zero, adjusting the reduction every year based on the amount of available revenues in the Taxpayer Relief Fund. The bill faces an uncertain future should it advance to the House.