Session Winds Down, Budgets Begin

The Iowa Legislative Session is nearly over. After three months of hard work, the Iowa Legislature is now in its final month. Both major “funnel” deadlines have passed. This final phase of session, which is scheduled to end on April 28, will focus on budgets, tax cuts, and finalizing some of the priority bills still in play. Remember, you can use the our Bill Tracker to get more information on these and other bills. 

Bills Still in Play

• Requiring seizure action plans and training in schools (HF 608)
• Automatic annual increases in Medicaid rates (HF 378)
• Getting rid of state income tax on caregiver wages (SF 7/HF 264)
• More stakeholder input on MH/DS Region Boards (HF 471)
• Taxing MCOs to increase Medicaid match (HF 685/SF 462)
• Adding new asset tests for public benefits (HF 613/SF 494)
• Adding a new definition of Brain Health (SF 210/HF 273)
• Allowing teachers to remove disruptive students from classroom and requiring explosion after three strikes (HF 604)

Bills No Longer in Play

• New college-based transition scholarships for young adults with disabilities (HF 252)
• Increasing ID Waiver caps on home and vehicle modifications to align with BI waiver (HF 275)
• Ending insurance limits on autism treatment (HF 243) and requiring schools excuse absences for students getting autism treatment (HF 610)
• Stopping “switching” of prescriptions when person is stable on the medication (HF 626)
• Requiring all guardians to use the same forms (SF 295)
• Changing and eliminating HHS Boards/Commissions, ending per diems for citizen members (HF 566)

Bills that didn’t make the deadlines this year (or don’t get passed into law before the end of session) will be alive again in 2024. They do not have to start the process all over. Some of these bills are also likely to become amendments to other bills or be discussed during budget talks.  So don’t give up on your advocacy

You can use our Take Action Center to advocate for these bills and even those that didn't make it!

If you want scholarships for college-based transition programs, ask to have it included in the Education budget! 

If you want to see the ID waiver caps for home and vehicle modifications increased, ask to have that included in the Health and Human Services budget! 

If you do not want to wait another year for guardianship changes, ask that it be amended into another bill.

Asset Tests for Public Assistance Likely to Pass

It looks like some form of new asset testing for public assistance will become law, unless legislators begin to feel pressure from the people they represent.  Senate File 494, which is ready for debate in the House, requires household asset tests for Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (called Hawk-I), the Supplemental Food Assistance Program (SNAP), or the Family Investment Program (FIP). There is currently no asset test for HAWK-I. The State already has a federally approved asset verification process for Medicaid, but it is for the individual, not the entire household. .

To continue receiving public assistance, a household cannot have more than $15,000 in assets. The value of your House and retirement savings are not counted. One car plus a second car that is worth no more than $10,000 are also not counted. Any other “asset” owned by someone living in the house would be counted. Here’s one example that was used by an advocate during a recent meeting: 

Grandma lives with you because she needs a live-in caregiver.

She owns a cabin in rural Iowa. The value of that cabin could count against

her grandchild’s eligibility for food assistance and health insurance. 

Iowans would only be given ten calendar days from the day a notice is mailed to respond. Failure to respond could mean a disruption in assistance for those still eligible but not able to “prove it” in the ten-day window. During a public hearing held on this bill, a parent of two sons with autism spoke about the potential impact on her children.

• You can read her statement here and watch her testimony here.

There are a lot of questions about these bills that are not getting answered. People who support the bill say they want to make sure only people eligible for help are getting it. The savings they get from eliminating “waste and fraud” could be used to provide more services to those who are eligible. Those who oppose the bill say that the 10 days people are given to respond to “discrepancies” is not enough time to find the documents needed to prove they are still eligible. They say the savings would be from people who are eligible, but just could not do the additional paperwork in time to avoid losing services.  

As approved, the bill would require the state to hire 217 staff, spend $5.5 million to upgrade computer systems, and use $7 million in taxpayer dollars to hire a private company to do the database checks. The state is expected to pay nearly $20 million over two years to put this in place. After three years, the state is expected to save $8.1 million. Almost all the savings comes from Medicaid. An estimated 8,000 Iowans will lose their Medicaid coverage, and 2,800 will no longer get help to buy food. 

The Iowa DD Council, Disability Rights Iowa, Brain Injury Alliance of Iowa, United Way, Food Bank Association, Iowa Hunger Coalition, Iowa Community Action Agencies, and many health professional groups are opposed to the bill. Only three organizations support it: Opportunity Solutions Project, Iowans for Tax Relief, and Americans for Prosperity. 

Once the Senate makes decisions on how much money each budget can spend, an amendment will be offered on the Senate floor to add in the money and make any changes to the language of the bill.  This is unusual, but they have done it at least once in the last 30 years. It’s just not the normal process for budgeting. This process does not allow the public to see their budgeted dollar amounts before the whole budget comes to the floor for debate.

• Administration/Regulation Budget (SF 557)
• Agriculture/Natural Resources Budget (SF 558)
• Economic Development Budget (SF 559)
• Education Budget (SF 560)
• Health and Human Services Budget (SF 561)
• Justice Systems Budget (SF 562)
• Judicial Branch Budget (SF 563)

There are three other budgets that will come out: 

• Transportation (but it is almost entirely federal funds)
• Infrastructure (uses gambling revenues for things like buildings, technology)
• Standings (the last budget bill that is kind of a catch-all for anything missed)

The House has started the Federal Block Grant Budget (HSB 243), which just passes out federal money that comes to the state (like the Community Mental Health Block Grant and the Substance Use Disorder Block Grant). It is done every two years. Looking at the programs that may impact Iowans with disabilities, there are no changes from prior years.

Keeping up with HHS

Advocate Resources

Bill Tracker

Action Center

Calendar & Legislative Town Halls

Guide to the Iowa Legislature

Advocacy Toolkit

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This project is supported by the Administration for Community Living (ACL), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award totaling $774,176 with 100 percent funding by ACL/HHS. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by ACL/HHS, or the U.S. Government.