Governor Reynolds issued a second State of Public Health Disaster Emergency Declaration Friday, March 20, effective immediately. The declaration provides additional regulatory relief to Iowans impacted by the COVID-19 public...more
The Iowa Legislature met Monday, March 16 in a one-day session to officially “pause” the session for 30-days and address several funding issues.
Emergency Measures passed both chambers unanimously; the Governor signed...more
Iowa’s Response to Coronavirus -
As the nation and the world react to the spread of COVID-19, Governor Reynolds’s Office is coordinating Iowa’s response with the Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) as the lead...more
Candidate Filing Deadline -
Next Friday, March 13, is the filing deadline for the June primary. This is a critical deadline to watch because we will know the field of candidates (other than write-in) for all the...more
Following the first funnel, this week we predictably saw an uptick in floor action in both chambers and a couple of debates that lasted into the evening. The late nights had as much to do with the volume of the work as it did...more
In 1979, after a legislative session that didn’t end until July, the Iowa General Assembly decided it needed a way to better organize the work it was doing. What resulted was a legislative process now referred to as “The...more
At the close of the first third of the 15-week legislative session, bills are being sent to the Governor for her signature, the House and Senate have each passed their respective education funding level bills, the Governor’s...more
While week four of the Iowa General Assembly was extremely active with legislation being both introduced and acted upon, it will most likely not be remembered for that. Rather, it will be remembered as the week of the 2020...more
With the Iowa Caucus nearly upon us, the Iowa Legislature continued an impressive pace in week three of the 2020 legislative session. 213 bills and resolutions were introduced this week, which brings the total number of bills...more
The second week of the legislative session was a short week as the legislature observed Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday, January 20. Nonetheless, the legislature made up for lost time by doubling down on subcommittee...more
The second year of the 88th General Assembly convened on Monday. Republicans maintain their majority in both chambers, 53-47 majority in the House and a 32-18 majority in the Senate....more
1/20/2020
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Constitutional Amendment ,
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Flooding ,
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State Funding ,
Tax Credits ,
Telehealth
The 2020 session of the 88th General Assembly (GA) began Monday, January 13th.
Legislative Branch Developments -
Makeup of the 88th General Assembly -
Republicans maintain their majority in both chambers, though...more
On Monday, October 7, 2019, the Iowa House Republicans held leadership elections triggered by Rep. Linda Upmeyer’s announcement that she would step down as Speaker and not seek re-election in 2020.
The office of Speaker of...more
After a number of long days and late nights, the First Session of the 88th General Assembly of Iowa adjourned sine die on Saturday, April 27, 2019—the 105th day of session, five days ahead of the scheduled adjournment date...more
5/1/2019
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State Budgets ,
State Constitutions
At the close of Week 14, with 2 weeks left until the scheduled adjournment date of May 3rd, both House and Senate Majority Leadership teams are signaling that the session is nearly complete. There is a sense that the leaders...more
At the close of the thirteenth week, there are only three scheduled weeks left in the legislative session. Functionally—because Easter weekend is next weekend - that amounts to fourteen work days until the 110th day, the...more
Week 11 brought a balanced amount of floor and committee work, with a pause on Wednesday for two special recognitions. The legislature celebrated Pioneer Lawmakers, those lawmakers and honorary individuals who have served the...more
Three weeks out from the second funnel deadline, both the House and Senate continued to work through bills on their calendars. Much of the focus was on floor work this week, with a fair amount of committee work peppered...more
This week was the first of four weeks between the funnels. Most effort right now is dedicated to getting bills passed by one chamber so the other chamber can begin committee work....more
This week was the first funnel week of the session. If at the end of this week a bill had not passed out of a committee in either chamber, that bill would no longer be eligible for debate this session and would be regarded as...more
This week, the focus remained on passing bills out of subcommittees and committees. Next week is “funnel week.” Friday, March 8 is the deadline for House bills to pass out of House Committees and Senate bills to pass out of...more
With two weeks left to go before the first legislative funnel (information on the funnel process in last week’s blog post), progress was made on both the policy and appropriations fronts. Floor work is heating up in both...more
This week, the pace of bills being introduced stayed constant from last week, as did subcommittee and committee work. High pace, high volume. Work on high profile issues continues; sports betting is being refined behind the...more
This week, hundreds of bills were introduced and many were acted upon. There has been an uptick in the pace at which bills are being assigned and advancing through the subcommittee and committee process, which has resulted in...more
Unlike most of the rest of the state, weather did not have much of an impact on the business of the legislature with the exception of the cancellation of a few events. This week, many bills moved through subcommittees and a...more