Legislative Updates

2/3/2023 Legislative Update 

1/27/23 Legislative Update

1/20/23 Legislative Update

1/13/2023 Legislative Update

1/4/23 Pre Session Update

House GOP Committee Assignments Set

The House Republicans have released their committee assignments.  Below are committees of interest.

Education

Rep. Skyler Wheeler – Chair

Rep.-Elect Craig Johnson - Vice Chair

Rep. Steven Bradley

Rep. Brooke Boden

Rep.-Elect Taylor Collins

Rep. Joel Fry

Rep.-Elect Dan Gehlbach

Rep.-Elect Bill Gustoff

Rep. Steve Holt

Rep.-Elect Heather Hora

Rep. Chad Ingels

Rep. Tom Moore

Rep. Anne Osmundson

Rep. Bubba Sorensen

Rep. Henry Stone

Education Reform
Rep. Pat Grassley – Chair
Rep. Matt Windschitl - Vice Chair
Rep. John Wills

Health and Human Services

Rep. Ann Meyer – Chair

Rep.-Elect Devon Wood - Vice Chair

Rep. Eddie Andrews

Rep. Michael Bergan

Rep. Brian Best

Rep. Brooke Boden

Rep. Steven Bradley

Rep. Joel Fry

Rep. Tom Jeneary

Rep.-Elect Barb Kniff-McCulla

Rep. Brian Lohse

Rep. Shannon Lundgren

Rep. Tom Moore

Rep.-Elect Hans Wilz

Education Appropriations

Rep. Carter Nordman – Chair

Rep.-Elect Bob Henderson - Vice Chair

Rep.-Elect Taylor Collins

Rep. Brent Siegrist

Rep. Skyler Wheeler

 

Health and Human Services Appropriations

Rep. Joel Fry – Chair

Rep.-Elect Hans Wilz - Vice Chair

Rep. Tom Jeneary

Rep. Shannon Lundgren

Rep. Ann Meyer

Appropriations

Rep. Gary Mohr – Chair

Rep.-Elect Taylor Collins - Vice Chair

Rep. Michael Bergan

Rep. Jacob Bossman

Rep. Joel Fry

Rep. Martin Graber

Rep. Steve Holt

Rep. Shannon Latham

Rep. Brian Lohse

Rep. Ann Meyer

Rep. Norlin Mommsen

Rep. Carter Nordman

Rep. Bubba Sorensen

Rep. Henry Stone

Rep.-Elect Devon Wood

Rep.-Elect David Young

Senate Sets Committee Chairs

The Senate Republicans have announced their Committee Chairs for the upcoming Legislative Session.

The Senate has chosen to rename two committees, changing the Labor Committee to the Workforce Committee, and Human Resources Committee to the Health and Human Resources Committee.

The chamber is also creating a new Technology Committee which focuses on information technology, telecommunication and cybersecurity.

Standing Committees

Agriculture

Senator Dawn Driscoll, R-Williamsburg

Appropriations

Senator Tim Kraayenbrink, R-Ft. Dodge

Commerce

Senator Waylon Brown, R-Osage

Education

Senator Ken Rozenboom, R-Pella

Government Oversight

Senator Amy Sinclair, R-Allerton

Health and Human Services 

(Human Resources has been renamed Health and Human Services)

Senator Jeff Edler, R-State Center

Judiciary

Senator Brad Zaun, R-Urbandale

Local Government

Senator Jesse Green, R-Boone 

Natural Resources and Environment

Senator Annette Sweeney, R-Alden

Rules and Administration

Senator Jack Whitver

State Government

Senator Jason Schultz, R-Schleswig

Technology

(The Technology Committee will focus on information technology, telecommunications, cybersecurity, and other related policies.)  

Senator Chris Cournoyer, R-LeClaire

Transportation

Senator Mike Klimesh, R-Spillville

Veterans Affairs

Senator Jeff Reichman, R-Montrose

Ways and Means

Senator Dan Dawson, R-Council Bluffs

Workforce 

(the Labor Committee has been renamed the Workforce Committee)

Senator Adrian Dickey, R-Packwood

 

Appropriations Subcommittees

Administration and Regulation

Senator Dave Rowley, R-Spirit Lake

Agriculture and Natural Resources

Senator Dan Zumbach, R-Ryan

Economic Development

Senator Mark Lofgren, R-Muscatine

Education

Senator Jeff Taylor, R-Sioux Center

Health and Human Services

Senator Mark Costello, R-Imogene

Justice Systems

Senator Julian Garrett, R-Indianola

Transportation, Infrastructure and Capitals

Senator Carrie Koelker, R-Dyersville

House of Representatives Sets Committee Chairs

The House GOP has announced their committee chairs for the 23-24 Session of the Iowa Legislature.  

Representative Skyler Wheeler of Sioux County will Chair the Education Committee and Representative Carter Nordman of Panora will lead the House side of the Education Appropriations Subcommittee.

The announcement also includes the formation of a new committee, the Education Reform Committee, which will be Chaired by Speaker Pat Grassley. The announcement noted that the new committee will consider “bills containing significant reforms to our educational system.”

Standing Committees:

Administrative Rules Review

Rep. Megan Jones (R-Sioux Rapids) – Chair

Agriculture

Rep. Mike Sexton (R-Rockwell City) – Chair

Appropriations

Rep. Gary Mohr (R-Bettendorf) – Chair

Commerce

Rep. Shannon Lundgren (R-Peosta) – Chair

Economic Growth

Rep. Ray Sorensen (R-Greenfield) – Chair

Education

Rep. Skyler Wheeler (R-Hull) – Chair

Education Reform

Rep. Pat Grassley (R-New Hartford) – Chair

*The Education Reform Committee will be a 5-person committee dealing with bills containing significant reforms to our educational system

Environmental Protection

Rep. Dean Fisher (R-Montour) – Chair

Government Oversight

Rep. Brooke Boden (R-Indianola) – Chair

Human Resources

Rep. Ann Meyer (R-Fort Dodge) – Chair

Judiciary

Rep. Steve Holt (R-Denison) – Chair

Labor

Rep. Dave Deyoe (R-Nevada) – Chair

Local Government

Rep. Shannon Latham (R-Sheffield) – Chair

Natural Resources

Rep. Tom Jeneary (R-Le Mars) – Chair

Public Safety

Rep. Phil Thompson (R-Jefferson) – Chair

State Government

Rep. Jane Bloomingdale (R-Northwood) – Chair

Transportation

Rep. Brian Best (R-Glidden) – Chair

Veterans Affairs

Rep. Chad Ingels (R-Randalia) – Chair

Ways & Means

Rep. Bobby Kaufmann (R-Wilton) – Chair

Appropriations Subcommittees:

Administration and Regulation Appropriations

Rep. Michael Bergan (R-Dorchester) – Chair

Agriculture and Natural Resources Appropriations

Rep. Norlin Mommsen (R-DeWitt) – Chair

Economic Development Appropriations

Rep. Martin Graber (R-Fort Madison) – Chair

Education Appropriations

Rep. Carter Nordman (R-Panora) – Chair

Health and Human Services Appropriations

Rep. Joel Fry (R-Osceola) – Chair

Justice Systems Appropriations

Rep. Brian Lohse (R-Bondurant) – Chair

Transportation, Infrastructure, and Capitals Appropriations

Rep. Jacob Bossman (R-Sioux City) – Chair

House and Senate GOP Choose Chamber Leaders

House and Senate Republicans met today to elect leaders for the upcoming 90th session of the Iowa Legislature.

In the House, Representative Pat Grassley was chosen to again serve as Speaker of the House and Representative Matt Windschitl will continue as Majority Leader.

Senator Jack Whitver will continue to serve as that chamber’s Majority Leader.  Senator Amy Sinclair was chosen by the members of her caucus to serve as Senate President.

With Senator Sinclair taking over as Senate President, a new Chair for that chamber’s Education Committee will soon be appointed.

Iowa House and Senate Majority Parties Remain Unchanged

With a statewide turnout of nearly 55-percent of registered voters, the makeup of the Iowa Legislature has been set, for the most part, for the upcoming 2023 Session of the General Assembly with the Republicans remaining in the majority in both the House and Senate.

We say “for the most part” because of problems counting absentee votes in Des Moines County.  The Burlington Hawkeye reports that a recount of the absentee ballots cast in the county will take place either later this week or early next week.

The results of the contest for House District 99, which includes the city of Burlington, will not be known until the recount takes place.  This race pits the longest tenured state lawmaker, Democrat Representative Dennis Cohoon, against GOP challenger Matt Rinker. Currently Rinker leads Cohoon by 770 votes.

In a rematch of House candidates from 2020, Democrat Heather Matson topped incumbent Republican Garrett Gobble by 24 votes in District 42 which is made up mostly of Ankney.

Incumbent Democrat Phyllis Thede was defeated by GOP newcomer Mike Vondren in House District 94, which includes portions of Davenport and Bettendorf, while Sioux City incumbent Democrat Steve Hansen was knocked off by Republican Robert Henderson.

In the Senate, redistricting pitted an incumbent against an incumbent in two new districts..

Democrat Sarah Trone Garriott defeated Republican Jake Chapman by over 800 votes in a battle for the new Senate District 14 in west suburban Des Moines.

In Eastern Iowa, Republican Dawn Driscoll topped Democrat Kevin Kinney by more than 2000 votes.

Also, Sioux City incumbent Democrat Senator Jackie Smith lost her reelection bid to Republican challenger Rocky De Witt by over 1400 votes.

Reynolds Re-Elected Governor

Incumbent Governor Kim Reynolds easily won reelection over Democrat challenger Deidre DeJear.  Reynolds’ margin of victory was well over 200,000 votes.

2023 Iowa Legislative Session Timetable

The 90th Session of the Iowa General Assembly is set to begin on Monday, January 9 and run for 110 days. 

Below are the key procedural dates that guide the flow of the legislative session:

January 9 - First day of the session

February 10 - Last day for individual lawmaker bill requests to be made.

March 3 - First “funnel” - This is the date by which a bill must be approved by a standing committee of its house of origin to remain eligible for further consideration that year. Appropriations, Ways and Means and Government Oversight committee bills are the exceptions to the “funnel” rules, as they are exempt from procedural deadlines.

March 31 - Second “funnel” - This is the date by which a bill has to be approved by a committee in the opposite chamber - meaning a House File must be approved by a Senate committee and a Senate File by a House committee to remain eligible for further consideration this year.

Appropriations, Ways and Means and Government Oversight committee bills are the exceptions to the “funnel” rules, as they are exempt from procedural deadlines.

April 28 - the 110th calendar day of the session