2025 Government Relations Legislative Update - Week Fifteen

By: Matthew H. McKinney, R.G. Schwarm & Julie A. Smith

Capitol Update

The 110th day of the legislative session is next Friday, May 2nd. Old hands at the Capitol look for boxes on the floor of the House and Senate for legislators to pack their belongings in to take home at the end of session. No such sightings yet! The Senate passed 24 bills this week and the House passed 44 bills. So far this session, the Senate has passed 197 bills over to the House and the House has passed 259 bills over to the Senate. There are 108 bills that have made it through both the House and Senate and the Governor has signed 35 bills. This week, the Governor signed SF 619, the disaster assistance bill. The bill was in response to the 2024 flooding and tornadoes in Iowa and was one of her main priorities for this session. For a detailed summary of the bill see the Week 14 newsletter.

While several high-profile Republicans are reportedly considering entering the 2026 Governor’s race, this week current Republican State Senator Mike Bousselot from Ankeny, said he is creating an exploratory committee to consider doing so. He has already received the endorsement of his former boss, Governor Terry Branstad. Bousselot, an attorney, was a policy advisor and chief of staff to Branstad. He was head of the Department of Management and was first elected to public office as a State Representative in a special election in 2021. Bousselot then ran for the Senate seat representing District 21 and was elected to serve a Senate term through 2026. The only official entrant at this time is former state Representative Brad Sherman who announced in February that he would be running for the Governor’s seat. Sherman, a Republican from Williamsburg served one term in the Iowa House in 2023/2024 and is a pastor.

The first official appropriations bill, SF 628 passed unanimously on the floor of the Senate on Wednesday. The bill which appropriates monies from the Road Use Tax Fund and the Primary Road Fund to the Department of Transportation for FY 2026. Typically, it is the first appropriations bill that moves during session. It has been assigned to the House Appropriations Committee.

On Wednesday, the House agreed to the Senate Amendment to HF 706, a bill that deals with open meetings and open records. The Senate Amendment added information obtained from legislative security camera systems monitoring property owned or leased by the state and information obtained from state employee ID card access for systems and buildings and rooms owned or leased by the state to the list of confidential records. Other provisions of the bill include increased penalties for open meetings violations, the expanded ability to remove a member of a governmental entity for a subsequent violation and required training for local elected officials. The bill only applies to local elected officials and not members of the judicial, legislative or executive branches.

A bill that was discussed in Week 12, the Uniform Public Protection Expression Act or anti-SLAPP bill, HF 472 passed the House unanimously yesterday. The next step for the bill is the Governor’s signature. The bill creates a special motion for expedited relief in a cause of action against a person based on the person's exercise of first amendment rights when communicating in a legislative, executive, judicial, administrative or other governmental proceeding or on a matter of public concern. First amendment protections include the exercise of the right of freedom of speech or of the process, the right to assemble or petition or the right of association, guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States or the Constitution of the State of Iowa, on a matter of public concern. Since this is a uniform law, the bill includes a provision on uniformity of application and construction between states that have enacted the law. The purpose of the law is to protect a person's first amendment rights and expedite lawsuits that are used to prevent such exercise.

In The Know

A bill can’t become a law until approved by the Governor. The Governor's power is governed by specific rules contained in the Iowa Constitution and the Iowa Code. See Sec. 16 of the Iowa Constitution. The Governor can either approve or veto a bill. If the Governor vetoes a bill, the House and Senate may override the veto with two-thirds vote. To see bills that have been vetoed or item vetoed over the last 20 years, click here.

During the legislative session if the Governor fails to act within three days after receiving a bill, the bill becomes law. However, any bill submitted to the governor during the last three days of a session must be signed within thirty days after adjournment or it does NOT become law.

The Governor’s ability to item veto a bill was added by amendment in 1968. See Amendment 27. The provision allows the Governor to veto an “item” or “part” of a bill, as long as it’s an appropriations bill. There are many court cases defining what an “item” or “part” is and what is considered an appropriations bill. These provisions are codified in the Iowa Code, see Chapter 3, section 3.4,3.5 and 3.7.