BW Insights

Government Relations Legislative Update - Week Five

Written by Various BW Attorneys | Feb 12, 2024 4:25:41 PM

The pace continued during week 5 with 164 bills scheduled for consideration in Committees and 165 scheduled for subcommittee discussions. Next week is funnel week - which means bills must be considered in a subcommittee and pass the Committee by next Friday. Of course, there are exceptions to that rule. Although based on the large numbers of bills moving through Committees, it doesn’t seem like many bills are actually getting “funneled”. 

Budget discussions continued on Monday. The meetings are interesting because presenters highlight important programs in the State for which they are responsible. Both the House and Senate held meetings. In the Senate Economic Development Appropriations Subcommittee, Iowa Economic Development Authority and Iowa Finance Authority Director Debi Durham discussed economic development in the state. Director Durham's presentation which can be found here, contains many interesting statistics. In her discussion on workforce Durham indicated the state is moving in a positive direction citing the fact that wage growth is up 5.7%, Iowa has the 6th highest labor force participation in the U.S., and we have recovered 179,300 jobs since the pandemic. As Durham discussed housing, she emphasized the fact that Iowa is the number one state for millennial home ownership and has the lowest income-to-mortgage ratio in the U.S. 

Electric Utilities. Two bills were filed this week that to varying degrees reflect the recommendations of the Iowa Utilities Board’s study on ratemaking principles for rate-regulated utilities conducted over the interim. The IUB’s consultant, London Economics International, LLC made recommendations in a report that can be found here. 

  • HSB 658 - This bill, requested by House Commerce Chairperson Shannon Lundgren, has several components. It allows advance ratemaking principles to be applied to energy storage facilities and allows investor-owned utilities to seek ratemaking approval for generating facilities greater than 40 megawatts. Current law is 300 MW. Alternate energy production facilities, energy storage facilities or significant alterations to existing plants can also be the subject of advance ratemaking. 

The bill allows the Iowa Utilities Board to require an integrated resource plan as a condition of advance ratemaking approval. It requires the IUB to conduct further review of performance-based regulation frameworks and various components to ensure utility services are safe, adequate, reliable and affordable and provided at nondiscriminatory, just, and reasonable rates based on cost of service. The report would be due on October 1, 2026. 

The House Subcommittee which met on Thursday moved the bill forward with an amendment that in addition to some technical changes, declares that it is the intent of the General Assembly to “encourage the development of nuclear electric power generation within the state using nuclear reactors and to use nuclear power to meet local and regional electric needs. 

  • SF 2244 - This bill is sponsored by Senator Mike Klimesh, who is also Chair of the subcommittee which meets next Tuesday. A utility is prohibited from setting a different rate for a customer of the same service class unless the utility shows a measurable difference in the cost of providing service. 

The bill requires rate-regulated electric utilities to file an integrated resource plan (IRP) within one year of enactment. IRP approval is conducted as a contested case proceeding. The IRP is required to include all utility facilities and resources for the provision of electric service, all contractual arrangements including demand response, energy efficiency measures, peak load management, distributed generation, power purchase agreements and wholesale market purchases. The plan must describe all current generation, transmission and distribution facilities. The IRP must include projected demand for service by customer class and characteristic load shape and proposed facilities and resources to meet the demand over the next ten years. The IRP is a very comprehensive look at the utilities resources both now and for the future. 

Behavioral Health Redesign.  The much discussed Department of Health and Human Services behavioral health reform initiative will result in a comprehensive change to Iowa’s mental health and behavioral health system. For more information, click here. As part of this redesign,  DHHS has posted snapshots of each county in the state and one for the overall state which identifies life expectancy and ranks counties, access to care, mental health, addictive disorders, economic stability and income, housing and transportation and healthy behaviors and outcomes. This information can be found here. 

HSB 653 and SSB 3146, the proposed Governor’s bills, were filed this week. The House bill passed a subcommittee on Thursday. The senate has a subcommittee planned for Monday.  The bills provide for the transition to be complete by July 1, 2025. 

For more information on this initiative, Director Kelly Garcia and additional DHHS staff will hold two Town Hall meetings next Tuesday, February 13 at 10am and 2:30pm. 

Once registered, you'll receive a confirmation email with the link to the townhall. 

In the Know  

The first legislative session was held in 1846. The session lasted 57 days, commencing on November 30 and adjourning sine die on February 25. The longest session on record was in 1978 when the legislature started on January 9 and adjourned an amazing 188 days later on July 15. The original Iowa Constitution, which was adopted in 1857, required the general assembly to meet in session every other year on the second Monday of January. The original Iowa Constitution is located in the Secretary of State’s Office in the Capitol Building. 

Legislative Forums  

While many lawmakers hold forums in their districts year-round, it’s especially important for them to hear from constituents when they’re making decisions during the legislative session.  The events listed below are opportunities to get involved. You can also find these events on BrownWinick’s Iowa Political Events page.   

Date 

Time 

Title 

Location 

2/10/24 

8:00 AM – 9:00 AM 

Creston Legislative Coffee 

Creston City Hall - Restored Depot (116 W. Adams Street, Creston, IA 50801) 

2/10/24 

8:30 AM – 10:00 AM 

Emmetsburg Legislative Forum 

Emmetsburg Chamber of Commerce (1121 Broadway Street, Emmetsburg, IA 50536) 

2/10/24 

8:30 AM – 9:30 AM 

Oskaloosa Coffee & Conversation 

Smokey Row Coffee (109 South Market Street, Oskaloosa, IA 52577) 

2/10/24 

9:00 AM – 10:00 AM 

Parkersburg Town Hall 

Parkersburg Public Library (309 3rd Street, Parkersburg, IA 50665) 

2/10/24 

9:00 AM – 10:00 AM 

Arlington Town Meeting 

Arlington Community Center (853 Main Street, Arlington, IA 50606) 

2/10/24 

9:30 AM – 10:30 AM 

Adair Legislative Forum 

Adair Community Center (308 Stuart Street, Adair, IA 50002) 

2/10/24 

9:30 AM – 10:30 AM 

Belmond Legislative Forum 

Belmond City Hall (112 2nd Avenue NE, Belmond, IA 50421) 

2/10/24 

10:00 AM – 11:00 AM 

Le Grand Community Conversation 

Sunrise Café (908 West Main St., Le Grand, IA 50142) 

2/10/24 

10:00 AM – 11:00 AM 

Storm Lake Legislative Forum 

King's Pointe Resort (1520 East Lakeshore Drive, Storm Lake, IA 50588) 

2/10/24 

10:30 AM – 12:30 PM 

Cedar Falls Community Conversation 

Central Rivers AEA (1521 Technology Pkwy, Cedar Falls, IA 50613) 

2/10/24 

11:00 AM – 12:00 PM 

Allison Town Hall 

Allison Public Library (412 3rd Street, Allison, IA 50602) 

2/10/24 

11:30 AM – 12:30 PM 

Winterset Legislative Forum 

Farm Bureau Financial Services (115 West Court, Winterset, IA 50273) 

2/10/24 

11:30 AM – 12:30 PM 

Humboldt Legislative Forum 

Humboldt City Hall (29 5th Street South, Humboldt, IA 50548) 

2/10/24 

1:00 PM – 2:00 PM 

Denver Town Hall 

Denver Public Library - Community Room (100 Washington Street, Denver, IA 50622) 

2/11/24 

8:30 AM – 10:00 AM 

Marion Coffee & Conversations 

Uptown Coffee Company (760 11th Street, Suite A, Marion, IA 52302) 

2/12/24 

8:00 PM – 9:00 PM 

Des Moines Office Hours with Rep. Baeth 

Lua Brewing (1525 High Street, Des Moines, IA 50309) 

2/15/24 

6:00 PM – 7:30 PM 

Des Moines Townhall 

Northwest Community Center (5110 Franklin Avenue, Des Moines, IA 50310) 

2/16/24 

9:30 AM – 10:30 AM 

Marshalltown Community Conversation 

Iowa Veterans Home - Malloy Hall Leisure Recreation Center (1301 Summit Street, Marshalltown, IA 50158) 

2/16/24 

10:00 AM – 11:00 AM 

Peosta Legislative Forum 

Farm Bureau Financial Services (8479 Commercial Court, Peosta, IA 52068) 

2/16/24 

2:00 PM – 3:15 PM 

Coralville Legislative Forum 

BioVentures Center (2500 Crosspark Rd., Coralville, IA 52241) 

2/17/24 

7:30 AM – 9:00 AM 

Fairfield Legislative Forum 

Fairfield Arts & Convention Center (200 North Main Street, Fairfield, IA 52556)  

2/17/24 

9:00 AM – 10:00 AM 

Iowa City Legislative Check-In 

Mammitas Coffee (224 South Linn St., Iowa City, IA 52240) 

2/17/24 

10:00 AM – 11:30 AM 

Linn County Legislative Forum 

Cedar Rapids Public Library, Beems A & B (450 5th Ave. SE, Cedar Rapids, IA 52401) 

2/17/24 

11:00 AM – 12:00 PM 

Orange City Legislative Forum 

MOC - Floyd Valley High School (615 8th Street SE, Orange City, IA 51041) 

2/12/24 

8:00 PM – 9:00 PM 

Des Moines Office Hours with Rep. Baeth 

Lua Brewing (1525 High Street, Des Moines, IA 50309) 

 

Key Dates — 2024 Iowa Legislative Session 

January 

February 

March 

April 

1/8: First day of session 

1/19: Final day for Senator and Representative bill requests 

2/16: First legislative funnel 

3/15: Second legislative funnel 

4/16: 100th calendar day of session (per diem expenses end) 

Scene on the Hill  

February 8, 2024: BrownWinick GR client Kim Pang meets with lawmakers including Rep. Sharon Steckman.