BW INSIGHTS

2021 Iowa Legislative Session - Week 13 Summary

By BrownWinick | 04.12.2021
Governor Kim Reynolds’ broadband expansion proposal is gaining ground in both chambers. Last Tuesday the Senate unanimously passed HF 848, which would establish a grant framework to rapidly extend broadband access to underserved rural areas. Two days later, House Republicans moved to fund the program, earmarking $100 million in their... Read More

2021 Iowa Legislative Session - Week 12 Summary

By BrownWinick | 04.05.2021
Last Friday marked the end of the second legislative funnel, clearing the way for lawmakers to focus primarily on budget issues for the remainder of the session. Most bills that didn’t pass either the House or Senate plus committee in the opposite chamber are now “dead” through the end of the session. The main exceptions are bills dealing with... Read More

2021 Iowa Legislative Session - Week 11 Summary

By BrownWinick | 03.26.2021
Lawmakers are once again stepping up committee work to beat the second legislative funnel deadline. Most bills that haven’t passed one chamber plus committee in the other by Friday, April 2 will be dead for the rest of the session. The main exceptions are tax, spending, and government oversight legislation. After that, the legislature will focus... Read More

IWD Adopts New Rule in Response to COVID-19 and the Federal CARES Act

By Casey Alesch | 03.23.2021
Iowa Workforce Development (IWD) has adopted a new rule in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the federal CARES Act that requires employers to notify their employees of the availability of unemployment insurance upon separation or a reduction of hours. Prior to the emergency enactment of this new rule in August of 2020, Iowa employers were... Read More

2021 Iowa Legislative Session - Week 10 Summary

By BrownWinick | 03.19.2021
Following a surprise move by Democrats, the Senate unanimously passed a bill that would gradually eliminate Iowa’s inheritance tax and remove the required revenue benchmarks the state must reach before 2018 tax cuts take effect. Although Democrats initially opposed SF 576 in committee, they supported the measure on the floor, which passed 46-0... Read More

2021 Iowa Legislative Session – Week Nine Summary

By BrownWinick | 03.13.2021
Lawmakers are shifting their focus toward floor debate following last Friday's procedural deadline for most committee work. That includes the House overwhelmingly passing two bills aimed at increasing child care access across the state. HF 712 would offer developers tax credits for building child care facilities. Sixty percent of the funds would... Read More

2021 Iowa Legislative Session - Week Eight Summary

By BrownWinick | 03.08.2021
Lawmakers raced to advance dozens of bills in an effort to beat last Friday’s “first funnel” procedural deadline. Most bills that didn’t pass both subcommittee and full committee in either the House or Senate by March 5 are now “dead” for the remainder of this legislative session. The main exceptions are bills dealing with taxes, spending, and... Read More

Hart-Scott-Rodino Notification Thresholds Lowered for 2021

By BrownWinick | 03.03.2021
On February 1, 2021, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) announced the new 2021 Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 (“HSR”) notification thresholds. The FTC is required to annually update the HSR thresholds based on the change in gross national product. The new thresholds were published in the Federal Register on February 2,... Read More

2021 Iowa Legislative Session - Week Seven Summary

By BrownWinick | 02.26.2021
Schools will receive a 2.4% funding increase under a bill Governor Kim Reynolds signed into law Tuesday. House and Senate Republicans reached a compromise on the spending measure earlier this month. Reynolds and the House had supported a 2.5% increase, while the Senate GOP favored a 2.2% hike. Although the funding levels in SF 269 are... Read More

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