BW INSIGHTS

2023 Iowa Legislative Session - Week 15 Summary

By BrownWinick | 04.21.2023

The Senate continued its confirmation of the Governor’s appointees this week. Erik Helland, a lawyer and former Republican state representative, was confirmed as the new Chairperson of the Iowa Utilities Board. Sarah Martz, the engineering director of utilities at Iowa State University was confirmed as a new Iowa Utilities Board member. The IUB... Read More

2023 Iowa Legislative Session - Week 14 Summary

By BrownWinick | 04.14.2023

This week, the Senate focused on advancing a number of the Governor’s appointees through Committees, including: appointees to the Iowa Autism Council, the Department of Education Director, and appointees to the Iowa Higher Education Loan Authority through the Education Committee; appointees to the Board of Veterinary Medicine Board through the... Read More

2023 Iowa Legislative Session - Week 13 Summary

By BrownWinick | 04.07.2023

On Monday, the Senate Appropriations Committee advanced four budget bills that will eventually establish the state general fund spending for the fiscal year beginning on July 1. The bills that were passed do not yet include specific budget numbers, but those figures will later be amended into the bill. The Senate’s work continued on Tuesday when... Read More

2023 Iowa Legislative Session - Week 12 Summary

By BrownWinick | 04.04.2023

Friday marked the end of the second legislative funnel week. Bills must have cleared the Chamber of origin and the other Chamber’s Committee by the close of business. Those bills that did not meet this deadline are now considered “dead” through the end of session. The main exceptions to this deadline are bills that deal with taxes, spending, and... Read More

2023 Iowa Legislative Session - Week 11 Summary

By BrownWinick | 03.24.2023

On Wednesday, the Senate approved a bill to limit the use of mobile devices while driving. Senate File 547 makes the use of mobile devices while driving a car illegal unless used in a hands-free or voice-activated mode. The bill passed the Senate by a 47-3 vote. The bill’s floor manager, Senator Mark Lofgren (R-Muscatine), said the bill will... Read More

2023 Iowa Legislative Session - Week 10 Summary

By BrownWinick | 03.17.2023

A bill proposed by Governor Kim Reynolds that seeks to streamline state government through reorganization was approved by the House on Wednesday and will head to the Governor’s desk for her signature. The bill, which is over 1,500 pages in total, seeks to cut the number of cabinet-level state agencies from 37 to 16 and would eliminate hundreds of... Read More

2023 Iowa Legislative Session - Week 9 Summary

By BrownWinick | 03.10.2023

The Revenue Estimating Conference (REC), comprised of a three-member panel (Kraig Paulsen, David Underwood, and Jennifer Acton), met Friday (3/10/23) as part of its standard schedule of meetings to estimate future state revenues. The REC projects higher revenues for fiscal years 2023 and 2024 as compared to the December 2022 estimates (1.4%... Read More

Government Relations Update - 03-10-23

By BrownWinick | 03.10.2023

The Revenue Estimating Conference (“REC”), comprised of a three-member panel (Kraig Paulsen, David Underwood, and Jennifer Acton), met today (3/10/23) as part of its standard schedule of meetings to estimate future state revenues. A summary of the information discussed during the meeting is below, along with the attached spreadsheet distributed... Read More

2023 Iowa Legislative Session - Week 8 Summary

By BrownWinick | 03.06.2023

This week saw a flurry of activity from lawmakers as they rushed to advance numerous bills in an effort to beat Friday’s first “funnel”. From Monday through Thursday, 237 bills were listed on Committee agendas, 132 subcommittees were held and the last Committee notice went out Friday morning at 12:34 a.m. for the House Judiciary to meet - with 16... Read More

2023 Iowa Legislative Session - Week 7 Summary

By BrownWinick | 02.27.2023

The week continued to ramp up as lawmakers prepare for next week’s funnel. This means that, with a few exceptions, by the end of next week, all bills must be voted out a subcommittee and their corresponding Senate or House committees. With an eye towards the quickly approaching funnel deadline, lawmakers packed this week with subcommittee and... Read More