BW INSIGHTS

2021 Iowa Legislative Session - Week One Summary

By BrownWinick | 01.17.2021

The legislature convened for the 89th General Assembly Monday, welcoming 26 newly-elected lawmakers to the statehouse. With Republicans maintaining their majority in the Senate and expanding it in the House, the GOP will continue driving the state’s policy agenda for the next two years. In his opening remarks, House Speaker Pat Grassley (R-New... Read More

2020 Iowa Election Takeaways

By Matthew McKinney | 11.06.2020

While several close races remain following Tuesday’s elections, Republicans have expanded their Iowa House majority, maintained control of the Senate, and netted at least one new congressional seat. BrownWinick’s Government Relations team has carefully reviewed the current election results and produced a detailed report on all 130 state and... Read More

2020 Election Summary

By Matthew McKinney | 10.30.2020

With only days until the November 3rd election, the BrownWinick’s Government Relation’s Team has developed a 2020 Election summary document to provide the most up-to-date information. As a reminder, the Iowa Senate has 25 seats up for election this year and the Iowa House has all 100 seats. Currently, the Iowa Senate and House are controlled by... Read More

Department of Homeland Security Issues Guidance on Exemptions to Travel Bans

By BrownWinick | 08.24.2020

The Department of Homeland Security has issued guidance on exemptions to travel bans, specifically detailing exemptions to Presidential Proclamations 10014 and 10052, which together suspend the entry of certain immigrant visa applicants, and foreign nationals who present a risk to the U.S. economic recovery efforts in the wake of COVID-19, until... Read More

2020 Legislative Session - Week 10

By BrownWinick | 06.05.2020

Lawmakers returned to the Capitol Wednesday following an 11-week suspension due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since they paused activity days prior to the second funnel deadline, most bills that did not pass the House or Senate, plus committee in the other chamber by the end of the day on Friday, June 5 are “dead” for the remainder of session. Tax,... Read More

COVID-19 Update: New Proclamation Restricting Northeast Iowa Activities

By Matthew McKinney | 04.16.2020

Today, Governor Reynolds announced additional restrictions in Northeast Iowa due to the heightened risk of COVID-19. Risk is based upon several factors, measured across 6 different geographic regions (as we’ve outlined before and depicted on the attached map), and ranked on a scale of 1 - 10 (10 being highest risk). Today, region 6 (northeast... Read More

2020 Legislative Session - Week 9

By BrownWinick | 03.13.2020

NOTE: This post has been updated to reflect new measures taken by the governor and lawmakers to address coronavirus-related issues as of late afternoon Monday, March 16. Legislative leadership has suspended the 2020 session for at least the next 30 days due to community spread of the novel coronavirus, COVID-19. House Speaker Pat Grassley (R-New... Read More

2020 Legislative Session - Week 8

By BrownWinick | 03.06.2020

Lawmakers passed their first major appropriations bill this week, funding K-12 education. Under SF 2142 school spending would increase by about $85.57 million. The 2.3% funding hike was a compromise between Senate and House Republicans. While the Senate proposed a 2.1% increase, the House called for 2.5%, which is what Governor Kim Reynolds... Read More

2020 Legislative Session - Week 7

By BrownWinick | 02.28.2020

Since many bills failed to clear the key “first funnel” deadline, lawmakers have shifted their focus to debating active legislation on the floor and crafting government spending measures. Governor Kim Reynolds signed a bill Tuesday allocating more than $13 million to address K-12 funding inequities. SF 2164 authorizes $7.2 million to assist school... Read More

2020 Legislative Session - Week 6

By BrownWinick | 02.21.2020

Lawmakers focused heavily on committee work this week, as they raced to beat Friday’s first funnel deadline. Most legislation that hasn't passed full committee in either the Senate or the House isn't eligible for consideration the rest of session. (The major exceptions to this rule are bills dealing with taxes, spending, or government oversight.)... Read More