Appropriations

Above is the proposed budget from the House for fiscal year 2027. This budget is an increase of 1.6 percent in General Fund spending from the prior fiscal year. The bills which set out all the line items for this proposed budget are as follows: Administration and Regulation (HSB 771), Agriculture and Natural Resources (HSB 772), Economic Development (HSB 773), Justice Systems (HSB 775) and Judicial Branch (HSB 776). Stay tuned to the news from the House to see further updates regarding the budget, both the budget for Health and Human Services (HSB 777) and Education (HSB 778) have passed through their subcommittees and will soon be discussed in the full Appropriations standing committee.

Commerce

Serving as vice chair of the Commerce committee, I wanted to provide some updates to bills passed through the committee. All the bills listed below have made their way to Governor Reynolds and have been signed into law:

SF 2214 — Transmission Line Right of Way

This bill requires the Department of Transportation to coordinate with utilities and transmission line developers on the use of highway and interstate rights-of-way for transmission line construction.

HF 2232 — Financial Exploitation

Proposed by the Department of Insurance and Financial Services, this bill allows insurers to delay disbursement of funds when financial exploitation is suspected. It establishes notification requirements to permitted third parties and the insurance commissioner, sets timelines for such delays and mandates employee training on identifying and responding to financial exploitation.

SF 572 — Health Facility Ownership

This bill prohibits ownership of hospitals and health care facilities by entities associated with China, Russia or North Korea.

SF 2215 — Contingent Deferred Annuities

This bill exempts contingent deferred annuities, retirement-focused insurance products, from Iowa’s nonforfeiture law. The language is based on a model developed by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC).

HF 2497 — Car Sharing

This bill establishes an insurance and liability framework for peer-to-peer car-sharing programs, governing agreements between vehicle owners and drivers.

HF 2582 — Public Adjusters

While not a formal department bill, this legislation was proposed by the Department of Insurance and Financial Services. It implements provisions from last year’s law by enhancing fraud oversight of public adjusters, providing certain exemptions for insurance companies and updating financial responsibility requirements.

Veteran’s Affairs

House Veterans Affairs Committee has sent two bills to the Governor for her consideration:

House File 2491 provides full tuition, at Iowa’s regent universities, to all Veteran’s in Iowa who have a disability rating of 100%. With this tuition program, veterans can earn as many degrees as they wish, as long as they have been accepted into the program. Those who have served us, and those who have sustained serious debilitating injuries serving the United States, deserve this program and I am happy to have been on the committee which passed it.

The second bill sent to the Governor was Senate File 93, which allows National Guard members and reservists to serve on their county commission of veterans affairs. Another change I am happy to see.

Local Government

Last week, Governor Reynolds signed into law a bill that I was on the subcommittee for, Senate File 2369. This bill was a cleanup bill that clarifies definitions regarding a prior bill that allowed for cities and counties to determine the size calculations of accessory dwelling units, or ADUs. This law states that the cities and counties can only regulate the size of ADU’s in historical preservation districts to the same extent that other buildings in that district are regulated based on historical, archaeological, architectural or cultural aspects of that district.

The House has heard the concerns of Iowans regarding the affordability of housing in Iowa and with this bill being signed into law the house has taken steps towards fixing this problem by eliminating burdensome regulation and processes which increase costs across the board in regard to housing.

Marshalltown High School teacher Brad Rahmiller brought his class to the capitol this week to visit and observe the legislative process as well as participate in a mock committee meeting.

As always, thank you for the honor to serve you in the Iowa House. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or issues. I’d love to have visitors, so don’t hesitate to come to the Capitol and say hi.