| Greetings, Week 14 was very busy here at the Statehouse. On Wednesday, the University of Iowa visited the Capitol to showcase their various programs and I got to meet with Clark Stanford, Dean of the University Dental College. This week was also spent in long caucus meetings and debates as we discussed and passed many interesting bills. Senate File 494 – Accountability in Iowa’s Welfare Programs - This week, the Iowa House passed Senate File 494 to implement reasonable accountability measures to Iowa’s public assistance programs.
- This bill has taken many forms throughout the legislative process as we’ve sought feedback from Iowans. Here’s what is in the final bill, now headed to the Governor’s desk.
- Requires welfare applicants to complete a computerized identity authentication process to confirm their identity prior to receiving benefits.
- Requires applicants’ assets to be reviewed prior to enrollment in SNAP. Specifically, this bill sets those asset limits at $15,000 liquid assets for the household, and allows for one vehicle to have unlimited value, and a second vehicle to be up to $10,000 of value.
- Household items like clothes or TVs don’t count toward someone’s liquid assets.
- To be clear, this portion of the bill only applies to SNAP, not to Medicaid.
- Requires the state to check all income, employment, and financial institutions to ensure that applicants for welfare programs meet all eligibility criteria for those programs.
- Requires a more efficient, user-friendly eligibility system to be in place by July 1, 2025. This very necessary IT upgrade will benefit all those who apply for assistance.
- Makes cooperation with child support services a condition of eligibility for Medicaid.
- This is estimated to save the state $8 million and the federal government $42 million annually beginning in FY2027. There are initial costs to implement the IT upgrades and for more workers to ensure Iowans receive the child support they are due.
- Opponents of this legislation say there is no fraud in the system, however, Iowa has been penalized $1.8 million by the federal government for having an error rate 3.2% higher than the national average. Additionally, in FY2022, the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals found 2,761 founded investigations of SNAP overpayment.
- The state still faces significant workforce challenges. Our goal is always to strike a balance – provide assistance to those truly in need without incentivizing able-bodied, working age Iowans to remain on government assistance rather than re-enter the workforce.
House File 654 – Eliminating Needless Regulations on Law-Abiding Citizens - This week we passed House File 654 through the Iowa House. This bill eliminates a number of overly burdensome regulations on law-abiding Iowans’ right to carry a firearm.
- This bill makes the following minor changes to Iowa code:
- Allows firearms in locked vehicles on most publicly-owned property, including regent universities and community colleges.
- Allows firearms to be in a vehicle on school property while dropping off or picking up a student. This change is still more strict than federal law.
- Strikes DHHS rule that prohibits foster parents from having firearms in their vehicle.
- Strikes a rule prohibiting firearms at casinos and allows casinos to determine their own firearm policy.
- Iowans just passed a constitutional amendment to protect their right to bear arms by over 65%. Iowans have spoken loud and clear. With this bill, we are listening to Iowans and eliminating needless regulations on law-abiding citizens’ right to bear arms.
HSB 245 – Protecting the Iowa Caucuses - This week the Ways and Means committee passed HSB 245 to protect the integrity of Iowa’s caucus and help keep Iowa first in the nation.
- There are 3 main pieces of the bill to understand:
- Requires participation in a precinct caucus to be in-person. The reasoning to this is to protect Iowa’s first in the nation status.
- Iowa is First in the Nation, but New Hampshire prides itself on being the first presidential primary election and even has a state law that requires them to be the first primary election. They make this claim because Iowa’s system is a caucus not a primary election.
- This week, the New Hampshire Secretary of State said that if Iowa allows mail in voting, essentially replacing the caucus system with a primary, they will move to jump Iowa in the presidential primary calendar.
- Requires folks to declare their party status 70 days before the caucuses. This is to limit bad actors attempting to meddle in the opposing party’s caucus.
- Removes the state from the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC). Several key states have left ERIC and therefore stopped sharing their voter data with the group. This has made ERIC a less effective of a tool in maintaining our voter rolls. Iowa’s Secretary of State has other tools it can use to maintain Iowa’s voter registration list.
- As is the Democrat Party’s go-to move on election law, they are once again accusing House Republicans of voter suppression. The minority party has made the same accusation on every piece of election law we have passed over the last several years, and Iowa continues to have record-setting turnout each election.
House File 1 – Property Tax Bill - The Iowa Legislature has done great work the past few years lowering income taxes for Iowans.
- We have lowered ALL Iowans income taxes to a fair and flat rate of 3.9% and eliminated the tax on retirement income.
- The biggest thing we hear about from constituents now is the need for property tax reform.
- While some folks’ property tax bill may increase by more than 10%, their most likely not seeing an income increase of the same amount.
- The system right now is set up to provide no transparency or certainty for taxpayers.
- Iowa House Republicans have gotten to work on a plan to provide real relief to Iowans and certainty to the taxpayer. This week the Ways and Means committee passed House File 1 with an amendment. This bill:
- Reduces the 5.40 levy by $1 and has the state fund the difference. This will deliver more than $200 million in real, immediate tax relief to Iowans.
- Caps annual property tax increases per parcel to 3% for residential and agricultural properties and 8% for commercial and industrial properties.
- Increases transparency in the process by requiring more notice to the taxpayers and moving all elections for bonding to the general election date.
| 
