This is Part 2 of the bills that were passed out of the legislature during the last week of the session:
Training for County Veteran Service Officers: This bill appropriates $300,000 annually for each county veteran service officer to take national training. This training is now mandatory for county VSO’s and necessary as the state has had a large turnover of county VSO’s and they need the training to be able to assist veterans with getting their claims processed properly and thoroughly.
Psychiatric Medical Institutions for Children (PMICs): This bill requires the state choose one or more currently licensed PMICs located in the state to provide access to services for children with specialized needs, including problematic sexualized behaviors, a history of aggression, or a diagnosis of intellectual or developmental disability. There would be an enhanced reimbursement rate to a PMIC that would be used for increased staffing ratios, ongoing staff training on evidence-based treatment, and appropriate services and modalities, including telemedicine, for children and families.
Economic Development Budget: This budget bill appropriates $76 million for state economic development programs. It funds the Iowa Economic Development Authority, the Iowa Finance Authority, and the Dept. of Workforce Development, as well as certain programs in the 3 Regents universities.
Open Meetings: This bill increases fines against governmental bodies who violate the open meetings law. It also exempts from the open meetings law gatherings hosted by a political party or a civic organization so that elected officials of the same party who attend these events will not be in violation of the open meetings law.
Agriculture and Dept. of Natural Resources Budget Bill: This bill appropriates $143 million for the programs of the Dept. of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, including soil conservation and water quality, and for the parks and programs of the Dept. of Natural Resources.
School Security Infrastructure: Allows a school to use SAVE funds to purchase, install, and operate the technology, hardware, and software for a security system capable of communication with law enforcement and 911, including cost of subscriptions. Schools are not allowed to bond for new construction or for construction of athletic facilities unless all attendance centers of the school district are in compliance with the state building code related to school security and safety infrastructure.
Requires schools to complete a comprehensive review and evaluation of the school’s safety and security infrastructure if the school has not already done so. Requires the Dept. of Public Safety, the Dept. of Education and the Dept. of Homeland Security to convene a task force to study and make recommendations on the safety and security standards for schools and their infrastructure as well as recommendations for any changes needed in the state building code.
County Supervisor Districts: This bill requires all counties with a population of 125,000 or more to elect county supervisors by district, starting with the 2026 election cycle. The Legislative Services Agency will draw new district maps for the affected counties, which are Polk, Linn, Scott, Johnson, and Black Hawk. Also it is required that county supervisor vacancies in counties with a population of at least 125,000 to be filled by special election.
Education Appropriations Budget Bill: This bill appropriates a little over $1 billion for the Dept. of Education, the 3 Regents universities, the community colleges, the Iowa Tuition Grant, and a number of other education programs.
Open Enrollment Deadline: Reinstates the March 1 open enrollment deadline, which requires parents to notify their school district of their intent to open enroll their child out to another school for the next school year. Same regulations apply as before.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI): Regents schools (the 3 state universities), unless required by federal or state law or accreditation standards, must not establish or maintain a DEI office, must not hire or assign an employee or contract with a 3rd party to perform the duties of a DEI office, must not compel or require any individual to provide a DEI-affirmation statement or give preferential consideration to any person based on a DEI-affirmation statement.
Administration and Regulation Budget Bill: This bill appropriates $139 million to fund the State Auditor, the Secretary of State, the Dept. of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing, the Dept. of Revenue, IPERS administration, the Iowa Utilities Board, etc.
Judicial Branch Budget Bill: This bill appropriates $220 million to the state court system.
Open Enrollees/Charter Schools/Private Schools Omnibus: The professional development and early intervention supplement categorical funds follow a student from their district of residence when enrolling in a charter school or open enrolling into another district. Public schools are disallowed from entering any agreement that prohibits the sale of real property to a school district, private school, charter school, Regents school, or community college. If any of these educational institutions are the highest bidder on a public school’s property, the public school must sell the property to them. The members of the governing board of a charter school must be residents of Iowa.
Tax Bill: Currently a 3.9% flat tax rate is scheduled to be in place by tax year 2026. This bill lowers that to 3.8% and schedules it to be in place by tax year 2025.
The bill also adjusts the current city and county growth factor limitation established in last year’s property tax reform. This factor is used in the calculations that are used to create the new budget year general operating levy for cities’ and counties’ maximum. An additional bracket is added to help smooth the adjustment required.
It also gives county boards of supervisors the ability to dissolve county compensation board. The board of supervisors would carry out the duties of the compensation board as prescribed in the law.
This also protects the confidentiality for those 65 and older who supplied their personal information when applying for a property tax exemption.
Health and Human Services Budget Bill: This bill appropriates $2.6 billion to the Dept. of Health and Human Services (HHS) for operations and programs, including Medicaid, other health care programs, aging and disability services, mental health services, public health services, child support and protective services, family support services, state training schools, Mental Health Institutes (MHI’s), Woodward Resource Center, Dept. of Veteran Affairs, Iowa Veterans Home, and other veteran programs.
Rebuild Iowa Infrastructure Fund Budget Bill: This bill appropriates $271 million for various infrastructure projects, buildings, and technology throughout the state, including the Renewable Fuel Infrastructure Fund, tourism funds, the USS Iowa Battleship Renovation project, the Medical Examiner facility renovation, state parks, communications systems, UNI Industrial Technology Center, etc.
Justice Systems Budget Bill: This bill appropriates $712 million to fund the operations and programs of the Attorney General’s office, the State Public Defender, the Dept. of Corrections prison and community-based corrections system, the Dept. of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing, the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy, the Parole Board, the Homeland Security and Emergency Management, and the Dept. of Public Safety, which includes the Iowa State Patrol.
Livestock Capital Gain Deduction: This bill would reinstate the capital gain deduction for the sale of breeding livestock.
Sales Tax and County Fairs: This bill exempts from the state sales tax tangible personal property, certain digital products or services sold to a county fair.
Vaping Regulations: This bill regulates vape products. It establishes a vape directory of allowable vape products, listing those approved by the FDA or on track to be approved by the FDA. Retailers can be inspected for compliance with the law and penalties would apply for violations.
529 Accounts: This bill allows 529 plan money to be used for apprenticeship programs in addition to being used for college programs as it is currently. The user must be aware that even though this will be allowed by the state, it is not allowed by the federal government and there will be unfavorable federal tax treatment as well as a penalty on the federal tax return.
