We have reached the end of the 2024 Legislative Session. At 4:24 AM on Saturday, April 20th, we adjourned Sine Die (which just means final adjournment for the session.)
I am going to keep this newsletter going during the interim and continue to highlight many of the bills we passed that I haven’t walked you through in this newsletter yet. But for today, I wanted to share with you what I feel are the top-line accomplishments for the year. All of these are bills that have made it all the way through the legislative process and have become law or have been sent to the Governor for her signature.
2024 Legislative Session – Top Accomplishments
– Raised beginning teacher pay to the 5th highest in the nation, set the minimum standard salary for 12-year teachers to $62,000, and allocated an additional $14 million to raise pay for paraprofessionals.
– Delivered significant income tax relief for all taxpaying Iowans by speeding up the implementation of the flat tax and lowering the rate to 3.8% in 2025.
– Made our students and staff safer in school with investment in school safety infrastructure and by lowering emergency response times with the creation of a new permit program allowing staff to carry firearms if they meet the high standards of training laid out in the bill.
– Gave Iowa law enforcement additional policy tools and $2 million of new money to protect Iowans from illegal immigration and related crimes such as drug crimes and human trafficking.
– Prioritized history and civics in K-12 education, while directing the Department of Education to do a thorough review of all curriculum standards to ensure they are setting teachers and students up for success.
– Refocused our universities away from training “social justice warriors” and back to preparing a strong workforce ready to fill high-demand jobs in Iowa.
– Continued to fund financial assistance programs for health care professionals who stay in Iowa and serve the communities in need of greater access to care.
– Incentivized businesses of all sizes to choose Iowa as their home and targeted investment in rural Iowa with the creation of a new certified sites program to spur economic development in counties with less than 50,000 people.
