Week 5 brought movement on major legislation, including annual education funding and medical malpractice limits. The legislature kept up its rapid pace, with 69 bills introduced in the House and 59 introduced in the Senate. Week 5 also brings the first major milestone of the legislative session, February 10 is the final day for individual requests for bills from Senators and Representatives.
Policy Development Highlights
Non-Economic Damages HF 161
Both the House and Senate have voted to set limits on non-economic damages for medical malpractice lawsuits. On Wednesday, the House passed the bill 54-46, with 11 Republicans (Andrews, Cisneros, Dieken, Gerhold, Hayes, Jones, Lohse, Osmundson, Sherman, Shipley, Stoltenberg) voting with Democrats against the bill. Representative Croken voted with Republicans for the bill. The Senate approved the bill on a 29-20 vote, with Senators Alons, Lofgren, Salmon, J. Taylor, and Westrich voting with Democrats against the bill.
Proponents of the bill believe it will help attract and retain doctors in the state, while opponents of the caps said the bill will further harm victims of medical malpractice and their families. Representative Ann Meyer, a nurse from Fort Dodge, brought amendments to raise the cap on claims against hospitals. Under the new guidelines, those non-economic damages for medical malpractice claims against hospitals would be limited to a maximum of $2 million. For clinics, nursing homes, and individual physicians the cap would be $1 million.
Now that it has passed both chambers, HF 161 goes to the Governor for signature. This type of tort reform is a main priority of the Governor and both chambers.
Additional tort reform will be considered by the legislature this session related to caps on damages for commercial vehicle companies and trucking companies.
SSA/Education Funding SF 192
Governor Reynolds signed SF 192, the annual School Supplemental Aid (SSA) legislation that outlines the increase in spending for public education. The bill settled on a 3% increase in funding rates for the 2023-24 school year. The amount is higher than the 2.5% increase Governor Reynolds proposed at the beginning of the session but less than the 4% the Iowa State Education Association proposed. The bill is expected to increase public school funding by about $107 million and increase the per-pupil funding rate to $7,635.
SF 192 passed the House 59-40, with four Republicans breaking with the majority party to vote against the measure. All Democrats voted no and one Republican, Rep. David Sieck of Glenwood, did not vote. Representatives Ingels, Jones, Lohse, and Moore were the House Republicans who voted against the bill.
Senator Trone Garriott spoke in opposition to the bill, saying it, “Fails to meet the needs facing students and teachers in districts across Iowa. That’s especially true in rural Iowa, where 72 districts will lose state funding compared to the current year.”
The bill passed in the Senate last week mostly along party lines, making it eligible for Reynolds’ signature. She signed the bill into law Tuesday in private. Her statement on the legislation said, “This investment represents our commitment to an excellent education system for all Iowans.”
Executive Branch Update
Governor Reynolds appointed Sergeant Brady Carney of the Des Moines Police Department’s (DMPD) Investigations Division to lead the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy.
“Sergeant Carney’s years of experience in police patrol, investigation, and intelligence have prepared him to provide the best possible training experience for recruits,” stated Governor Reynolds. “I’m confident that his proven leadership abilities will continue the tradition of excellence at the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy for the next generation of officers.”
National Updates
DNC Votes on Caucus Calendar
This week the Democratic National Convention (DNC) voted to revoke Iowa’s first-in-the-nation status. They approved South Carolina to go first, followed by New Hampshire and Nevada on the same day, then Georgia and Michigan. Iowa has been the first state to caucus for over 50 years, and local Democrats worry about the loss of national attention each election cycle. New Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart spoke against the new calendar, saying Democrats will follow state law that Iowa must be the first state to caucus.
What’s next?
Property Taxes
As the legislature works through its list of priorities, next up will be Property Tax Reform.
First a legislative fix: The Senate unanimously passed SF 181, a measure fixing a state mistake related to residential valuations. Local government officials expressed concern regarding redoing their budgets by the March 31 deadline.
Sen. Dan Dawson, R-Council Bluffs, said he talked with local government lobbyists and officials about how much time they realistically needed to work on their budgets if this legislation passes. “It seems like the range that a city or county entity would need to basically get back into the budget process is anywhere between say 55 and 75 days,” Dawson said. If the legislation is signed into law by Valentine’s Day, the new April 30 deadline “should allow for all of our cities or counties the proper amount of time to recalibrate their budgets.”
A House Ways and Means Subcommittee heard the bill on Wednesday and recommended passage (3-0). It is expected the House will complete work on SF181 early in Week 6 and send the bill to the Governor for her signature.
Once SF181 is off their desks, legislators can turn their attention to transformational property tax reform in Iowa. The Senate has introduced two Property Tax bills, Property Taxes (SSB1124) and Sales Tax (SSB1125), and the House has introduced its own version of the Property Tax reform in HF 1.
Reorganizing State Government
SSB1123 was introduced last week, the bill reorganizes the executive branch structure, operations, and personnel to reduce the total number of cabinet-level departments from 37 to 16. Aligning Government to Better Serve Iowans is a priority Governor Reynolds announced in her Vision for Iowa. Below find the proposed Executive Branch Alignment organization chart.
The Senate held its first subcommittee on SSB1123 this week working through the bill division by division; it is anticipated there will be three subcommittees on the bill total before the bill will move to State Government for review by the full committee.
We are now three weeks from the first funnel deadline, the coming weeks will bring significant committee action as legislators work to continue moving bills through full committees to become funnel-proof and remain eligible for consideration after March 3.
Session Timetable
The full 2023 Session Timetable can be found here.
