Yet another legislative week was shortened due to winter weather. The snowfall sent many legislators home Wednesday night, making for a quiet Thursday. The House introduced 93 new bills this week, and the Senate introduced 75. With just two weeks until the first funnel, committees, and subcommittees are working to get their bills funnel-proof.
Policy Development Highlights
Government Realignment
The Senate version of the Governor’s realignment bill (SSB 1123) brought attention again this week, with a number of deaf Iowans in attendance to discuss their concerns about the Iowa School for the Deaf. Many attendees spoke through an interpreter, expressing fears that resources will become more difficult to access. Senator Boulton said their testimony emphasized the need for a keen eye toward the way realignment would affect real Iowans.
This comes after a number of blind Iowans attended last week’s subcommittee on the bill, with similar concerns that the Department of the Blind will lose necessary expertise under the proposed reorganization. The bill has one final subcommittee meeting next Tuesday and is expected to move forward.
Non-Economic Damages
Governor Reynolds signed HF 161 into law, a bill to create a cap on noneconomic damages in cases regarding medical malpractice. The legislation caps awards in lawsuits against medical providers at $1 million and against medical systems at $2 million. Governor Reynolds released the following statement:
“Today, Iowa joins the majority of U.S. states by enacting commonsense medical malpractice reform that places a reasonable cap on non-economic damages,” stated Governor Reynolds. “Protecting our health care system from out-of-control verdicts promotes access to care in communities across our state and better positions us to recruit the best and brightest physicians to Iowa.”
Litigation attorney Dan Johnston highlights the specifics in this recent blog post – MedMal Damages Reform and What It Means for Iowa Health Care Providers.
Taxes
On Wednesday, the House passed the residential valuations bill (SF 181) on an 86-13 vote. Supporters of the bill said that it is needed to protect property taxpayers. Representative Jacoby offered an amendment to hold local government budgets harmless, but the amendment was rejected on party lines. Democrats said that the amendment would protect local government public safety budgets, and all 13 votes against the bill itself were Democrats. The bill now goes to Governor Reynolds for signature.
Executive Branch Update
On Tuesday, Governor Reynolds and the Iowa Department of Education are partnering with the National Foundation for Governors’ Fitness Councils (NFGFC) and its chairman Jake Steinfeld to participate in the DON’T QUIT! campaign which aims to reverse growing trends in mental illness and childhood obesity. NFGFC will gift a state-of-the-art DON’T QUIT! fitness center to three elementary or middle schools in Iowa. To date, the NFGFC has provided fitness centers to 42 states plus Washington, DC. This year, the campaign will benefit four more states: Iowa, Vermont, Wyoming, and Montana.
Manufacturing 4.0 Funding
On Wednesday, Gov. Kim Reynolds and the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) announced that Iowa will invest an additional $2 million in the Manufacturing 4.0 Technology Investment Program to enhance productivity, efficiency, and competitiveness in Iowa’s largest industry.
What is next?
Property Taxes
Now that 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 has one final subcommittee meeting on Tuesday. 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 is the proposed Executive Branch Alignment organization chart. The House version of the bill (HSB 126) has four subcommittees scheduled next week, one each day at noon. The bill is likely to bring similar conversations as SSB 1123, and if both bills pass committees in the next week, they will become funnel-proof and remain eligible for consideration.
As we are now two 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.
