Pre-Session Capitol Report

January 5, 2022

January 10, 2022	First Day of Session
January 11, 2022	Condition of the State Address by Governor Reynolds
February 18, 2022	First Funnel – Bills not reported out of their originating committee by this date are no longer eligible for consideration.
March 18, 2022	Second Funnel – House bills not passed out of Senate committees and Senate bills not passed out of House committees are no longer eligible for consideration.
April 19, 2022	100th Calendar Day (per diem expenses end)

 

Legislator Update

Republicans maintain control in both chambers, with a 32-18 majority in the Senate and a 60-40 majority in the House. Senator Jack Whitver will continue to serve as the Majority Leader in the Senate, and Senator Jake Chapman will serve his second term as Senate President. Senator Zach Wahls will serve his second year as Minority Leader. In the House, Representative Pat Grassley will continue to serve as Speaker, and Representative Matt Windschitl will remain Majority Leader. Representative Jennifer Konfrst replaced Representative Todd Prichard as Minority Leader in June.

With Representative John Landon’s passing in July, a special election was held this fall for House District 37. Republican Mike Bousselot won the election and will serve for the remainder of Representative Landon’s term.

This fall, Representative Wes Breckenridge resigned his House District 29 seat to accept a job with the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy. Republican Jon Dunwell won the ensuing special election, flipping the Newton-based district Democrats have held.

Senator Zach Whiting resigned in late October to accept a position with the Texas Public Policy Foundation. Republican Dave Rowley won the special election for Senate District 1.

Anticipated Legislation

While leaders in both chambers will officially announce their priorities during opening remarks and the Governor will unveil her priorities during the Condition of the state, conversations have already begun on some of those priorities. 

• Tax Reform – Both the Governor and the Legislature have indicated a significant tax reform bill will be introduced to lower the individual and corporate tax rates. 

• Unemployment Reform – Lawmakers have indicated that they would like to take a look at making changes to Iowa’s unemployment laws to incentivize individuals to return to the workforce. 

• Workforce Shortages – Iowa has had a workforce shortage problem for years that has increased with the impacts of the pandemic. The Governor and Legislature will likely explore various legislative measures to attract and retain a skilled workforce. 

• Budget – The Revenue Estimating Conference (REC) met in December and reported Iowa continues to recover from the impacts of COVID-19 steadily. Iowa ended Fiscal Year 2021 with a budget surplus of $1.2 billion.