Iowa Bills

in committee · Iowa · House Jan 26, 2026

HF 2041: A bill for an act relating to state law enforcement cooperation with federal immigration and customs enforcement.

HF 2041 requires all Iowa law enforcement agencies and officers to cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other federal immigration agencies when requested. The bill mandates that if a law enforcement agency holds someone subject to an ICE detainer request, it must fully comply with the instructions in that request. This directly affects Iowa police departments, sheriffs' offices, and jail staff who would need to follow federal immigration detainer procedures. The key provision is the mandatory compliance with federal immigration detainer requests, shifting responsibility for processing such requests to state law enforcement. The bill does not create new penalties but requires state agencies to act on federal immigration requests.

Topics ✗ Immigration

in committee · Iowa · Senate Jan 26, 2026

SSB 3071: A bill for an act relating to state law enforcement cooperation with federal immigration and customs enforcement.

This bill requires Iowa police and jail staff to cooperate with federal immigration officials upon request and to comply with formal federal holds on individuals. It directly affects all local law enforcement agencies and detention facilities in Iowa. The key provision mandates that state agencies follow immigration detainer requests from U.S. Customs and Border Protection or similar federal entities. The bill is currently under review by the Workforce Subcommittee after introduction in January 2026.

Topics ✗ Immigration

in committee · Iowa · Senate Jan 26, 2026

SF 2082: A bill for an act relating to implied consent to test specimens of a person’s blood, breath, or urine following a motor vehicle accident resulting in death, and making penalties applicable.

This Iowa bill (SF 2082) changes implied consent rules for drivers involved in fatal car accidents. It deems drivers who cause accidents resulting in death to have automatically consented to blood, breath, or urine tests for alcohol or drugs, removing the prior requirement that officers must have reasonable suspicion of intoxication at the time of the crash. The bill updates license revocation penalties for refusing testing or testing positive under these circumstances, maintaining existing timelines (e.g., 60 days for first offense with a .02-.08 BAC). It applies directly to drivers in fatal collisions, not to other accident types or testing scenarios.

Topics ✓ Transportation

in committee · Iowa · House Jan 26, 2026

HF 2097: A bill for an act relating to immunization information requested on a medical examiner report used for investigations.

HF 2097 requires medical examiners investigating infant deaths (ages zero to three) to include specific immunization details in their reports. The bill mandates that reports request the date and type of the decedent’s last vaccination, and if multiple shots were given at once, all must be listed. This affects medical examiners and healthcare providers who supply immunization records during these investigations. The state medical examiner must later develop implementing rules under Iowa’s administrative procedures.

Topics ✓ Healthcare

in committee · Iowa · House Jan 26, 2026

HF 2150: A bill for an act relating to the use of artificial intelligence for purposes associated with elections, ballot issues, and public officials, providing penalties, and making penalties applicable.

HF 2150 requires AI-generated content advocating for or against election candidates or ballot issues to clearly disclose it was created using artificial intelligence (e.g., "this material was generated using AI"). It prohibits AI from creating fake endorsements of candidates or ballot measures and bans using AI to depict candidates engaging in unlikely behavior, staging non-existent events, or manipulating depictions of major events to influence elections or public opinion. The bill also restricts sharing third-party AI content without making a good-faith effort to remove it and disclose its AI origin. Violations can result in fines up to $50,000 for political committees or $5,000 for candidates/public officials, with penalties deposited into the state general fund.

Topics ✗ Technology

in committee · Iowa · House Jan 26, 2026

HF 2160: A bill for an act relating to the payment of personal and home security expenses from campaign funds, and making penalties applicable.

HF 2160 allows Iowa political candidates and their committees to use campaign funds for reasonable personal and home security expenses, including costs for firearms, equipment, and training. Candidates must maintain detailed logs of each expense (date, provider, cost) and include total security costs in campaign finance reports, preserving these records for five years. Violations of this rule could result in civil penalties up to $2,000 or criminal charges for willful breaches. The bill directly affects candidates and their committees managing campaign finances in Iowa.

in committee · Iowa · House Jan 26, 2026

HF 2156: A bill for an act relating to the eligibility of certain individuals employed by educational institutions for unemployment insurance benefits between two successive academic years or terms.

HF 2156 modifies Iowa's unemployment insurance rules for educational staff employed between academic terms. It removes the current provision that allowed workers to receive retroactive benefits if they had "reasonable assurance" of returning to the same role but were not rehired. Under this bill, individuals performing services for an educational institution before a vacation or holiday break are ineligible for unemployment benefits during that break, even if they had assurance of continued work afterward. This change directly affects non-instructional, non-research, and non-principal administrative staff at schools who might otherwise qualify for benefits during academic transitions. The bill does not create new funding requirements, as school districts will cover costs using existing state foundation aid.

Topics ✗ Education ✗ Labor & Employment

in committee · Iowa · House Jan 26, 2026

HF 2164: A bill for an act relating to the casting of provisional ballots by persons registering to vote on election day or when casting an in-person absentee ballot.

HF 2164 requires voters registering to vote on election day or casting an in-person absentee ballot to cast a provisional ballot instead of a regular ballot if their eligibility cannot be verified immediately. The absentee and special voters precinct board must later verify the voter's eligibility - specifically checking if they have a felony conviction without restored voting rights - before counting the ballot. This changes current law, which allowed some voters to cast regular ballots if electronic verification was possible at the polling place. The bill directly affects voters registering or voting in person on election day who cannot prove eligibility through electronic means.

in committee · Iowa · House Jan 26, 2026

HF 2151: A bill for an act making appropriations to the department of education for the therapeutic classroom incentive grant program.

This bill allocates $5 million from Iowa's general fund to the Department of Education for the 2026-2027 fiscal year to establish a therapeutic classroom incentive grant program. It directly provides funding to school districts to create therapeutic classrooms for students aged 3 to 21 whose emotional, social, or behavioral needs interfere with their success in regular school settings. The program enables school districts to receive grants to set up specialized classrooms designed to support these students' learning and development. The funding is specifically designated for this purpose and cannot be used for other educational programs.

Topics ✓ Budget & Taxes ✓ Education ✓ Healthcare

in committee · Iowa · House Jan 26, 2026

HF 2166: A bill for an act relating to voter records created and retained by the state commissioner of elections.

HF 2166 requires Iowa's state commissioner of elections to create a record of all voter registration data for every voter who cast a ballot in each election, organized by county, within 60 days after the election. This record must be retained for eight years and made available electronically at no cost to the public upon request (with physical storage options for very large files). The bill directly affects voters whose data is included in the record and the public seeking access to election-related voter registration information. It establishes a new procedural requirement for preserving and providing access to historical voter registration data.

in committee · Iowa · House Jan 26, 2026

HF 2152: A bill for an act repealing the school tuition organization tax credit available against the individual and corporate income taxes and including effective date provisions.

HF 2152 repeals Iowa's school tuition organization (STO) tax credit program, which allowed taxpayers to reduce their individual or corporate income tax by 75% of donations to private schools. Starting July 1, 2026, new contributions to STOs will no longer qualify for this credit, and the annual credit limit for 2026 is reduced to $10 million (down from $20 million). The program is fully repealed effective July 1, 2032, ending all future use of the credit. This directly affects Iowa taxpayers and businesses that previously claimed this credit against their state income tax bills.

Topics ✗ Budget & Taxes ✗ Education

in committee · Iowa · House Jan 26, 2026

HF 2159: A bill for an act designating kava as a schedule I controlled substance, and making penalties applicable.

This Iowa bill (HF 2159) reclassifies kava - a plant substance used recreationally - as a Schedule I controlled substance under state law. It directly affects anyone possessing kava in Iowa, with penalties escalating based on prior offenses: a first-time offense is a serious misdemeanor (up to 1 year in jail and $2,560 fine), subsequent offenses are aggravated misdemeanors (up to 2 years, $8,540 fine), and three or more prior convictions make it a class D felony (up to 5 years, $10,245 fine). The bill defines kava broadly to include all parts of the *piper methysticum* plant and synthetic equivalents. It does not change federal scheduling but imposes state-level criminal penalties for possession. The bill was introduced to the Public Safety committee on January 26, 2026.

Topics ✗ Criminal Justice

Bill results