2025 Legislative Agenda
Guiding principles
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Focus on policies proven to promote widespread opportunity for all Iowans no matter their ZIP code, race, gender identity or income — not on policies that divide us and further privilege wealthy households and corporations at the expense of everyone else.
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Adequately fund the services that help make Iowa a great place to live, work and raise a family, like public schools, health care, environmental protection, and assistance for fellow Iowans weathering tough times like illness, environmental disasters or job loss.
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Protect state revenue and preserve the autonomy of future state lawmakers to respond to future revenue challenges with the full set of policy tools.
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Recognize local officials are elected to address community needs and protect their authority to respond to community needs without undue state interference.
Policy priorities
Protect revenue to fund a responsible state budget
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Reject new broad cuts to individual or corporate income-tax rates. Any cuts should target low- and middle-income Iowans who have seen little benefit from recent income tax cuts, such as establishing a state child tax credit.
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Pay for any new tax cuts with the Taxpayer Relief Fund — dollars required by statute to be used for tax cuts — and structure them as one-time or pilot initiatives reflecting the one-time nature of TRF dollars.
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Reject constitutional amendments that interfere with future elected legislators’ power to respond to budget needs by limiting their ability to make the wealthy pay their fair share or allowing a minority of lawmakers to override majority will.
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Do not place more limits on property-tax revenue or assessed values that hamper the ability of growing communities to provide needed services, like police, fire or roads, and do not divert state revenue from the already stretched General Fund to pay for local property-tax cuts. Any property-tax-cut legislation should include tax-increment financing reform to boost accountability and make sure all local services — schools, counties and cities — benefit from TIF projects.
Invest in Iowans’ health and food security
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Protect access to Medicaid, a critical source of health coverage for low-income children, low-wage workers, people with disabilities and older Iowans in nursing care and a critical source of revenue for Iowa hospitals and nursing homes.
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Ensure Iowa participates in SUN Bucks, the federal nutrition program formerly known as Summer EBT that helps families with school-aged children put food on the table when school meals aren’t available.
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Invest state dollars in the Double Up Food Bucks to incentivize the purchase of fresh fruits and vegetables by SNAP participants.
Boost early learning and child care
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Restore the 28-hour-per-week eligibility work or school attendance requirement for Child Care assistance. Lawmakers in 2023 increased the requirement to 32 hours a week, leaving some low-wage workers juggling unpredictable work scheduling and parenting responsibilities ineligible for assistance.
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Increase the Child Care Assistance provider reimbursement rates to the 100th percentile of market rate survey and pay participating providers based on a child’s enrollment status — not attendance — to match the industry’s policies for private-pay families and boost predictability for providers.
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Create a statewide Wage Enhancement Program, modeled on successful local pilots, to boost the pay of child care workers, among the lowest paid of any profession.
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Increase funding for the state’s 4-year-old Preschool Program to create an all-day experience for more children.
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Make no regulatory changes to Iowa’s child care system that reduce the quality or safety of care.
Protect workers
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Reform the Wage Payment Collection Law to require stronger protection and more efficient enforcement of workers’ wage rights.
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Require contractor registration for labor brokers who often evade employer responsibility as they find workers for construction jobs.
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Properly fund the state’s wage, child labor, and misclassification teams to increase enforcement and hold a higher standard for Iowa workers.
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Reinstate the use of child labor permits for the employment of minors and realign Iowa’s child labor law to adhere to at least federal minimums.
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Make no changes to Unemployment Insurance that would reduce support for workers as they seek new employment or jeopardize the UI fund’s health.