Newsletter archives
May 7, 2026 | Session recap #1: Property taxes
The Legislature’s long-awaited final property tax compromise was one of those that came together at the last possible moment. The new plan doesn’t quite live up to the grand pre-session promises of sweeping tax relief – it’s just the latest installment in a 20-year series of property tax “reforms.” It chips away at local revenue and add more duct tape to an aging and convoluted property tax system. Given the lack of real-time analysis as the details were finalized, exactly how the legislation will affect the tax bills of Iowans remain unclear.
April 30, 2026 | It's not too late to stand for responsible tax policy
In its final days, the Iowa House is poised to take up SJR 11, a proposed amendment to the state constitution that would allow a small minority of legislators to block bipartisan tax reform. If you have been sitting on the sidelines, now is the time. Reach out to your Representative TODAY and ask them to oppose this bill.
April 27, 2026 | Tell your state rep: Don't change Iowa's constitution to lock in tax cuts for the rich
Some politicians and special interests are making a last-minute play to lock in big tax cuts for the wealthy and profitable corporations. They want to change the state constitution to allow a small minority of legislators to override bipartisan fixes to our state’s budget mess. Tell them to vote NO on Senate Joint Resolution 11.
April 21, 2026 | ACT TODAY to prevent cuts to Medicaid, SNAP and Child Care Assistance
Yesterday afternoon, legislative leaders used a procedural maneuver known as "strike-and-replace" to amend SF 2422, making what was already a troublesome "public assistance" bill substantially worse. The amendment adds intrusive residency requirements and other damaging provisions that will harm immigrants, people in households with mixed residency statuses and other Iowans struggling to make ends meet. A vote on this bill is scheduled in the Iowa House today.
April 20, 2026 | We'll say it again: Better no plan than a bad plan on property taxes
Iowa's majority lawmakers have been aiming to cut property taxes — local governments’ most important revenue source — for some time. Now, in the dwindling days of their second session of trying, state leaders say they’re getting closer to a plan. But here’s the problem: even this far in, we still don’t know exactly what it means for Iowans.
Also: Early-childhood advocates celebrate win for child-care workers and families
April 7, 2026 | Tell your Senator: Give our early learners more time to engage in the important work of play
Play is often seen as simple fun, but in preschool and kindergarten, it is one of the most powerful tools for learning and development. Research consistently shows that play-based learning improves young children's attention, motivation and overall academic readiness. A bill that would require preschools and kindergartens to offer some time for play-based learning each day has stalled in the Iowa Senate.
March 31, 2026 | Health-insurance tax shows the folly of short-term revenue fixes
The ruling party has had 10 years to prove their thesis that big tax cuts skewed to the wealthy and corporations will make our state stronger and more competitive. Instead they’ve failed to make meaningful improvements in the lives of Iowans and blown a billion-dollar hole in the budget. Their current gambit? Spending temporary money to defer even more long-term pain and hoping you don’t notice until it becomes the next governor and legislature’s problem.
Also: updates on codifying CCA for child-care workers, property taxes and impacts of 2022 UI cuts
March 2, 2026 | Coal transition is inevitable; who benefits isn't
Iowa needs a long-term state and local strategy to ensure that the transition away from coal power benefits the communities near former coal sites and the workers who sustain them. That strategy involves participatory transition governance, dedicated funding for economic transition and site redevelopment, worker support and training, and framework for community benefits agreements that empower local governments to negotiate good deals with developers.
Also: property taxes, threats of anti-democratic constitutional amendment and Early Childhood Iowa
February 17, 2026 | Another session, another meanspirited attack on immigrant moms and kids
A bill moving through the Iowa House would deny the basics of good nutrition — including baby formula — to young children and pregnant and postpartum women who can’t document lawful immigrant status. Iowa would join just one other state — Idaho — in barring undocumented families from WIC.
Also: More on Early Childhood Iowa, and how a constitutional amendment question would authorize minority rule on income-tax increases
February 6, 2026 | Senate panel advances inadequate school funding proposal — again
Fitting for Groundhog's Day week, a Senate committee advanced a bill on Thursday that would do the same thing the Legislature did last year, and the year before that: slowly starve our schools. The legislation they approved falls far below what's needed to keep up with rising costs and meet the needs of Iowa students.
The bill, would set Supplemental State Aid — the rate of increase in general per-pupil funding from the previous year — at 1.75%. The Governor beats that figure, but barely, proposing a paltry 2% SSA increase in her budget.
Also: More on property taxes, Join us for a conversation about Iowa's energy transition from coal
January 27, 2026 | HHS bill would end Early Childhood Iowa
The Iowa Department of Health and Human Services dropped a surprise bill last week that would eliminate our state’s longstanding early-childhood system, Early Childhood Iowa, and replace it with a centralized structure called the Early Childhood and Family Services system. Although the bill has some strong elements, it offers the same problems that stalled a similar bill last year.
Also: Property tax updates and proposed water quality requirements for data centers
January 16, 2026 | Revenue: How'd we get into this pickle, and how do we get out?
To set a course for the future, it’s helpful to understand how you got where you are. After years of tax cuts skewed to the wealthy, Iowa now faces a billion-dollar deficit.
Also: Property-tax cuts take center stage, legislative leaders admit need for minimum-wage hike — but only for themselves, and challenges, controversies and new policy directions in child care
2025
April 21, 2025 | Workers need dignity and a fair wage, not tax gimmicks
When work doesn’t pay, it’s time for serious economic solutions. But proposals advancing in the Iowa House — HF 1024 and HF 1030, which would remove income tax on overtime and tipped income — are shiny distractions that do little to help. While these bills may sound like a break for hardworking Iowans, they’re poorly targeted and poorly designed.
Also: UI and property taxes, minority rule on incomes tax increases, paid parental leave for state employees, federal tax and budget proposals, threats to Head Start
March 28, 2025 | ‘Cost shift’: How federal budget cuts would leave Iowa lawmakers in the lurch
Leaders in Congress are negotiating a budget plan that would take health coverage and nutrition assistance away from millions of people — all to pay for tax cuts for the wealthiest households and corporations. Although negotiations are happening among lawmakers in DC, they have massive implications for lawmakers in Des Moines.
Also: Proposed property tax cuts raise concerns
January 24, 2025 | Overtime and tips from taxes is wrong solution to a very real problem
Well-intentioned policy changes do not always make things better. Case in point: ideas to exempt overtime pay and tips from income taxes. Such proposals, now emerging in Iowa, aim to address a fundamental problem — that many people are working hard but still struggling to make ends meet. But tax cuts are a clumsy tool with real downsides.
Also: UI taxes, unsupervised teens in child care, dangerous SNAP cuts
January 17, 2025 | Lawmakers look to cut Medicaid by ramping up administrative hurdles
In 2013, Iowa was among the first states to take up the federal option to expand Medicaid to low-income adults. In doing so, we cut our state’s uninsured rates and made it possible for thousands of Iowans to see a doctor, get medications, and go to the hospital without fear of choosing between their health, buying groceries or paying the rent. The Governor and some lawmakers — empowered by the incoming presidential administration — now want to pare back Iowa’s adult coverage gains.
January 15, 2025 | Contact your Member of Congress TODAY and tell them to protect Medicaid
Politico last week published a leaked document from the U.S. House outlining budget cuts they are considering to pay for tax cuts skewed to the wealthy. Unsurprisingly, Medicaid — health insurance for low-income children, low-wage workers, people with disabilities and older adults in nursing homes — was the biggest target. Our Iowa House delegation needs to hear from you this week, as Congress mulls its next steps on the budget.