What bills are alive, dead at Iowa Statehouse after funnel week

The bills that survived the first major deadline of Iowa’s 2025 legislative session show that Republicans have moved forward with a number of their priorities through bills focused on issues ranging from higher education to carbon capture pipelines to child care access.

The Legislature’s self-imposed “funnel” deadline culls most legislation from further consideration if the measure has not received committee approval. In the first funnel, bills must receive committee approval in one chamber to remain eligible; there will be a second funnel deadline April 4, when bills must have passed one full chamber and a committee in the opposite chamber to remain eligible.

Bills that do not meet these set deadlines are considered “dead” for the session – but there are several caveats. Language from bills that do not meet the “funnel” deadline can still be added as amendments to other surviving bills, or can be brought forward as leadership-sponsored legislation. Additionally, bills that involve taxes, spending and government oversight components are exempt from the funnel.

Public school funding stalled

There’s one notable bill with a spending component that has not been passed this year – the state’s funding for the public school system.

The House sent its public school funding proposal to the Senate in February, a package that included a 2.25% per-pupil funding increase, a one-time allocation of $22.6 million for per-pupil costs and an increase to transportation equity payments. The Senate had approved a 2% SSA rate that did not include the other funding components, matching Gov. Kim Reynolds’ initial proposal. The Senate has not taken up the House’s education spending package since.

House Speaker Pat Grassley said House Republicans are “still having conversations” with Senate Republicans and the governor on SSA, but did not say any agreement has been reached.

Lawmakers have a self-imposed deadline of passing the State Supplemental Aid (SSA) rate for public K-12 schools within 30 days of the governor’s budget being released. This time limit passed by in February. While there is no penalty for not passing SSA within this timeframe, a delay in passing this measure can cause issues for schools that must submit their budgets in early March.

Grassley said during his discussions with local school districts, many are budgeting with the expectation that the Senate and governor’s SSA rate will be approved.

“I think a lot of schools are making decisions at (2%),” Grassley said. “But we’re holding tight at this point because we feel strongly about some of those other items as well as the SSA, and the package that we have.”

Sole new law removes transgender civil rights

The only piece of legislation that has made it to Reynolds’ desk: The repeal of “gender identity” from the Iowa Civil Right Act. The law was passed quickly through the legislative process, having its first subcommittee hearing Feb. 24 and being signed into law Feb. 28.

Republicans control both chambers in the Iowa Legislature, in addition to holding all but one statewide elected office. House Minority Leader Jennifer Konfrst said Democrats are frustrated by what bills Republicans have chosen to move forward this session, which she said are “focused on anything but lowering costs for Iowa families.”

“For the party of small government, the Republicans sure do think a lot of great ideas come out of Des Moines, and are sure interested in taking over the decisions that we make, about vaccines, about education, about how we live our lives, about who gets civil rights, who doesn’t,” Konfrst said.

Grassley said moving past the first “funnel” of the session, Republicans plan to consider more legislation that address cost of living concerns for Iowans, like lowering the sales tax for some daily use items or providing tax credits for families with young children. The Republican chairs of the Senate and House Ways and Means Committees, Sen. Dan Dawson and Rep. Bobby Kaufman, introduced their proposal Thursday to limit property taxes in Iowa.

“We’re kind of getting to that point in session, and I wouldn’t say it’s any different than other sessions, where those pieces of policy start to move forward as the tax conversation and the budget conversations start to happen,” Grassley said.

Here’s what to know about some of the high-profile legislation that made it past the first deadline of the session – and some bills which did not survive.

What survived

Reducing nitrogen fertilizer: House Study Bill 165 would create a pilot program within the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, with a goal of reducing the statewide average use of commercial nitrogen fertilizers by 15%. The bill advanced from the House Agriculture Committee.

Bible studies in public schools: The education committees in both the House and Senate approved legislation related to elective social studies courses in Iowa public high schools on the Bible. Senate File 510 and House File 448 direct the Iowa Board of Education to establish course standards for elective social studies classes on “Hebrew Scriptures or the Old or New Testament of the Bible” for students in grades 9 through 12. The legislation includes language requiring the state board and school districts to remain in compliance with state and federal laws on religious neutrality.

Cellphones in school: Reynolds’ bill to set a statewide minimum policy on cellphones in schools gained approval in both chambers. Senate File 370 and House File 782 would require school boards to adopt a policy banning the use of personal electronic devices during instructional periods to be implemented in the 2025-2026 school year. Students in grades 6 through 8 would also be required to take “effects of social media” training under the proposal.

Fetal development instruction: The Senate passed Senate File 175 in a 31-13 vote in February, a bill that would require human growth and development and health classes in grades 1 through 12 to show fetal development videos and graphics that depict “the humanity of the unborn child by showing prenatal human development, starting at fertilization.” While the bill does not mention “Meet Baby Olivia,” a video produced by an anti-abortion organization, by name, critics said the measure could allow content with non-scientifically accurate information to be shown in public school courses.

Grooming behavior: House File 167, formerly House Study Bill 46, requires mandatory reporting of licensed school employees to the Board of Educational Examiners if they engage in “grooming behavior” toward students. “Grooming behavior” is defined as “the process of building trust or emotional connections with a student with the intent to exploit such student.”

Home schooling: House File 888 makes multiple changes to current regulations on home schooling, including the elimination of requirements for families that homeschool their children to provide proof of immunization and blood lead tests and submit to the state an “outline of course of study.” It also removes a current restriction that only four children who are unrelated to a homeschooling instructor can receive private instruction from that person.

The bill also includes a section prohibiting the use of gender-neutral language in high school world language classes for languages that have a grammatical gender system, like Spanish and French.

Library associations: House File 880 would change library eligibility for Enrich Iowa funds provided through the State Library of Iowa to exclude members of a nonprofit organization – such as the Iowa Library Association or American Library Association — that “promotes federal and state legislation related to libraries and engages in advocacy efforts at the federal, state or local level.”

Tampons, pads in school bathrooms: The House Education Committee approved House File 883, legislation that would provide funding for schools to provide free feminine hygiene products in Iowa school bathrooms for 6th through 12th grade students. The funding would be available beginning in the summer of 2025 through June 30, 2028.

Use of names, pronouns: Students or teachers could not be disciplined for not using a transgender student’s legal name or incorrect pronouns under Senate File 8, approved by the Senate Education Committee. Parents of transgender children said the measure would override “parental rights,” allowing teachers or other students to purposefully ignore a parent’s directive to address their child by a name different from their legal name.

DEI in community colleges: House File 855 would add community colleges to legislation passed last year barring state universities from funding or maintaining DEI offices.

Penalties for pro-terrorism language on campus: House File 576, formerly House File 115, would have state universities and private colleges receiving Iowa Tuition Grant dollars penalize certain nonimmigrant visa-holders for voicing support for, or encouraging others to support, terrorist organizations or actions. Penalties include suspension, expulsion and job termination.

School of intellectual freedom: Both the Iowa House Higher Education Committee and Senate Education Committee have moved ahead legislation to establish a “school of intellectual freedom” at the University of Iowa. House File 437 and its companion, Senate File 127, would require the new school focus on “the historical ideas, traditions and texts that have shaped the American constitutional order and society,” according to bill language, and promote free speech, civil discourse, civic education and intellectual diversity.

Child care access: The governor’s proposal on child care advanced through the committee process in both chambers as Senate File 445 and House File 623. The legislation would create a new $16 million competitive grant pilot program using existing Early Childhood Iowa (ECI) funding and federal Child Care and Development Fund Wrap Around Child Care funds, providing up to $100,000 annually in three-year grants for preschool providers and child care centers to provide full-day care for children. The measure would also move roughly $3.6 million currently allocated to the Shared Visions program for at-risk children from birth to age 5, to go toward grants for programs focused on at-risk 3- and 4-year-old children.

HPV vaccine for minors: Senate File 304 would remove the ability of minors to consent to receiving the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, or other vaccinations to prevent sexually transmitted diseases, without parental approval. While most minor vaccinations require parental consent, there is currently an exemption in Iowa law for medical care related to the prevention, diagnosis or treatment of sexually transmitted diseases or infections.

Medicaid work requirements: Senate File 363 would require Medicaid recipients to work, participate in a work program or volunteer at least 20 hours per week. Certain people would be exempt from the requirement, including people under age 19 or over age 64, people medically certified with a disability that makes them unable to work, people who are pregnant or parenting a child under age 1 or a child with a serious illness or disability. People in substance abuse treatment would also be exempt.

Medication abortion restrictions: House File 775, formerly House Study Bill 186, would restrict Iowans’ access to abortion medication by mail by requiring in-person distribution of the medication and written consent that the patient understands the risks and potential to reverse the effects of the abortion medication. The bill was advanced by the House Health and Human Services Committee Feb. 26.

Medical conscience: House File 571 and Senate File 220 grant health care professionals, institutions and payors the right to not participate in or pay for a health care service that that they say goes against their conscience. These entities could not be held civilly, criminally or administratively liable for not providing a service that they say violates their conscience, with exceptions for emergency medical services.

Double Up Food Bucks: Bills in both the House and Senate have advanced out of their respective committees to allocate $1 million to the Double Up Food Bucks program which allows recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, to double their spending on produce. Senate File 232 has been referred to an appropriations subcommittee after advancing from committee as Senate Study Bill 1012.

House Study Bill 216 would fund the Double Up Food Bucks program but only if the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services requests, and is granted, a waiver to limit SNAP eligible foods. The bill advanced from the House Health and Human Services Committee Monday and has been renumbered as House File 796.

Food dyes and margarine: House File 212, formerly House Study Bill 5, would ban synthetic food dyes, margarine and other artificial additives from school meals, snacks and beverages. The bill has had significant updates, since it was first introduced, to more closely resemble a California law and passed the House Education Committee Jan. 29.

Rural grocery initiative: House File 59, renumbered as House File 550, would establish a grocer reinvestment program and a local produce processing grant program and allocate $2 million for the two programs this year and next. Advocates say the funding would help provide access to healthy food in rural communities.

School nutrition: Senate File 525, formerly Senate Study Bill 1158 and House File 851, would alter Iowa’s school nutrition guidelines to make school meals and nutrition education have more focus on the food sources of Iowa, like corn, pork and dairy. Both bills advanced from their respective committees.

Citizenship verification for voting: Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate’s proposal, Senate File 550, would allow the Secretary of State’s office to contract with state and federal agencies to verify the citizenship status of registered voters, in addition to requiring the Iowa Department of Transportation to share with the office a list of individuals who indicated to the DOT that they are not citizens. These measures, alongside the ability to work with private vendors, will allow the state to verify the citizenship status of registered voters, Pate said.

The measure comes following controversial guidance to county auditors from Pate ahead of the 2024 general election to challenge the ballots of 2,176 registered voters who were listed as “potential noncitizens” – people who had self-identified to the DOT or another government entity that they were not U.S. citizens within the past 12 years who later went on to register to vote or cast a ballot in Iowa.

Hands-free cellphones: The House Transportation Committee unanimously passed House Study Bill 64, renumbered House File 827, on Feb. 12 and the companion bill, Senate File 22, cleared a committee the same day. The legislation would ban the use of handheld cellphones or other electronic devices while driving.

Age verification for obscene materials: Pornography websites and other obscene material distributors would be required to implement “reasonable” age verification methods under House File 864.

Age verification for social media: The House Judiciary Committee approved House File 798, legislation that would require social media companies to gain parental permission before a minor is allowed to create an account on their platform, with additional requirements that guardians have access to the account to view posts and messages, and can revoke the child’s access at any time. The committee’s approval included recommendation for amendments, as several speakers at the subcommittee meeting expressed concerns about mass data collection by social media and privacy issues related to the requirement.

Exposing minors to obscene materials: House File 306 would raise the penalty for knowingly disseminating or exhibiting obscene materials from a serious misdemeanor for the first offense, aggravated misdemeanor for the second offense and to a Class D felony charge and mandatory minimum three years in jail time for the third and subsequent offenses.

Firearm age limits: House Study Bill 262 would lower the age limit for carrying a firearm from 21 to 18. While the current version of the bill would allow people ages 18-21 to obtain permits like concealed carry licenses, Holt said there would likely be an amendment to remove this provision in order to satisfy National Instant Criminal Background Check System requirements.

Immigration law enforcement: Under House Study Bill 285, law enforcement officers who knowingly and intentionally” fail to comply with federal immigration law enforcement as directed to by state law would face a Class D felony charge. Rep. Steve Holt, R-Denison, said this bill may be amended to lower the charge to a serious misdemeanor during floor debate.

Obscene performances: House File 891, formerly House Study Bill 158, saw significant backlash during a subcommittee meeting because it proposed a ban on minors attending drag shows, proposing a class D felony charge for an adult who knowingly brought a minor to a drag performance and a fine of $10,000 to businesses that knowingly allowed minors to attend these performances. The legislation’s language defining drag shows stated that performances where “the main aspect of the performance is a performer who exhibits a gender identity that is different than the performer’s gender assigned at birth through the use of clothing, makeup, accessories, or other gender signifiers” would be subject to these provisions.

The House Education Committee passed the legislation unanimously Tuesday with a significant amendment, changing the proposal from drag performances to prohibit exposing minors to obscene performances, as defined by the state’s obscenity codes. Rep. Elinor Levin, D-Iowa City, said she was concerned that some entities could be subject to “nuisance lawsuits” challenging certain performances, like drag shows, but called the amendment a “reasonable solution to the intent of the bill.”

Obscenity laws in libraries: House File 521 proposes repealing current exemptions from Iowa obscenity laws for educational institutions and libraries. Opponents to the legislation said the measure could subject public libraries to costly lawsuits over materials that do not meet the state’s definition of “obscenity,” but that some members of the community do not want to be available on public shelves.

Community solar: House File 404, formerly House Study Bill 81, would allow small solar fields, built in brownfield sites, on top of commercial warehouses or in underutilized crop or pastureland to connect into the electric power grid. The local community could purchase shares of the community solar that would then receive waivers on their electric bills from the operating utility company, based on the electric generation of the local solar fields. The bill advanced to the House floor in early February but has not yet been debated.

Eminent domain for CO2 pipelines: House Study Bill 287 specifies that the “construction of hazardous liquid pipelines for the transportation or transmission of liquefied carbon dioxide” does not constitute a public use for the purpose of condemning agricultural land. House Judiciary Committee advanced the bill Thursday, though the Senate version, Senate File 92, did not advance.

House File 491 would also restrict hazardous liquid pipelines from the right of eminent domain, by adjusting the definition of a common carrier.

Review of eminent domain: House File 242, renumbered to House File 763, would allow Iowa landowners to seek a legally binding explanation of their rights from a district court if their property were subject to an eminent domain claim. The bill advanced from committee Feb. 25. Senate File 226 mirrors the bill but has not had a hearing.

What died

Gulf of America: House Study Bill 97 proposed requiring Iowa schools to replace references to the Gulf of Mexico with “Gulf of America” and “Denali” with “Mount McKinley” in classroom instruction and handouts in line with President Donald Trump’s order renaming the geographic formations earlier in 2025.

Abortion protection: A proposed constitutional amendment, Senate Joint Resolution 1, that would have protected the right to reproductive care, did not advance.

mRNA vaccines: Senate File 360 proposed a ban on health care providers administering gene-based vaccines, like the COVID-19 vaccines developed by Pfizer and Moderna. Under the proposal, health care providers who administered vaccines that use nucleic acids like messenger RNA (mRNA) would face punishments of a misdemeanor charge and a fine of $500 for each violation.

Homelessness: House Study Bill 286 and Senate Study Bill 1195 proposed statewide criminal penalties for sleeping and camping on public property. The measure also allowed cities and counties to create designated spaces for homeless encampments and included the creation of “drug-free homeless service zones,” where operators of facilities providing shelter and services to people experiencing homelessness could be charged with a crime if a person using their services was allowed to possess or use a controlled substance in their facility.

Raising minimum wage for workers with disabilities: Rep. Josh Turek, D-Council Bluffs, introduced House File 538 this session, legislation that would remove provisions under federal law that allow employers to pay workers with disabilities less than the federal minimum wage, $7,25 per hour, if they are certified through the U.S. Fair Labor Standards Act. The bill would also require the state to prioritize “competitive and integrated employment” in assistance programs for people with disabilities seeking work. Though the measure received a subcommittee hearing, the bill was tabled.

ICE agreements: House Study Bill 187 would have required all Iowa law enforcement agencies to enter written memorandums of agreement with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) by Jan. 1, 2026. The bill, which did not provide funding, did not advance following concerns from law enforcement, as well as Latino and immigrant rights organizations, about the bill adding burdens to Iowa law enforcement and potentially increasing racial profiling.