Friday, April 24, 2025

Update provided by Tom Cope of Cope Murphy + Co. - contracted lobbyist of the chapter.

It was a relatively quiet week at the State Capitol, especially considering that legislators are drawing very close to running out of days in which they will receive per diem payments to cover their costs of being in session. Next Friday, May 2nd is the last day for per diem payments, but there are few signs indicating that legislators have made significant progress on the remaining major issues of the session.

Two of those items are the state budget and property tax legislation; one of those (the state budget) they have to do, and the other (property tax overhaul) they would like to do. Right now, the path forward on both is somewhat unclear. For the second week in a row, there was no legislative action on the state budget, the property tax bill (HSB 328/SSB 1227), or IEDA’s tax credit overhaul bill (House Study Bill 305 and Senate Study Bill 1205).

Additionally, there was no legislative action this week on both bills (Senate File 507 and House File 856) that would limit a local government’s ability to implement projects labeled as diversity, equity and inclusion programs. The Iowa Chapter is registered against both bills.

One piece of positive news is that late last week, the full Iowa House did approve the land development trust legislation, House File 1008, on 92-1 vote. The Iowa Chapter of the APA is registered in favor of this legislation, and urges its members to contact Senators to urge them to keep this bill moving forward this session.

If you have any questions about any items being discussed at the Capitol, please feel free to contact Tom Cope at tom@lobbyiowa.com or 515-975-4590, or Jon Murphy at jon@lobbyiowa.com or 515-422-6494.