2023 Legislative Session Preview

January 6, 2023

January 9, 2023	First Day of Session
January 10, 2023	Condition of the State Address by Governor Reynolds
March 3, 2023	First Funnel – Bills not reported out of their originating committee by this date are no longer eligible for consideration.
March 31, 2023	Second Funnel – House bills not passed out of Senate committees and Senate bills not passed out of House committees are no longer eligible for consideration.
April 28, 2023	110th Calendar Day (per diem expenses end)

 

Legislator Update

Following the 2022 Midterm Election, Republicans expanded their majorities in both the House and the Senate and swept all but one statewide office.

Senate Republicans will return to the Capitol with a 34-16 supermajority. Republicans flipped Senate District 1, covering Woodbury county, and gained control Senate District 46, covering Iowa, Johnson, and Washington counties, after incumbent Senators Driscoll and Kinney were redistricted together in 2021. Democrats defeated Senate President Jake Chapman after Senators Chapman and Trone Garriott were redistricted together.

Senator Amy Sinclair was elected by the Republican caucus in November to serve as the new Senate President while Senator Jack Whitver was elected to continue serving as the Senate Majority Leader. Senator Zach Wahls will serve his third year as Senate Minority Leader. The Senate renamed the Labor committee as the Workforce committee, and created a new Technology committee for 2023.

In the House, Republicans flipped 6 previously Democratic-held seats defeating 3 Democrat incumbents in Districts 2, 94, and 99. House Republicans will return in January with a 64-36 majority.

Representative Pat Grassley will continue to serve as Speaker, and Representative Matt Windschitl will remain Majority Leader. Representative Jennifer Konfrst was re-elected to continue serving as House Minority Leader. The House created a new Education Reform committee that will chaired by Speaker Grassley in 2023.

Following the election, 39 of the 100 Representatives are newly elected and 13 of the 50 Senators are newly elected to their respective chambers.

Anticipated Legislation

While leaders in both chambers will officially announce their priorities during opening remarks and the Governor will unveil her priorities during the Condition of the state, conversations have already begun on some of those priorities. 

• Property Tax Reform – Both the House and Senate Ways and Means chairs have indicated they will be introducing proposals to lower property taxes.

• School Choice – Last year Governor Reynolds introduced, and pushed for the passage of, a school choice bill that ultimately died in the House. The Governor is likely to reintroduce the bill in 2023.

• Regulatory Reform – The Governor is expected to continue to expand on efforts from previous years to reduce regulatory burdens on business owners.  

• Workforce Shortages – Iowa has had a workforce shortage problem for years that has increased with the impacts of the pandemic. The Legislature will likely explore various legislative measures to attract and retain a skilled workforce. 

• Budget – The Revenue Estimating Conference (REC) met in December and reported Iowa will likely see a 1.9% decrease in revenues in FY23 as the 2022 tax reforms impacting individual and corporate taxes begin taking effect. Iowa ended FY22 with a budget surplus of $1.9 billion.