The Dickey Dispatch – April 10th, 2026

by Senator Adrian Dickey

I hope everyone had a great Easter last weekend and took the time to celebrate with friends and family. This was the thirteenth week of the session, and we made GREAT progress on some important priorities.

This Tuesday, I had the privilege of running HF 2254 on the Senate floor for debate. HF 2254 prohibits the inclusion of noncompete clauses in employment contracts by the University of Iowa Hospital and Clinics. Too often I have heard from hospitals and clinics in Senate District 44 that there are not many doctors to hire. Each year the State of Iowa invests $240 MILLION in the University of Iowa with the goal of educating our future workforce. It is absolutely wrong for the University of Iowa to take those tax dollars to train students in undergrad school, then medical school, next for a residency, then for the UIHC to hire them and force them to sign contracts that say if they ever leave their employment from the UIHC that they must not be employed by any other medical provider for 2 years or they must move far away! This is a BIG reason so many of our rural hospitals and clinics have had problems finding doctors.  This bill allows ALL health care employees (doctors, nurses, pharmacists, nurse practitioners, etc.) to leave the UIHC to practice in other medical providers without having to move or sit out for 2 years and will force the University of Iowa to maintain competitive employment terms and to treat their medical professionals as an asset, not a commodity. This bill passed with a 43-2 vote and is a GREAT step forward honoring our commitment to meeting the health care needs of Iowa!

Another bill worth mentioning that passed this week is SF 2426. This bill requires the Department of Transportation to ensure English proficiency of CDL applicants (professional truck drivers). The passage of this bill will leave roads much safer for Iowans.

Iowa Senate Republicans continue to deliver for Iowans, and we are thrilled to see the Iowa Make American Healthy Again Act pass in the Senate. The Iowa MAHA Act aims to refocus the state’s efforts to improve nutrition, physical activity, and healthy foods for all Iowans, but with an emphasis on children. Good habits start young and to improve our trends we need to educate and hold our systems accountable to achieve these goals. One of those efforts includes the removal of artificial food dyes for school lunch programs. Studies have shown these chemicals, which have zero health benefits, contribute to behavioral issues.

However, the most significant bill we passed this week was Senate File 2472.  This property tax overhaul bill provides a 50 percent discount on taxable value for every single Iowan who owns a home. It also increases the discount to 60 percent when Iowans turn 60 years old, 70 percent discount when Iowans turn 70 years old, 80 percent discount when Iowans turn 80 years old, 90 percent discount when Iowans turn 90 years old, and a 100 percent discount when Iowans turn 100! To give Iowans even further relief, the bill automatically lowers levies when property valuations rise above 2 percent. The proposal also modernizes Iowa’s property tax system to make it more transparent and stable for Iowans. It eliminates the antiquated variable rollback system and allows all public notices to be posted online.

As we gathered more feedback, questions and concerns throughout the summer and fall, one of the things we heard was the need to continue offering services in our cities and towns. The bill also includes additional flexibility measures to give local entities the ability to raise the local option sales tax to 1.25 cents to ensure public safety can be funded and lower property taxes. Additionally, Senate File 2472 includes a fuel tax index to guarantee additional funds to restore Iowa’s roads and bridges. Our proposal ensures fuel taxes never increase more than one cent a year and cannot increase more than three years in a row. For a family of 4, this increase equates to a total of $8 a year.  The legislature also has the ability to come in and reduce the fuel tax at any time. This ensures additional funds that are constitutionally protected go to Iowa’s infrastructure, with over 53 percent of those funds going to city, secondary, and farm-to-market roads.

Schools from Oskaloosa Christian and Sigourney visited our capitol this week. Some of the students had prepared very insightful letters about different bills I have been a part of. I enjoyed discussing these pieces of legislation with the students. It is always GREAT to see involvement and interest in government from students who are the future of our state.