The Rozenboom Report – April 17th, 2026

by Senator Ken Rozenboom
Week 14 Floor Action

We are officially in the homestretch of the 2026 legislative session as we continued debate throughout the week and worked with the House on “bouncing bills” going back and forth between our chambers. With our 100-day legislative session deadline quickly approaching, we are anxious to get back to our normal activities.

More Updates on K-12 Education Policy

This week we passed House File 2591, which states that a student who enrolls into a new school is ineligible to compete in interscholastic athletics for the first 140 calendar days of enrollment. Current law has this similar provision at 90 school days. This bill would amend that provision and increase the restriction to 140 calendar days, so it affects students attending schools with a modified calendar the same as schools with a regular calendar. This provision only applies to students competing in varsity level athletics.

Part of a well-rounded education experience should include encouraging students to acquire leadership and public speaking skills that can be very beneficial to their future. Because some schools readily grant absences for athletic and other extra-curricular activities but do not allow absences for equally important activities such as FFA, we passed Senate File 2219. This bill ensures students who miss school for an agricultural club or event are considered exempt from school. We have worked heavily on addressing student truancy and we understand the importance of students being in the classroom, but we recognize that not everything is learned inside of a classroom. The bill requires all school districts to grant an exempt absence when students are absent from school for a school-sponsored activity, including FFA. School districts are required to allow the student to make up any work they miss because of this absence.

Is Hydrogen part of Iowa’s Future?

Another bill passed this week was Senate File 2490 regarding oil and gas production. Iowa has laws on the books that address mineral rights but, because oil and gas resources have never been discovered in Iowa, our laws are quite old and obsolete. Meanwhile we have learned that Iowa may have unique underground geologic formations that have the potential to yield significant hydrogen resources. SF2490 is a major update on Iowa’s laws to ensure landowner protections during the exploration and discovery of oil and gas in Iowa’s ground. This also provides a framework for a severance tax on future hydrogen extractions which would broaden our tax base and further drive down income tax rates.

Lowering the Income Tax Burden is always Front and Center

Tax Day was on Wednesday this week, which means it has been one year since the Senate passed Senate Joint Resolution 11, a constitutional amendment requiring a 2/3 majority to increase income taxes in Iowa. Since 2017, Senate Republicans have passed many tax relief measures to make Iowa a more affordable place for Iowans, families, and small businesses. We eliminated the inheritance tax. We eliminated taxes on retirement income. We provided tax relief for small businesses. On top of those reforms, we kept knocking down Iowa’s income tax rate and simplifying our tax code until we reached a 3.8 percent flat tax.

SJR 11 is an important measure to protect the tax cuts we have passed and ensure there is an overwhelming need before more money is taken out of the pockets of Iowans. Every session we hear from Democrats clamoring to spend taxpayer money, and how they hunger for even more of your hard-earned money. Senate Republicans believe SJR 11 is one of the best ways we can keep Iowa as one of the lowest tax states in the country. For one year, this measure has awaited action in the Iowa House. If it is passed this year, the constitutional amendment would be on the ballot this coming November for Iowans to support. I hope to see the House take up this measure soon so we can get this to the voters and protect your money.

As session starts moving towards adjournment, we begin to recognize those who will be retiring from the legislature. It is always sad to lose some among us who have made lasting impressions on our hearts but, most importantly, on our state. Everyone brings a different perspective to this line of work and that is something we are fortunate to have. With retirement resolutions being read, and speeches and thanks being given, we realize yet again how close we are to the end of the 91st General Assembly, and it is a great time to think about all we have accomplished at the Capitol together. I expect that I will give my own retirement speech sometime next week.

Property Tax Discussions Continue at the Capitol

Last week the Iowa Senate took a huge step forward in the discussion on property taxes, passing our proposal with overwhelming bipartisan support. Senate File 2472 was the Iowa Senate’s property tax overhaul to bring relief to taxpayers and reform an outdated and complicated property tax system. As we have said from the very beginning, the goal of the Senate bill is to completely overhaul and reform a system to better work for Iowans and their families, bring more stability and predictability for Iowans and small businesses, and ultimately keep more money in the hands of Iowans instead of with the government.

While the property tax system is complicated, this bill is simple. For every Iowan who has a home, you will get a 50 percent permanent discount on the taxable value of your home. When you turn 60 years old, you get a 60 percent discount. When you turn 70, you get a 70 percent discount, and so on. Additionally, when property inflation goes up more than 2 percent, property tax levies automatically get lowered, bringing more relief to your property tax bills.

Senate File 2472 has several other important features to reform Iowa’s property tax system instead of more band-aid approaches. The Senate pursued an approach that looked at all aspects of property taxes and how we could make the system simpler and better. It eliminates the variable rollback system, which changes every year. It implements levy rate controls and implements a property tax restriction on local taxing entities to rein in the growth of local government spending. Most importantly, it tells Iowans they deserve a better tax environment than businesses and corporations.

The Senate passed this reform and relief out of our chamber 41-4 last week. We are negotiating with the House in an all-out effort to provide a simple, yet comprehensive, overhaul approach and look forward to the continued talks as we get into the final weeks of session.