Iowa Legislature hits 100th day as property tax, budget negotiations continue

by Robin Opsahl, Kathie Obradovich and Brooklyn Draisey, Iowa Capital Dispatch
April 21, 2026

Iowa lawmakers hit the goal end date for the 2026 legislative session Tuesday, but there are still several issues legislators must finish — or hope to tackle — before they can head home, including action on the state budget and property taxes.

Tuesday was the 100th day of session. Legislators will no longer receive a per diem pay moving forward — meaning they will have to pay the costs of mileage, lodging and certain meals related to their time at the Capitol until they end session. Though the end of the per diem typically marks the targeted end of session, it is not uncommon for lawmakers to still be in Des Moines for day or even weeks longer.

How long legislators will stay in Des Moines this year is still unknown. When House Minority Leader Brian Meyer jokingly asked House Majority Leader Bobby Kaufmann on Monday what time lawmakers plan to adjourn Tuesday, Kaufmann responded, “if you and I could just debate all the bills right now, I’m ready to go.”

When asked for more information on the timing for the rest of session, the Republican House leader shared that the GOP trifecta was making “progress” on many of topics they want to address this year — but did not say there was a specific end date in sight.

“We’re making a lot of progress on budgets, a lot of progress on property taxes and a lot of progress on the final policy bills,” Kaufmann said. “So I would anticipate a full week of work, and I think the momentum’s on our side to be shutting down — I’m not going to put a date onto it — but ASAP.”

Lawmakers officially adjourn, or sign the “sine die” resolution after passing bills funding the state government for the next fiscal year. Both chambers have moved forward several of the appropriations measures through the committee process, but a final budget deal has not been reached. However, House Speaker Pat Grassley told reporters negotiations on spending are currently happening on the areas that make up the total $40 million difference between House and Senate Republicans’ budget targets for fiscal year 2027.

“We do not have necessarily an overall budget target agreement with the Senate and the governor, but what you’re seeing in our line items is where the House is at at this point,” Grassley said. “We recognize there’s probably middle ground to be found with the Senate and with the governor.”

But before the Legislature will focus full attention on the state budget, GOP leaders are first working to find a resolution on how to best lower property tax costs — an issue that House and Senate Republicans, as well as Gov. Kim Reynolds, said was a top priority for 2026.

Earlier Tuesday, the House Ways and Means Committee passed the Senate property tax proposal, Senate File 2472, after holding a public hearing on the bill — but replaced the language approved with bipartisan support in the Senate with an amendment introduced by House Republicans last week.

House Ways and Means Chair Rep. Carter Nordman, R-Adel, told reporters Tuesday the House was advancing the bill, but did not say a final agreement was reached.

“Negotiations are ongoing, discussions are ongoing, and I still feel confident that we’ll get something done this year,” Nordman said.

Sen. Dan Dawson, R-Council Bluffs, who has led the discussions on property tax legislation in the Senate, spoke on the Senate floor about the need for lawmakers to think about the larger picture of property taxes, bringing up House File 1023, a bill passed by the Senate unanimously Tuesday related to Iowa Public Employees’ Retirement System employee contribution rates. Dawson said the measure was “a good piece of legislation.”

“But it is also a property tax increase,” Dawson said. “And it is also an unfunded mandate to local government. You cannot take an unfunded mandate to local government, and on the same pieces of proposed legislation in this general assembly, say ‘we are going to hard cap property taxes here in this state.’ Policy matters and thought process matters in this building. And I hope, as we move into the 100th day and beyond, to close this deal on property taxes, the entire general assembly — this entire building — thinks about what we are proposing, what we are passing, what we are signing into law, and how this works for Iowans.”

Bills on property taxes and IPERS were not the only issues lawmakers continued to work on Tuesday — both chambers passed several pieces of legislation, alongside holding subcommittee and committee meetings on several remaining bills.

Two governor’s nominees defeated

The Senate failed to reach the two-thirds majority vote threshold to confirm two of Gov. Kim Reynolds’ nominees: Larry Johnson as director of the Department of Health and Human Services and Todd Abrahamson to the Iowa Board of Education.

Johnson was appointed director of DHHS in October after previously serving as the director of the Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing and various other roles in state government for the past 15 years.

Sen. Kara Warme, R-Ames, said at DHHS, Johnson has “focused on improving access to health care in rural Iowa, especially through the successful Iowa’s Healthy Hometowns Rural Health Transformation Grant process.”

She said Johnson has “a passion for process improvement, for modernizing, standardizing and simplifying processes that I think has served us well as I’ve worked alongside him in HHS policy this year.”

But Democrats opposed his confirmation, citing concerns about lack of responsiveness to questions from lawmakers, among other issues. Senate Minority Leader Janice Weiner, D-Iowa City, noted that on more than one occasion this session and last year, the nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency was unable to get information from the department to provide fiscal analysis of legislation.

“HHS is a behemoth of a department that impacts the lives of hundreds of thousands of Iowans every year, if not every day. Iowans who are young and old, Iowans who are hungry, Iowans who need health care, Iowans who are healthy and Iowans who have a disability,” Weiner said. “HHS needs to be responsive. It is an enormous responsibility. They need to be responsive to individual Iowans. They also need to be responsive to this body and to LSA, because we as a body, as a chamber, should not be put in the position of having to decide and to vote on bills when … we cannot get the fiscal information that we need to make those votes.”

Johnson’s confirmation failed on a vote of 28-17.

The Senate also failed to confirm the nomination of Abrahamson of Arnold’s Park, who was appointed to the board last year. He has served in school administration across Iowa for the past 25 years, most recently as superintendent of the Okoboji Community School District. Sen. Molly Donahue, D-Marion, spoke against Abrahamson’s nomination, saying that “by supporting efforts that weakened our area education agencies, he has contributed to dismantling essential services like special education support, educator training and shared resources that small districts simply cannot replace on their own.”

His confirmation failed on a vote of 28-17.

Senators approved the confirmation of Mark Campbell as director of the Department of Administrative Services and Garrett Anderson to the Iowa Civil Rights Commission.

House passes bill to fund pediatric cancer research

Iowa House lawmakers passed one of multiple bills that seek to fund pediatric cancer research in the state Tuesday with unanimous support.

House File 2758 would create a standing appropriation to the Iowa Board of Regents for pediatric cancer research at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, to the tune of $1 for every Iowan but capped at $3 million.

Funds could be used for laboratory research and clinical trials at the hospital system, the legislation stated, and the board would be required to submit a report to the Legislature and governor annually on how dollars were spent.

Supporters of the bill listed the several families who spoke during meetings on the bill to share their story of how pediatric cancer has impacted their lives, with Rep. Megan Srinivas, D-Des Moines, thanking them for their advocacy and hard work.

Rep. Ryan Weldon, R-Ankeny, said $3 million isn’t enough to solve pediatric cancer or help the young patients having their cancer treated with drugs made for adults “overnight,” but it does get the ball rolling in garnering other supporters and cements the state’s commitment.

“The next child diagnosed in Iowa deserves better than what we have today,” Weldon said. “This is how we start delivering.”

The legislation passed with a 93-0 vote, and will head to the Iowa Senate for further consideration. Funding for pediatric cancer research is also included in bills setting appropriations for Iowa’s education systems and establishing a new tax on alternative nicotine and vapor products, both of which are still making their way through the legislative process.

The Senate had Senate File 2480 on the debate calendar Tuesday, but it was not brought up for discussion. The Senate proposal would seek to provide up to $3 million in funding for UI pediatric cancer research by implementing a 5-cent tax on “alternative nicotine products,” like nicotine pouches, and vapor products.

Hydrogen extraction proposal advances

A House subcommittee and committee moved forward Senate File 2490 Tuesday morning, legislation that would implement a 6% severance tax on natural resource extraction in Iowa as companies are exploring if geological hydrogen can be extracted in Iowa.

The measure, passed in a 32-15 vote by the Senate Thursday, was introduced as companies including Koloma have begun exploration efforts in the state about whether geological hydrogen can be extracted from hydrogen-producing rocks in Iowa geological formations. Supporters including Sen. Mike Bousselot, R-Ankeny, have said the bill is creating new standards that require landowners receive compensation if natural resources are extracted beneath their property by establishing “pooling” standards. But several opponents at the House subcommittee meeting said the debate on the topic was similar to talks about the use of eminent domain in carbon capture pipeline projects.

Marjorie Swan, a Wright County landowner, said the pooling proposal was “comparable to eminent domain of our mineral rights.”

“If (the bill) passes, a company who wants rights to what’s under your ground can create a pool, and even if landowners in the pool area voluntary sign away the rights, everyone else is forced into the pool,” Swan said. “And those who do not sign voluntary are punished with worse terms than those who signed voluntary.”

During the committee discussion on the bill, Republicans said they were committed to ensuring landowners rights are protected as the measure moves forward. Rep. Steven Holt, R-Denison, said he understood concerns from landowners about provisions in the bill and how they relate to property rights — but added “it is clear that hydrogen, as an energy source, would likely meet the eminent domain public use requirement.”

“It is clear that hydrogen could be transformative for our state’s economy, and, of course, we’ll vote this out of committee today, so the discussion continues, and we work through these important issues,” Holt said.

Foster family religious beliefs

The Senate, on a vote of 28-16, sent Senate File 473 to the governor’s desk. The bill prohibits the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services from disqualifying prospective foster or adoptive parents because of their sincerely held religious or moral beliefs, including about sexual orientation or gender identity. Opponents argued the bill would harm LGBTQ+ children.

Citizenship verification for driver’s licenses

 Senate File 2187 requires the Iowa Department of Education to verify the citizenship or immigration status of applicants for driver’s licenses or license renewals using the federal Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program. The Senate accepted a House amendment to delay implementation until March 1, 2027 and sent the bill to the governor’s desk on a vote of 38-7.

Iowa Capital Dispatch is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Iowa Capital Dispatch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Kathie Obradovich for questions: info@iowacapitaldispatch.com.