Helena Hayes Capitol Update – February 23, 2026

by Helena Hayes

Week 6

First funnel has officially ended and brought with it a week of much loved chaos. This deadline is the first of several that forces us to narrow down the legislation that will continue moving this year. Every bill must be through its respective committee by this time and the same applies in the Senate in order for a bill to remain “alive.”

The sheer number of wonderful visitors to the capitol did not slow down either! So many great people and resources! Here are many of the groups and events I enjoyed connecting with this week: Iowa Professional Firefighters Association, Public Health Day on the Hill, Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation, Iowa Land Title Association, AC4C Youth Substance Use Prevention Day, Iowa Homeless Coalition, STEM, Iowa PBS, IJag, Clean Water Day, Iowa Trappers Association, and Iowa CTE Day. Whew!

See some of these great visitors below:

Physicians Day on the Hill brought students from the Regency Universities to discuss priorities in several different healthcare issues. Medical student, Zachariah Grissom, not only brought up important points in a life and veterans bill but also wins the absolute best tie of the week award!

iJAG students from Mount Pleasant shared their experiences with work-based learning. The variety of opportunities was impressive and included teacher aid, veterinarian tech, a nonprofit, and the auditors office.

If you haven’t made it to the top of the dome yet, let me know! I’d love to help you check that off your list! The view is worth every step. Comfortable shoes, a good night’s sleep, and a slightly adventurous spirit aren’t officially required… but they do tend to make the climb feel a little more triumphant at the top.

It is always a pleasure to connect our legislative pages with local students. This years page from Albia, Lorelai Maddy, spoke with Oskaloosa senior, Kara Harman, during her leadership visit through Future Business Leaders of America.

Floor Debate

After a flurry of subcommittees, this week closed with our second floor debate of the year.

Prior to that, the House and Senate leadership worked to settle on an SSA bill that could pass both chambers. The final agreement includes the following provisions:

Sets SSA at 2%. This amounts to $8,148 per student, an increase of $160 over last school year.

Makes changes to the enrollment count process to ensure schools are funded accurately based on their actual student numbers.

Shifts the funding source for the budget guarantee to the state, ensuring local property taxes don’t rise to meet the budget guarantee requirement.

House Republicans also secured $7 million of the $14 million we originally proposed to increase pay for paraprofessionals. House Republicans will continue to fight for the other $7 million in the appropriations negotiations later in session.

Taking Care of the Capitol

No matter the time of year, the season, or the hour, one can always find the capitol receiving continuous care and upkeep. Last year, the beautifully hand painted wall decor around the old supreme court chamber was meticulously repainted. This year, you will find the scaffolding at the top of the stairs as you enter the rotundra. The careful work that occurs year-round includes restoring historic sandstone, tuckpointing masonry, upgrading windows, meticulously maintaining interior marble and woodwork, along with re-gliding the 23-karat gold dome every thirty years.

Committee Updates

Education

Iowa Schools Spend Almost $24,000 Per K-12 Student

During the 2023-24 school year Iowa spent $23,711.08 per K-12 student. Total education spending reached nearly $11.5 billion in the 2023-24 school year. The total number of students that school year was 483,698. The average class size in Iowa is roughly 20 students so that means Iowa is spending almost $474,000 per classroom.

The average teacher salary in Iowa is about $63,500. With benefits included, that rises to about $85,000 and equates to roughly $389,000 of non-teacher salary spending per classroom. Iowa’s K-12 schools receive funding from three levels of government. Local, state and federal governments all provide various amounts of tax dollars for K-12 school districts. The latest school year with complete data according to the non-partisan Legislative Services Agency (LSA) is the 2023-24 school year. Across all three levels of funding plus various other financing sources, the total amount of taxpayer funding in the 2023-24 school year was $11,469,020,542.24.

Expanding School Choice Bills

On Wednesday, the House Education committee passed bills that solidify school choice in Iowa. House Study Bill (HSB) 735. This bill provides the following:

solidifies accredited nonpublic school autonomy
creates a revolving loan fund for charter schools and nonpublic schools to help with purchasing, acquiring, developing, reconstruction, remodeling, and replacing school buildings
guarantees charter school teachers are eligible for IPERS
requires public schools have to work with community partners for preschool

HSB 676 guarantees Teacher Salary Supplement (TSS) money follows the student to the charter school, charter school students must be allowed to participate in extracurricular sports and activities at the public school if their school doesn’t have the sport or activity, and charter school students have access to driver’s education the same as nonpublic and public school students do.

House Veterans Affairs

One of my favorite committees to service on! These six bills include all that have advanced out of the House committee so far. The Senate advanced two House bills from the 2025 session.

Regent Tuition – House File 2491 provides free tuition to the regent schools for veterans with a permanent service-connected disability rating of 100%.

Service Animal Training Grant – House File 2467 establishes a $5,000 grant program to fund service animal training for veterans. Provides a $100,000 appropriation to establish the program.

Staff Sergeant Howard Highway – House File 2478 names the segment of highway 30 by Marshalltown as Staff Sergeant William Nathanial Howard Highway after he was killed in Syria in December while serving in the Iowa Army National Guard.

In-State Tuition – House File 175 requires Iowa’s community colleges and regent universities to provide in-state tuition for veterans, their spouse, their dependent children, and their survivors, no matter state of residence.

Veteran License Plate – House File 779 allows reserve forces and Iowa National Guard members to receive the United States veterans license plate.

Hyperbaric Oxygen Program and Fund – House File 2481 establishes a veterans traumatic brain injury recovery program and fund to allow for the free treatment of veterans with PTSD or traumatic brain injury with hyperbaric oxygen treatment. This bill has a special place in my heart because of the deep impact it could play in improving a veterans life with PTSD or a tramatic brain injury. I had the amazing experience of walking this bill through the legislative process as the floor manager so far and even though the final framework of this program has yet to be finalized, the veterans committee membees were in full and enthusiastic support of increasing access to hyperbaric treatment for veterans.

Fairfield Chamber of Commerce Forum

This weekend’s forum was sponsored by the Fairfield Area Chamber of Commerce and was another well run and organized public event by Chamber Executive Director Mendy McAdams. The Fairfield Public Library graciously hosted the full house of citizens who had a wonderfully long list of excellent questions.

Convention of States

House Joint Resolution 2004 passed through a House commitee this week and calls for a constitutional convention under Article V of the U.S. Constitution. The resolution includes language that proposes amendments to “place fiscal restraints on the federal government, limit its power and jurisdiction, and establish term limits for federal officials and members of Congress.”

The three goals listed above are important and justifiable concerns surrounding our federal government. In my effort to be transparent with those I represent in House District 88, I want to graciously remind my readers that I am strongly opposed to the idea of opening up our U.S. Constitution through a convention of states. I have written about this in past newsletters.

There was a time – when I understood much less about this topic – that I supported the idea because it sounded like a solution to many of the federal problems we face. However, over the past four years I have spent a considerable amount of time digging into this nuanced and controversial proposal. With what I know now, I remain and will continue to remain, steadfast in my belief that when we truly follow our current Constitution, our nation will be on a path toward fiscal responsibility and the principles of limited government… just as the Founders laid out. If you would like to hear more about my story, please let me know!