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Bill Analyses - Week of May 12, 2025

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Bill Analyses - Week of May 5, 2025

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This Week's House GOP Newsletter - May 8, 2025

Highlights in this edition: 

  • Iowa's High School Graduation Rate Climbs
    • This marks the first time since 2020 that Iowa's graduation rate has returned to pre-pandemic levels
  • Reinstating Common Sense School Discipline Policies
    • President Trump's EO emphasizes restoring safety and order in classrooms, arguing that prior policies prioritizing racial equity over behavior-based discipline compromised student safety and academic achievement 
  • Behavioral Health Statewide Plan 
    • The plan outlines a comprehensive, person-centered system of care, focused on building a full behavioral health continuum
  • Federal Budget: Lack of Evidence for Gender-Affirming Care
    • The report concluded that there is no robust evidence demonstrating that puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries are not effective in treating gender dysphoria or improving mental health outcomes in minors
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This Week's House GOP Newsletter - May 1, 2025

Highlights in this edition: 

  • House Republicans Release Budget Plan
    • House Republicans continue to keep their word to paraeducators
  • Iowa Ranks Fifth in the Nation, Landing the Midwest in Preschool Access for Four-Year-Olds
    • State spending totaled nearly $97,000,000, up 1 percent since last year 
  • DNR Notes that Black Bear Sightings on the Rise in Northeast Iowa
    • Iowa has gone from having an occasional visiting bear, to more frequent visiting bears to now having two-to-four bears move in over winter
  • Iowa is Finally Inheritance Tax Free
    • Senate File 619 passed back in 2021 phased out Iowa's inheritance tax at a rate of 20 percent each year until it was repealed totally this year
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This Week's House GOP Newsletter - April 24th, 2025

Highlights in this edition:

  • Appropriations Committee Allocates Sports Wagering Tax Proceeds
    • The Fund has grown to $40.6 million as there is only one program that currently gets funding through it annually - $1.75 million a year for gamblers treatment programs in the state
  • New Legislation Aims to Enhance College Affordability
    • The final decision on tuition increases must be made by April 30 of the previous fiscal year, allowing students to plan their finances more effectively
  • Health Care Workforce Bill Sent to the Governor
    • The data shows that if you do your medical school training and your residency training in one state, you are far more likely to stay and practice in that state
  • House Advances Open Meeting Enforcement
    • The bill increases training for public officials on open meetings and public information rules and increases fines for violations
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Bill Analyses - Week of April 21, 2025

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This Week's House GOP Newsletter - April 17, 2025

Highlights in this edition:

  • Gambling Tax Collections Down in March as Iowa Senate Proposes Hiking Sports Wagering Tax Rate
    • Iowa has one of the lowest sports wagering tax rates in the nation at just 6.75 percent
  • Bill Establishing Center for Intellectual Freedom Sent to the Governor’s Desk
    • This is a great step forward for students who seek an unbiased knowledge and merit-based education
  • Recount Modernization Heads to the Governor
    • The bill to creates standard procedures for how election recounts are conducted across Iowa
  • House Committee Supports Increasing Access to Adoptions
    • House File 695 increases the adoption tax credit to from $5,000 to up to $20,000 of qualified adoption expenses per adoption
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Bill Analyses - Week of April 14, 2025

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This Week's House GOP Newsletter - April 10th, 2025

Highlights in this edition: 

  • Changes to Legislature's Role in Welfare Funding Raises Questions
    • DHHS is proposing to change how TANF funding is appropriated
  • What Kind of Accountability Exists in the ESA Program?
    • The use of a third-party administrator, strict eligibility and expenditure rules, and mechanisms for recovery and penalties minimize improper use by both recipients and schools
  • Disaster Recovery
    • HF 982 enhances and improves Iowan's recovery efforts for communities affected by natural disasters
  • House Republicans Strengthen Election Integrity 
    • The bill expands reasons to cancel a voter's registration to include citizenship status
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Bill Analyses - Week of April 7, 2025

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