Capitol Letters: The Sitzmann Scoop Week 15

The week in a recap:

Rest in Peace Pope Francis.  This week was a very productive week of debate!  We passed 45 bills this week.    

Monday:

Monday morning I traveled to Des Moines.   We gaveled in at 1pm and we (all 67 house republicans) immediately caucused.  After Caucus we went to the house floor and voted on and passed the following bills:

-         SF 606 Sales Tax Reforms

-         SF 604 Tobacco Units Sold

-         HF 975 Economic Development Authority

-         HF 1006 Food Processing Plant Licensing  

-         HF 960 Network Equipment Exemption 

-         HCR 6 Maximum Gross Weights Allowed

-         HF 978 Medical Psilocybin

-         HF 997 Secretary of State Business Reports

-         HF 163/ SF 583 School Safety Assessment

-         SF 296 Police Service Dogs

-         SF 257 Vehicle Registration Stickers

-         SF 573 Motor Vehicle Glass Repair

-         SF 513 Dissolution College Expenses

Tuesday:

Tuesday morning  we gaveled in at 8:30AM and we (house republicans) immediately caucused.  After Caucus we went to the house floor and voted on and passed the following bills:

-         HF 977 Ground Medical Transport Staff

-         HF 303 Prior Authorizations in Healthcare

-         HF 1031 County Recorder Fees / Statewide Recording Modernization

-         HF 1001 Rural Attorney Recruitment Assistance

-         HF 1002 Firefighter Length of Service Award Program

-         HF 1003 Finding Family / Child Placement

-         HF 984 / SF 474 High Acuity Youth / Youth Services & Support

-         HF 1015 Prohibiting Counties from Charging Fees for ATV/UTVs Operating on Secondary Roads

-         HF 1025 Highway Speed Restrictions / Turning Highway 5/65 into an Interstate Highway

-         HF 988 Catastrophic Savings Account

-         SF 288 Pregnant Students at Regents Schools - Community Colleges / Pregnancy Accommodations

-         HF 516 University of Iowa Healthcare Residency Enrollment Requirements

Tuesday night I attended the Family Leader Banquet.  

Wednesday:

Wednesday morning  we gaveled in at 8:30AM and we (house republicans) caucused at 10AM.  After Caucus we went to the house floor and voted on and passed the following bills:

-         HF 991 Property Tax Limitations on Childcare Centers

-         HF 1020 Child and Dependent Care Tax Credits

-         1010 College Student Aid Commission

-         HF 1007 Victim Restitution Fund

-         SF 150 Sexual Exploitation of Minor

-         HF 1019 Sales Tax Exemption – Toilet Paper

-         HF 1021 Dietary Supplement Sales Tax

-         HF 706 Open Meetings and Enforcement

-         HF 1027 Radon Mitigation Tax Credits

-         SF 146 Automated Ticket Purchases – Bots

Thursday

Thursday morning  we gaveled in at 8:30AM and we (house republicans) immediately caucused.  After Caucus we went to the house floor and voted on and passed the following bills.

• HF 862 Conflict of Interest  
• HF 644 Foster Parent Consent
• HF 1032 Grocery Store Investment Program
• HF 1016 / SF 565 Surviving Spouse Health Insurance
• HF 1028 Department of Management
• HF 1022 Sundry Item Sales Tax Exemption
• HF 986 Dept. of Insurance Omnibus
• HF 1023 IPERS Protection Occupations
• HF 472 Public Expression Protection Act
• HF 710 Private Dock Structures

We were in debate until 1:30 Thursday.  Thursday afternoon I got a haircut at my first

cousin’s salon in downtown Des Moines!  It was great catching up with her.  

Thursday night I traveled home.  

Looking Ahead:

Week 16  is our last scheduled week of session.  It will likely be similar to this week but it is up in the air!  We are in negotiations with the Senate and the Governors office on budget items.   I will be in Des Moines all week regardless of the debate calendar.  Moville Elementary School is visiting me on Monday!  I will be “homeless” later in the week due to moving out of my apartment by 5/1.  May 2nd is our scheduled last day of the 2025 session.  We will see if we get done by then or not!  

Week 15 Legislative Update:

Economic Relief for Iowans/Property Tax Update

·      Iowans are feeling the pain of higher costs. Inflation served as one of the top motivating issues this election cycle.

·      One of the biggest things we can do to directly help Iowans weather the storm of inflation is cut taxes, which we have done by lowering all taxpaying Iowans’ income tax rate to 3.8%.

o  Democrats often talk about wanting to help Iowans with high costs, but they really don’t have a leg to stand on. They voted against every income tax cut we’ve passed over the last few years.

o  Their claims that these tax cuts only benefit the wealthy don’t hold any water. All taxpaying Iowans have had their tax rate lowered by Iowa Republicans.

·      We are continuing to take a very serious look at property taxes. There is a big property tax overhaul on the table, but we are continuing to move slowly through the process to give all entities a chance to weigh in and ensure we understand the full impacts of the bill.

·      Iowans have been loud and clear that they want the legislature to address property taxes. However, property taxes are largely administered by local governments, and they say our ideas will result in less services.

·      We remain committed to addressing this issue. While we dig into the details, we are looking for additional ways to lower costs for Iowans.

·      This week we passed two bills through the Iowa House to lower the cost of common items utilized by Iowa families.

o  House File 964 would eliminate the sales tax on toilet paper.

o  House File 966 would eliminate the sales tax on dietary supplements.

·      In Iowa, we already exempt a number of everyday items from sales tax such as certain groceries and prescription drugs. These two bills represent additional items that will help lower the tax burden on Iowans.

Increasing Access to Quality, Affordable Child Care

Access and the cost of child care continues to be a top concern our caucus hears about from constituents. Parents across the state struggle to find a safe and affordable place to send their kids.

Iowa House Republicans are committed to finding ways to increase access to quality, affordable child care in every corner of the state.

House Republicans have been aggressive in addressing child care access over the past few sessions. We know there is not one single solution to this complex issue, so we have worked to approach the issue from many angles.  

This week, we passed two bills to add to that effort.

o  House File 962 eliminates the income maximum threshold to qualify for the Iowa child and dependent care tax credit. With this change, all families with an income over $25,000 will be eligible to take advantage of this credit.

o  House File 991 would allow child care facilities to be taxed at the residential rollback rate rather than the commercial rate.

This would represent a property tax cut for these businesses.

Currently, child care providers, unless they operate out of their home, are classified as commercial properties and pay a 90percent rollback rate. This means they pay property tax on 90 percent of their assessed value.

Under this plan they will be given the same rollback as residential property.

House File 978: Access to New Treatment for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

·      In recent years, psilocybin, the psychoactive compound found in “magic mushrooms” has been found to be used as an effective treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder.

·      With this bill, we are allowing Iowa military veterans, law enforcement or others with PTSD to have access to this treatment in a safe environment.

·      HF 978 would establish a Psilocybin Production Establishment Licensing Board within the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services. This new board would operate similar to the Medical Cannabidiol Advisory board, allowing for the use of psilocybin in a medical setting for people with certain mental health needs.

·      The bill requires the patient to be over 21years old. They would receive psilocybin in a clinical environment with psychiatric support. This treatment has been shown to resolve or lessen the impacts of PTSD.

·      We know that suicide rates of veterans are devastatingly high. If this treatment can make a difference in saving the lives of American heroes, we believe it should be given a try with the proper safety controls in place.

House File 163: School Safety Threat Assessment Teams

·       House file 163 was passed to build upon Iowa House Republicans’ efforts to make our schools as safe as possible.

·      This bill requires schools to create a multidisciplinary threat assessment team to intervene when a student is exhibiting threatening behaviors.

·      It encourages the collaboration between schools, law enforcement and mental health professionals to ensure the safest environment possible for our students and staff in schools.

·      Under this bill, schools and government agencies are allowed to share information on students struggling with mental illness. It also provides immunity from civil liability for individuals who report credible threats.

House File 303 – Prior Authorization in Health Care

·      House File 303 is one of many bills in the Iowa House this session aimed at improving access to quality healthcare in Iowa. It does this by addressing prior authorization.

·      Prior authorization is a practice that requires insurance companies to approve a medical procedure or medication before it can be given to the patient. The goal of this practice is to control costs, but it can often result in delays in getting the patient the care they need.

·      This bill aims to improve access to quality care in a number of ways:

o  Insurance companies must make a determination on a request for prior authorization from a health care provider in 48 hours if it is an urgent request. A nonurgent request must be responded to in 10 days. The bill does allow 15 days to respond if it is a nonurgent request and a complex/unique situation or when experiencing a high volume of requests.

o  Insurance companies must review all health care services that require prior authorization every year and eliminate those that don’t promote health care quality or reduce health care spending.

o  Health insurers must implement a pilot program that exempts a subset of providers from certain prior authorizations. They then must submit a report on their pilot program to the Insurance Division by January 15^th, 2026. 

·      This bill will speed up Iowans’ access to the care they need and lower the administrative burden on health care providers, allowing them to spend more time with patients.

House File 1001: Rural Attorney Recruitment Assistance Program

·      The limited number of attorneys in rural Iowa is astounding.  Looking toward the future, it is only predicted to get worse as many of the attorneys currently serving rural Iowa are approaching retirement age.

·      These rural communities need young, new attorneys to serve their area. But establishing your law career in a rural area has become increasingly difficult, particularly because law school is so expensive.

·      House File 1001 aims to aid that problem bye stablishing a Rural Attorney Recruitment Assistance Program within College Student Aid Commission.

o  This program would provide five-year grants to attorneys who agree to practice in rural Iowa and provide representation as a contract attorney under the State Public Defender’s Office. Each year’s payment would be equal to 90% of one year’s tuition at the University of Iowa’s law school.

o  If a city or county agrees to participate in this program, they agree to pay 35% of the incentive payment and the State will pay the other 65%.

o  If the attorney breaches the agreement, they are required to pay back the full amount received.

·      A county or municipality is eligible to participate if:

o  It has a population of less than 26,000.

o  It is located more than 20 miles from a city with a population of at least 50,000.

o  It agrees to provide its portion of the incentive payment.

·      This program is limited to five when it is first implemented. Though this may not seem like a lot, having one additional attorney may mean a great deal for that rural community.

·      The program would then expand on July 1^st,2026.

House File 1027: Radon Mitigation Tax Credit

·      Iowa has been making headlines for its 2^ndhighest and fastest rising cancer rates in the United States. There is a lot we still need to learn about why this is the case, but one issue we know is a reality is we have the highest radon levels in the country. 

·      Radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer and is responsible for almost 21,000 lung cancer deaths a year in the US and400 in just the state of Iowa.

·      This week, we passed a bill creating a radon mitigation system tax credit for up to $1,000.

·      The credit covers the costs of purchasing and installing a radon mitigation system, capped at $1,000.

o   Taxpayers can carry any unused credit to the following tax year.

o   This system tax credit is for individual and corporate income taxes in Iowa.

·      The bill also requires new construction of single or two-family residences include passive methods for radon mitigation.

·      There is a lot left to do to help the cancer rates in Iowa, this is a good start to all that we can do to figure out the problem and slow down the growing rates.

House File 1002: Firefighters Length of Service Award

·      Many communities in Iowa rely on volunteer firs responders in the case of emergencies.

·      But while the number of volunteers is decreasing, fire emergency calls in Iowa have been increasing in recent years.

·      This bill creates a length of service award program for volunteer emergency responders. The program will provide tax-deferred benefits to create an additional incentive to recruit and retain individuals for these crucial roles.

·      Municipal governing bodies are tasked with developing eligibility and operational guidelines for these programs.  Once they have their program established, a service award grant fund will be available to help support the municipalities in funding these programs with a matching contribution requirement.

·      $1.5 million from the sports wagering receipts fund for fiscal year 2025-2026 will be appropriated to support the grant fund.

·      A length of service award program offers a small but meaningful benefit for those who volunteer to put themselves on the frontline.

Protecting Our Youth

·       One of the caucus priorities we entered session with was to ensure Iowa laws are protecting our youth and setting them up for success in life, particularly those that are born into tough situations.

·       This week we passed a number of bills off the House floor in that effort.

·       House File 1003 prioritizes providing stability for a child in the foster care system.

o   It requires the Department of Health and Human Services to have staff that is focused entirely on finding relatives for children placed in foster care. This staff would be dedicated to identifying those relatives and providing notice that the child has been removed from parental custody.

o   It also allows the court to determine if placement with a foster parent that has had the child in their care for longer than 9 months may be in the best interest of the child over a relative or fictive kin.

·       Senate File 474 makes significant changes to the services provided to Iowa youth, particularly those with serious emotional disturbances and substance use disorders. It is a bill from the Department of Health and Human Services to help kids who are struggling get the mental health care and support they need. 

·       Senate File 150 changes how a person can be charged for knowingly purchasing and possessing child pornography. Under this bill, multiple images of the same child can result in multiple charges. This bill aims to protect children and ensure justice is appropriately served.