Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds proposed ideas for boosting the state’s health care workforce, asked lawmakers to restrict cell phones in classrooms, and said she will ask for federal permission to establish Medicaid work requirements during her eighth Condition of the State Address Tuesday evening.
She also proposed incentivizing partnerships to boost child care availability, and said she will once again ask lawmakers to lower unemployment taxes paid by businesses.
Reynolds started her speech by touting her work to cut taxes and reorganize state government to make it more efficient.
“The trajectory of our state is not just impressive but inspiring,” she said. “In just a few short years, we’ve turned our state into a national model for bold, get-it-done government. And we’re not stopping.”
She said her efforts to shrink the number of state agencies, boards and commissions have saved the state $217 million over three years. Reynolds said her next move is to create an Iowa Department of Government Efficiency task force, an Iowa version of President-elect Donald Trump’s “DOGE” task force. It will be led by Emily Schmitt, general counsel for Sukup Manufacturing.
“I like to say that we were doing DOGE before DOGE was a thing. And to build on our success, I’m launching our own state DOGE, to find even greater savings and efficiencies in both state and local government,” she said. "Because to pass meaningful property tax reform, we also need to be lean at the local level.”
Reynolds did not propose a property tax relief plan, and instead left it to Republican lawmakers to get started on what they have said is their top priority for this year.
Reynolds asks lawmakers to restrict cell phones in schools
Reynolds also proposed requiring schools to impose a ban on cellphones in schools during instructional time, at a minimum. Under the bill, school districts can adopt more restrictive policies, and she said schools like Hoover High School in Des Moines and the Ottumwa Community School District have already adopted similar rules.
Reynolds said the bans would include “common sense” exemptions like for emergencies and are intended to reduce distractions.
“It’s unhealthy, and the results are as predictable as they are unacceptable — lost sleep, lower productivity, more distractions and increased anxiety,” she said.
In K-12 education, Reynolds also proposed requiring early screening for math proficiency and a requirement for high schoolers to pass the U.S. citizenship test in order to graduate.
Related to restricting cell phone use, Reynolds called on lawmakers to “finally” outlaw cell phone use while driving — unless it’s in hands-free mode. She highlighted a family that lost their father in a car accident caused by a distracted driver.
“For the sake of all our loved ones on the road, let’s finally pass legislation that requires drivers to keep their eyes on the road and away from their phones,” she said.
Governor puts focus on health care policies
Reynolds said now that Trump will be taking office, she will direct state health officials to ask for federal permission to enact work requirements for some “able-bodied” people who get government-funded health insurance through Medicaid.
“In other words, if you can work you should,” she said. “It’s common sense and good policy. For the men and women who are receiving these government payments, getting back to work can be a lifeline to stability and self-sufficiency.”
Reynolds’ office said it does not have the details of exactly who would face work requirements and what would qualify as work. Her office said Reynolds does not need approval from the Iowa Legislature to move forward with the policy. The Iowa Senate has passed Medicaid work requirements before but the bill stalled in the House.
Reynolds said Iowa still faces a shortage of health care professionals in every part of the state.
To help address that, she proposed overhauling and doubling state investment in a loan repayment program aimed at getting doctors to work in rural communities.
Reynolds said she is also directing state health officials to start a program in partnership with Broadlawns Medical Center and the University of Iowa to create an estimated 115 new medical residency positions each year. That would be paid for with more than $150 million in federal funds.
“With a typical three- to four-year residency rotation, that would mean around 460 new physicians being trained right here in Iowa,” she said. “That’s a game-changer for rural communities and our entire state.”
Reynolds talked about the impact of Iowa’s high cancer rates. She mentioned her husband, Kevin Reynolds, who is in remission from lung cancer, and Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver, who is undergoing radiation treatment for a brain tumor.
“Every case of cancer is a tragedy,” she said. “And I’m concerned by the data showing that these tragedies disproportionately affect Iowans. Our state has ranked second for new cancer cases two years running, and we’re one of just two states with rising rates. That’s the ‘what of this problem.’ The ‘why’ and ‘how’ are where things get tricky.”
Reynolds asked Iowa lawmakers to put $1 million into a new partnership with the University of Iowa to establish a team to research the “behavioral, genetic and environmental factors that might be playing a role.”
Reynolds proposes child care partnerships
Reynolds said she has used more than half a billion dollars of federal funding to expand child care capacity by nearly 27,000 slots, but the child care workforce still needs to be stabilized. She said that is why she is asking lawmakers to make permanent a pilot program that offers free child care to child care workers.
She is also launching a statewide child care solutions fund to build on regional funds that are aimed at boosting child care worker wages without raising costs for families. Reynolds’ office said the state will not be contributing to that fund. Rather, it is a place to collect and distribute private donations.
Education leaders have been calling on lawmakers to fund full-day preschool for 4-year-olds. Reynold said Iowa is already ranked fifth in the country for preschool access, but the partial-day programs create issues for parents who can’t transport their kids to child care while they are working.
Reynolds proposed a $16 million grant program to help preschool and child care providers work together to provide full-day care for 4-year-olds.
“It’s about more than convenience,” she said. “It’s about offering our children the educational foundation they need while giving parents peace of mind that their children are cared for throughout the work day.”
Reynolds is also making another push for reducing unemployment taxes on businesses. State lawmakers did not pass her proposal last year.
“We need to stop punishing our employers by requiring them to pay more tax than necessary,” she said. “Instead, employers should keep and reinvest this money into their businesses, their workers and their communities.”
She said her proposal would save businesses nearly $1 billion over five years.
According to Reynolds’ staff, the governor is requesting to set aside $13.6 million from the Economic Emergency Fund for disaster aid across the state. From that amount, $11.6 million would go toward repairing damaged homes and $2 million would be set aside for the state’s Nuisance Property and Abandoned Building Fund, which provides loans for fixing and demolishing hazardous properties.
Reynolds pointed out three presidential declarations were issued to Iowa in two months last year. She praised civilians and first responders in Spencer, Rock Valley and Greenfield for their efforts.
“I’ll never forget the devastation and heartbreak,” Reynolds said. “But I witnessed Iowans lifting each other up – volunteers clearing debris, residents comforting neighbors, and local officials and first responders working around the clock – many who had their own homes or businesses destroyed. Yet they continued to put others first.”
Reynolds’ proposed bill would create more oversight for processing insurance claims and streamline how state emergency funds can be transferred in times of disaster. The bill would also provide tax exemptions for developers who received money through the State Disaster New Housing Grant Program — a state financial assistance program incentivizing housing development in disaster-affected counties.
Top lawmakers react to Reynolds' speech
After the speech, top Republicans and Democrats responded to questions about Reynolds’ proposals.
House Minority Leader Jennifer Konfrst said Democrats are ready to have conversations about many of Reynolds’ policies, but the details matter.
“I think what we saw were a lot of things that we can like, in theory," she said. "Our concern continues to be, what’s the actual practical application of it?”
Republican House Speaker Pat Grassley said he thought it was “interesting” that the governor urged lawmakers to pass more restrictions on using a cell phone while driving. He said he’s still not sure if that can get enough support from the House GOP to pass.
"But I think the governor bringing it up in her Condition of the State speech probably amplifies the issue even more so than some of the attempts that we’ve made in the past,” Grassley said.
In response to Reynolds’ goal to establish Medicaid work requirements, Senate Democratic Leader Janice Weiner said she thinks Iowans want to work and are already working.
"We need to ensure that those who are caregivers, those who have a disability, those who for any reason cannot work, still keep their health care," she said.
And Republican Senate President Amy Sinclair said she is looking forward to working with Reynolds on requiring public school districts to at least ban cell phones during instructional time.
"I like the idea of giving them some ownership so that they can come in and make those local decisions that make the most sense for implementation, for their districts, for their parents, for their kids, their families," she said.
This story was updated to add reaction from lawmakers Tuesday, Jan. 14, at 10:28 p.m.
