Iowa’s 2025 legislative session ended at 6:31 a.m. on Thursday after lawmakers worked through the night to negotiate the final details of the state budget.
The Legislature passed major bills this session to limit eminent domain for carbon capture pipelines and remove civil rights protections for transgender Iowans. Most of Gov. Kim Reynolds’ priorities got through, including restricting cell phones in schools and cutting unemployment taxes for businesses.
“I’m proud of the work we did this session to expand on the strong foundation we’ve built over the last several years in health care, education and tax reform,” Reynolds said in a statement.
In her final hours as House minority leader, Rep. Jennifer Konfrst, D-Windsor Heights, said the Republican majority focused on special interests instead of working Iowans.
“Absolute failure for Iowa families when it comes to the economy, when it comes to their budgets. This Legislature did absolutely nothing to lower costs for Iowa families, and that was our number one goal at the beginning of session,” she said.
Rep. Brian Meyer, D-Des Moines, is now the House minority leader after Konfrst resigned the leadership position to run for Congress.
Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver, R-Grimes, highlighted the unemployment tax cuts for businesses, Medicaid work requirements and a proposed constitutional amendment making it harder to raise taxes in the future.
“We passed bills on the biggest priorities of Iowans, including education, health care and public safety,” he said. “We are always putting taxpayers first, and it consistently showed as we passed bills to protect our freedoms, budget responsibly and fund important priorities.”
Senate Democratic Leader Janice Weiner of Iowa City said the majority party should have joined Democrats in trying to reduce costs and prioritize working families.
“This was a session marked by division, special interest giveaways and partisanship,” she said. “There were limited occasions when the people’s interests were truly served in the Senate chamber.”
No GOP bill advances on property tax relief
Republican lawmakers did not achieve the biggest priority they named before the session: property tax relief. There were three different versions of a proposed overhaul of the state’s property tax system, but no bill advanced past a subcommittee.
Rep. Bobby Kaufmann, R-Wilton, and chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, said major policy changes usually take multiple years of work to pass the Legislature.
“When you’re redoing an entire system, when you’re effectively blowing up what everyone has known for the last several decades, it can take time,” Kaufmann said. "It’s not a shocker that it might take two years to perfect it.”
He said he and Senate Ways and Means Committee Chair Sen. Dan Dawson, R-Council Bluffs, will continue to work on the bill leading up to the 2026 legislative session.
Lawmakers approve $9.4 billion state budget
The Legislature sent several bills to the governor’s desk that make up the state budget.
Lawmakers are expecting to use about $900 million of reserves to cover a decline in state revenue caused by major tax cuts.
“To keep taxes low and ensure Iowans keep more of what they earn, we passed a responsible, balanced budget that puts taxpayers first and keeps Iowa on a strong, fiscally sustainable path,” Reynolds said. “Some have claimed Iowa is facing a deficit. Let’s be clear: this isn’t a deficit — it’s the result of the state collecting more from taxpayers than it needed. Now we’re giving it back.”
Republicans have said the $6 billion they saved will be more than enough to cover budget gaps until state tax revenue increases enough to fund state services.
Konfrst criticized the GOP majority’s approach to the budget.
“I think it’s important that Iowans know that we’re spending on ongoing expenses out of the state savings account, and that that’s not a sustainable way to govern,” she said. “And the reason for that is because Republicans, who have been in charge for 10 years, have been unable to manage this budget in a way that’s truly going to be responsible and actually be good stewards of taxpayer dollars.”
How did Gov. Reynolds’ priorities fare?
Lawmakers approved most of Reynolds’ priorities.
In addition to the unemployment tax cuts for businesses and banning cell phone use in schools during instructional time, the Legislature also approved her bill that funds disaster relief programs.
Reynolds succeeded in getting lawmakers to approve her bill to establish paid parental leave for state employees. It was the third year she proposed the policy. She also signed a law that bans using a phone while driving unless it’s in a hands-free mode.
She got a bill passed that aims to improve access to health care in rural areas. Reynolds also has a bill on her desk that calls for Medicaid work requirements, even though she moved forward with seeking federal approval for work requirements without waiting for lawmakers to pass the bill.
Lawmakers approved her request for $1 million to study the possible causes of Iowa’s high cancer rates.
Her bills to overhaul the state’s energy policies and to create new preschool grants with existing funds failed to pass in the Legislature.
Reynolds has 30 days to sign remaining bills into law or veto them.
