Iowa’s 2023 legislative session ended today (Thursday) shortly after 12:30 in the afternoon.
This session was marked by the passage of state-funded scholarships for kids to go to private schools, a massive government reorganization, property tax cuts, bills targeting LGBTQ youth, and an attempt to limit eminent domain for carbon pipelines.
Speaker Pat Grassley says House Republicans got most of their priorities to the governor’s desk.
“We’ve been in the majority now for over 10 years. And whether you like the things we try to do, or you don’t like the things we try to do—whether it’s in this chamber or Iowans as a whole—we try to make commitments and follow through with those things we tell Iowans we’re going to do.”
Democrats say some Iowans are worse off because of this legislative session. But they’re glad they could agree on property tax relief and on scaling back the bill that would loosen child labor laws.
Iowa Senate Republicans sent a bill to the governor’s desk today (Thursday) that would require voters to be physically present to participate in the Iowa caucuses.
Final passage of the bill comes a day after Iowa Democrats announced their plan to have voters choose a presidential nominee by mail. They’d hold in-person caucuses for party business on the same night as Republicans, but it’s not clear when Democrats would announce the results.
A judge has ruled that an Iowa law allowing hazardous liquid pipeline companies to enter private land to conduct surveys is unconstitutional.
The ruling by Iowa District Court Judge John Sandy came after Omaha-based Navigator CO2 sued a landowner who wouldn’t let surveyors onto his land near the northwest Iowa town of Sioux Rapids.
Navigator CO2 wants to build a pipeline that would capture CO2 from ethanol and fertilizer plants and transport it to be stored underground. Navigator and Iowa company Summit Carbon Solutions have sued landowners unwilling to allow surveyors onto their property.
A spokesperson for Navigator said in a statement that the company plans to appeal the ruling.
Woodbury and Monona Counties in NW Iowa have suffered through months of drought, but they may see some relief as the Climate Prediction Center has issued an El Nino Watch for this summer.
The Central Region climate service director for the National Weather Service, says the El Nino would come after three years of a La Nina. n El Nino occurs when Pacific Ocean surface temperatures rise above normal, and for Iowa, it typically means moderate temperatures and better chances for precipitation.
