The Republican leaders of the Iowa Legislature’s taxation committees are proposing what they call the biggest property tax system overhaul in 50 years.
Republicans for weeks have said something must be done about property taxes, and now they have a plan.
Republican state Senator Dan Dawson and Representative Bobby Kaufmann say their proposal would cut property taxes by more than $400 million.
Every homestead would get a $25,000 tax exemption.
The bill would also eliminate the so-called “rollback,” which sets the amount of property value that can be taxed. In a third aspect, it also limits local government revenue growth.
Kaufmann says cities, counties, and taxpayers all think the current system is bad.
“This is our way of being responsive to everyone and saying all right, we’re going to modernize a system that hasn’t been touched effectively since 1977 in terms of the rollback, and get that predictability going forward,” Kaufmann said.
Democratic Representative Dave Jacoby says Iowans should be very skeptical of this plan. He says property taxes keep going up despite previous GOP attempts to provide relief.
*Additionally, family and friends plan to gather in Sioux City on Saturday to highlight the unsolved murder of a Native American woman more than 30 years ago.
Danielle LaPointe is a niece of Lori Ann DeCora, a member of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska, who died weeks after she was attacked during a house party in 1992.
One person was arrested but never prosecuted.
“She was just missed. I feel like on all fronts, and so we were just trying to bring that awareness and bring that back, like, hey, here, she's a cold case, she's right there from Sioux City, Iowa, like she's not forgotten, she is somebody's family member,” LaPointe said.
There was a break in another Sioux City cold case earlier this year. Police arrested Thomas Duane Popp for the murder of Terry McCauley. McCauley was a young mother of two and a member of the Omaha Tribe when she was killed in 1983.
Family members credit awareness through social media for keeping the McCauley investigation alive. That gives the DeCora family hope for justice in their case.
*Also in the Iowa Legislature, Friday marked a notable deadline in the timeline that meant that many bills died, since they were not passed out of any committee.
Speaker Pat Grassley said Iowa House Republicans have advanced bills they think are extremely important.
Grassley pointed to bills that seek to overhaul higher education in the state by banning DEI programs and targeting majors to meet workforce needs. He also said bills to focus SNAP benefits on healthy foods and put Medicaid work requirements in place are priorities.
Democratic House Minority Leader Jennifer Konfrst said she is disappointed with the lack of bills that would lower costs for Iowans.
Konfrst is also frustrated with Republican proposals she says would provide immunity for pesticide companies, restrict vaccines, and require physicians to share inaccurate claims about medication abortion reversals.
“For the party of small government, the Republicans sure do think a lot of great ideas come out of Des Moines, and are sure interested in taking over the decisions that we make, about vaccines, about education, about how we live our lives, about who gets civil rights who doesn't,” Konfrst said.
She says Democrats have pushed legislation to make housing, health care and child care more affordable, but the bills failed to advance.
*In other news, South Dakota people are experiencing historic highs in hospitalizations for influenza in the 2024-25 winter season.
The state is on pace to see record cases of flu, COVID-19, norovirus and even whooping cough, according to South Dakota News Watch. The entire U.S. is also suffering from high case counts of influenza this year.
South Dakota epidemiologist Joshua Clayton said schools are a big place for the spread of viruses and other infectious diseases.
The South Dakota population might be more susceptible to infectious diseases due to lower rates of vaccinations. Flu vaccinations fell by 18 percent statewide from 2021 to 2024, even as the population increased.
*So-called deepfakes are realistic AI generated images, audio or video recordings of real people designed to influence elections. A bill that makes it a criminal offense to share deepfakes during an election in South Dakota has advanced from the House Judiciary Committee.
Republican Liz Larson is the prime sponsor of the bill. She called the new AI-generated technology quote “dangerous” in election processes.
The next step is a vote on the South Dakota House floor. If signed into law, people who develop deepfakes to injure candidates within 90 days of an election face a Class 1 misdemeanor.
