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Thursday, May 15, 2025

2025 Iowa legislature session ends on May 15

2025 Iowa legislature session ends on May 15

Lawmakers approved a tax cut for Iowa businesses, made final state spending decisions, and ended the 2025 Iowa legislative session at 6:31 this morning.

Senate President Amy Sinclair, a Republican from Allerton, said the session’s top accomplishment is the bill reducing the tax rate businesses must pay into Iowa’s Unemployment Trust Fund. “A billion-dollar tax cut for the people who drive Iowa’s economy, for the employers of the folks that live here, work here, and raise their families here,” Sinclair said.

House Democratic Leader Jennifer Konfrst said Republicans failed to address the state’s housing crisis, improve access to child care, or lower property taxes. “Working Iowans lost and special interests won,” Konfrst told reporters. “Not a single bill was passed, and I mean not a single bill that will lower costs for Iowa families.”

Representative Bobby Kaufmann, a Republican from Wilton, said the property tax system was set up 50 years ago, and the groundwork was laid this year for reform next year. “I consider it to be thorough and thoughtful because we’re meeting with stakeholders, we’re meeting with the taxing entities, we’re meeting with the taxpayers,” Kaufmann said. “We’re going to get it done right.”

Democrats also criticized the GOP’s $9.42 billion state budget plan, which relies on withdrawing $900 million from state reserves. Senator Matt Blake, a Democrat from Johnston, said Republicans are deficit spending.

“We are struggling to even pay our bills without using our savings,” Blake said, “which I don’t think I would advise any of my family members to do.”

Other Democrats say not enough was spent to provide health care to needy Iowans and boost budgets for public schools. Republican Representative Austin Harris of Moulton led negotiations on education spending. “As we know in this building, you don’t get the budget you want, you get the budget you can get,” Harris said, “and I think we have a pretty good budget.”

Lawmakers began Wednesday with meetings and periodic bursts of activity in floor debate.

Senate President Amy Sinclair had a message as lawmakers headed into the closing minutes. “Before we get to work on our final bill, just because we’re approaching that time of day and we’re all still awake, please your alarms off on your cell phones so they don’t start chiming at us while we’re in debate,” Sinclair said, drawing laughter and moans from her fellow senators.

The Senate concluded its work for the year shortly after 6 a.m., and the House ended the 2025 legislative session about half an hour later.

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