ICC Newsletter, April 9, 2026

Action alert on water quality

The Iowa Catholic Conference encourages you to contact your senator and representative in support of funding to maintain Iowa’s water quality monitoring network headquartered at the University of Iowa. As Catholics, we believe that access to clean, safe drinking water is an inalienable human right essential for life and human dignity. The current House version of the agriculture budget bill includes $300,000, half of the requested funding for the network.

Other sample messages are available on assisting victims of human trafficking and education. Check out our alerts in the ICC Action Center.

Last week at the Capitol

The Iowa Senate sent HF 2296 to the governor. It prohibits cities and counties from providing IDs for residents. The ICC opposed the bill as local IDs have been helpful for some in opening a bank account or getting a library card. We have seen no evidence that such IDs harm public safety or make it easier for people who aren’t citizens to vote.

Also opposed by the ICC, HF 2750 was advanced by the House and moves to the Senate.  The bill adds fees for electronic transmission of money to another country. It would raise about $74 million for the state. Of that amount, 10% would go to the office that combats human trafficking, 20% to a public school security grant program, and 70% for a new prison infrastructure fund. Some good causes in there to be sure, but the bill makes it more expensive for people to help their families in other countries.

The Iowa House voted for SF 2231 and sent it back to the Senate with an amendment. SF 2231 would require school districts to allow qualified community providers to participate in the state preschool program. Unfortunately, some districts have been leaving out local preschools even when there is demand for the program. The legislation also includes a “code clean up,” following recent decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court, to remove exclusions in state law based on religious content for aid for textbooks, tuition and early childhood development, and a new provision to protect the free speech rights of public school students. The ICC supports the legislation.

Also supported by the ICC, HF 2755 passed the House by a vote of 89-3. It requires the state of Iowa to participate in the new federal education tax credit program. The proposal now goes to the Senate.

For those following the discussions on property tax reform, the Senate passed its version of property tax reform by a vote of 41-4 and sent it to the House. SF 2472 includes a soft 102% cap on the general county levy, a 50% homestead extension, and a capped inflation rate increase in gas taxes for infrastructure. The bill also would set up a task force to study how counties could collect payments in lieu of property taxes from tax-exempt property owners such as nonprofit organizations. The ICC is monitoring the bill.