Iowa Catholic Conference Newsletter, April 24, 2026

Check out the Iowa Catholic Conference sample messages for legislators at www.votervoice.net/icc/home. ICC staff is still working to get the omnibus education bill to the floor of the Senate for debate, as well as legislation in the House to regulate abortion pills.

Last week at the Statehouse

There apparently has been a compromise agreed to between the chambers and the governor on changes to Iowa’s public assistance programs in SF 2422. Since February, state legislators have been working on legislation to implement provisions of last year’s federal H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The House has passed new language for SF 2422 and sent the bill back to the Senate.

Unfortunately, the bill goes beyond OBBBA in cutting retroactive coverage from three months to two for Medicaid recipients who are a child, or pregnant, or a resident of a nursing facility. The state would be required to request that the federal government allow it to cut retroactive coverage back to zero for all other adults rather than the current three months. Retroactive eligibility is important for lower-income people who suffer a medical emergency with no health insurance. Without coverage, a bankruptcy is much more likely. 

The ICC is also concerned about a provision in the House amendment to allow Iowa HHS to zero out SNAP (food assistance) cards after three months of inactivity. We believe people should be allowed to use the benefits they originally qualified for. In addition, SNAP benefit amounts would be reduced for mixed-status households.

The amendment would add a 12-month residency requirement to federal public assistance programs like SNAP, Medicaid and WIC, and the state would be required to ask an applicant’s reasons for being in the state. Refugees, fleeing survivors of domestic violence, and other recent arrivals to the state would be barred for any assistance for a year. A residency requirement is not currently allowed by federal law. SNAP usage is at an 18-year low in Iowa, and has fallen 9% since H.R. 1 passed, but food banks and pantries are breaking records.

If you object to these changes, you can email your Senator to give them your opinion, or call your Senator at the switchboard, (515) 281-3371.

On a positive note, the House amendment changes the Medicaid for Employed People with Disabilities Program by expanding eligibility from 250% to 300% of the federal poverty level.

In other news, the ICC is pleased that SF 473 finally has passed both chambers and is headed to the governor.  It protects the rights of people with traditional views on gender identity and sexual orientation to be considered for a license to foster or adopt. A final placement still must be made in the best interest of the child.

The ICC has been monitoring SF 2218, which passed the Senate unanimously in February but was passed by the House last week with significant changes. The original language required all schools to make sure that their employees were authorized to work in the U.S. Not a problem, but the House recently added several proposals to the bill on citizenship verification and licensing for a variety of occupations, as well as a new presumption against bail for additional classes of people, including undocumented immigrants with an indictable offense (could be a non-felony).

The citizenship verification and licensing items are already in effect through the governor’s executive order, so the bail piece is the only part that would be new. The ICC has suggested the bail provisions be left aside. A conference committee has met a couple of times, but a final version of SF 2218 has not been agreed to.

Lawmakers working on property tax reform

The House and Senate are very close to agreement on the state’s budget. But before state lawmakers go home for the year, Republican leaders would like to agree on a property tax reform proposal. The House has amended the Senate’s version of property tax reform, SF 2472, and sent it back to the Senate for further consideration. The House bill has a 2% hard cap on county property tax revenue growth and an increased homeowner exemption. It does not include a gas tax increase. A Democratic proposal which limited the growth of property taxes to 4% annually and included a rebate to homeowners and renters was voted down.

The Senate version includes a soft cap (using an inflation factor) of 102% on the general county levy, a 50% homestead exemption which increases with the age of the homeowner, and a capped inflation rate increase in gas taxes for infrastructure. The ICC is monitoring the bill.