The Iowa Legislature is once again on track to set records in 2026. Current bill introductions match the pace of last year’s record-breaking number of bill introductions, and the current subcommittee count is just shy of 600–approximately 20 more than last year’s count at this same time.
In week five, the chambers hosted over 200 subcommittees to get bills on the agenda and voted out of committee ahead of the first funnel. This week marks the first funnel deadline, so most bills must pass out of committee in their originating chamber to remain eligible for passage in 2026.
Supplemental State Aid Passes Senate
Week before last, the Senate introduced a bill to address supplemental state aid (SSA) to make additional funding available to school districts to account for annual inflationary increases. This is typically one of the early enactments in the legislative session to provide school districts with advance notice of funding changes to ease the budget preparation and certification process.
Last week, the Senate debated SF 2201 on the floor, which passed by a vote of 28-20. As passed, the bill sets the SSA at 1.75%, which is lower than the rates set at 2.5% and 2% in 2024 and 2025, respectively. The bill was sent over to the House, referred to the Appropriations committee, and scheduled for a subcommittee meeting at the start of the week. The Senate and House must agree on a number and head to the Governor’s desk to be signed into law.
What’s next?
This week marks the first major deadline of the legislative session: the first funnel. By Friday, February 20, most bills introduced by individual legislators must be voted out of committee in the originating chamber to remain viable for passage. This “funnel” deadline does not apply to select bills, namely appropriations, ways and means, and bills related to administrative rules. We anticipate a heavy subcommittee schedule and packed committee agendas as legislators attempt to push legislation ahead of this looming deadline.
