Despite the shortened week, legislators wasted no time getting back to work ahead in week four of the 2026 Iowa Legislative Session. Most legislators spent Monday in their home districts at party caucuses and headed to Des Moines Tuesday morning.
Elected officials packed the middle of the week with subcommittees to push bills through the first funnel ahead of the February 20 deadline. Nearly 150 bills were voted out of subcommittee while bill introductions continued in the House with 129 new introductions and reintroductions and 85 in the Senate.
To remain viable for passage beyond the funnel deadline, most bills introduced by individual legislators must have been voted out of committee in the originating chamber.
Governor Reynolds Proposes New Tobacco and Vape Tax
At a news conference with University of Iowa Public Health and Iowa Department of Health and Human Services officials, Governor Kim Reynolds announced legislation to increase the tax on cigarettes and tobacco products and to place a new tax on vape and consumable hemp products. The state’s tobacco tax was last raised in 2007, and the tax increase will be used to close several funding gaps identified throughout the Governor’s proposed budget.
This legislation, which has yet to be formally introduced, is in direct response to Iowa’s high cancer rates. Last year, the legislature allocated $1 million to fund a year-long study to research high cancer rates in Iowa. While this study is ongoing, researchers note that there is no one specific reason as to why Iowa’s cancer rates have grown so quickly. That being the case, Governor Reynolds indicated the legislation aims to encourage healthier behaviors in Iowans in-line with existing research.
Governor Reynolds Proposes Narrowing Civil Rights Legislation
Governor Reynolds introduced HSB 664, which prohibits local governments from passing different civil rights protections than the categories outlined in the Iowa Civil Rights Act of 1965. Notably, the legislature stripped gender identity as a protected class from the Act in 2025, and several cities and counties passed local policy in opposition. While much of the local action was more symbolic than substantive, this new bill would prohibit localities from engaging in expanding civil rights policy outside of the categories provided in Iowa Code.
Supplemental State Aid (SSA) Rate Setting
Each year, the legislature addresses supplemental state aid (SSA) as typically one of the early enactments in the legislative session. The legislature makes additional funding available to school districts to account for annual inflationary increases. SSA funding is addressed early on in session to provide school districts with advance notice of funding changes to ease the budget preparation and certification process.
On Monday, the Senate introduced SSB 3100, which would have set the SSA at 1.75%, which is lower than the rates set at 2.5% and 2% in 2024 and 2025, respectively. The bill passed out of subcommittee (2-1), voted out of committee, renumbered as SF 2201, and was placed on the calendar. The Senate and House must agree on a number and head to the Governor’s desk to be signed into law.
