Republican legislative leaders and Gov. Kim Reynolds celebrated the approval of many of their priorities for the 2026 legislative session on issues including property taxes, crime and healthcare as lawmakers wrapped up their work for the year.
Over the weekend, lawmakers sent a $9.6 billion state budget to the governor’s desk, as well as legislation restricting access to abortion-inducing medication by requiring the drugs to be prescribed in person.
One of the largest issues legislators found a compromise on in the final hours of the session was property taxes. Reynolds, Senate Republicans and House Republicans had all released their proposals on how to best address high property tax costs in the state early in session, but struggles to find a consensus on the issue was one of the main reasons lawmakers went into overtime after their goal end date of April 21.
Legislative leaders in both chambers said they were pleased with the property tax legislation sent to the governor’s desk Sunday. Senate Majority Leader Mike Klimesh said in a statement he was proud of the Senate Republicans’ months of work in crafting legislation that he says will lower property tax costs.
“Senate Republicans introduced legislation on the very first day to bring overwhelming property tax relief to Iowa homeowners and modernize Iowa’s property tax system,” Klimesh said. “We made great strides in reining in local government spending, reforming the property tax system, and now Iowa homeowners will see billions in property tax relief over the next several years.”
Klimesh also said he was proud of what Senate Republicans passed on a variety of other issues since convening in January.
“At the beginning of the legislative session, I laid out a vision for our state,” Klimesh said. “I wanted to spend our days here focused on growth and investment and ways we can show the world that Iowa is the best place to live, the best place to grow your family, and is open for business. My goal was to have conversations about tax reform, affordable energy, infrastructure and how we can help our state thrive. I am proud we have focused on that vision throughout this legislative session. “
House Speaker Pat Grassley told reporters after ending the legislative session he also believed House Republicans accomplished many of their goals for 2026.
“When we started session, we laid out a few priorities that I think that we made some tremendous strides on,” Grassley said. “Obviously, property taxes … but also looking at some of our ‘tough on crime’ packages and (making) sure Iowa is a safe place … I think there were a lot of the things that we laid out in the beginning of session that we were able to accomplish while this property tax piece kind of hung over everything else.”
One issue that did not make it to the governor’s desk through any legislation was eminent domain, a yearslong priority for House Republicans and top issue for several Senate Republicans. Last year, a group of Senate Republicans had refused to pass budget bills unless an eminent domain bill was debated on the Senate floor.
Eminent domain involves forcing unwilling landowners to accept easements on their property for projects deemed in the public interest for payment set by the government. The Summit Carbon Solutions pipeline across Iowa has been the catalyst for much of the debate.
You can read the full article at Iowa Capital Dispatch.