Governor Kim Reynolds checked off just about everything on her to-do list in the recently wrapped-up legislative session.
From universal school choice to passage of a sweeping government restructuring plan, the popular Republican governor accomplished much of what she set out to do on the way to bolstering her rising national political profile.
The Left, labor unions, and whatever’s left of the Iowa Democratic Party in Iowa weren’t happy with Reynolds’ successes, but deep red Iowa has changed the political calculus in recent years.
“Iowa’s national profile is rising, and Americans are taking notice as states around the country are looking to Iowa as a beacon for freedom and opportunity,” the governor said in a statement following Thursday’s conclusion of the 2023 legislative session. “This year’s historic legislative session saw transformational education reform that kicked off a national school choice revolution, a consequential alignment of state government, much-needed property tax relief, and stability for our health care system across the state.”
Reynolds’ first — and arguably biggest — political victory came early.
Just two weeks after it was introduced, the governor signed a sweeping school choice bill into law, creating state-backed Education Savings Accounts available for Iowa K-12 students without income limits. Iowa now has one of the broadest ESA laws in the nation.
By the end of this month, low-income parents of private school students can begin applying for $7,600 in state funds to help with tuition and other school costs.
“We’re rejecting the idea that the answer to improving education is simply pumping more money into the same system year after year without making significant changes,” Reynolds said during the bill signing. “And we’re putting an end to the notion that competition is a zero sum game.”
Opponents, led by the public school establishment, say the plan will transfer hundreds of millions of dollars into religious and other private school systems, depleting a cash-strapped public education system.
“If private schools want more tax dollars then they should be required to accept every student as public schools do,” Democratic Senator Eric Giddens, (D-Cedar Falls) said, echoing a common talking point from the left that private schools discriminate against certain students. “And shouldn’t taxpayer funding come with the same oversight and budget rules that public schools follow?”
During debate, State Representative John Wills (R-Spirit Lake) said the law is about “putting parents in charge of their students’ education.”
On the conservative side of the culture wars ledger, Republicans passed bills prohibiting lessons on gender identity and sexual orientation in elementary school classrooms. And educators would have to alert parents of children who wish to identity as a different gender than the gender they were born with.
In March, the governor signed a bill prohibiting healthcare professionals from providing gender-altering treatment and surgeries to minors.
State Representative Steve Holt (R-Denison) told Iowa Public Radio that he believes such treatments put children on “a path of lifelong struggle.”
“It is hard to conclude that parents in Iowa are being given the facts they need to make an informed decision, or their struggling children have the judgment to consent to life-altering procedures,” Holt said. “These children are struggling with gender dysphoria. They are struggling, and they are confused.”
Republican lawmakers also passed legislation prohibiting transgender individuals from using bathrooms, locker rooms, and showers that do not align with their birth genders.
“This session will go down in history as one of the most divisive and cruel ever seen in the history of the Iowa legislature,” said State Senator Zach Wahls (D-Coralville), an LGBTQ activist.
On the government reform side, Republicans passed a bill aimed at substantially reducing the size and scope of state government. Reynolds signed her 1,600-page government restructuring plan into law in early April, bringing Iowa’s 37 executive branch cabinet-level department down from 37 to 16. Proponents say the changes could save taxpayers around $200 million.
“We’re fighting hard every day to make government smaller,” the governor said at an Iowa campaign stop for Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley.
The session ended on a bang, with the Legislature passing — and Reynolds signing — a bill bringing $100 million in property tax relief to Iowans. The issue was one of the highest priorities for state property owners saddled with ever-climbing assessments.
Reynolds called the cuts just the beginning of reforms to a complex property tax system. The law caps levy rates in municipalities and counties, and delivers property tax exemptions for homeowners who have seen average home value assessments climb by 22 percent this year alone.
“Iowans will be able to look back upon our promises and know we delivered for them,” Reynolds said. “Our state is on a new path, one that was forged by our hard-working people, has their families at the forefront, and is a place where everyone has the freedom to flourish.”
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M.D. Kittle is the National Political Editor for The Star News Network.
Photo “Kim Reynolds” by Governor Kim Reynolds.
If accurate this is a pretty big deal. Good job for Iowa.