All-night marathon caps Iowa Legislature's 2024 session. What's changing: AEAs, your taxes

Iowa lawmakers have dropped the final gavel on the 2024 legislative session, working overnight to adjourn a year marked by Republicans approving consequential bills on education, taxes and a range of other subjects.

The session officially ended at 4:23 a.m. Saturday — its 104th day — after both chambers passed a resolution to adjourn sine die, capping a marathon final few days as lawmakers passed a series of bills setting the state’s $8.9 billion budget and addressing a final cluster of policy priorities.

Republicans, who control both the House and Senate, passed many of the proposals set out in Gov. Kim Reynolds’ annual January address.

The most prominent, and controversial, was an overhaul of Iowa’s Area Education Agencies that makes broad changes to how special education, media and other services are provided to K-12 districts and raises minimum teacher pay to $50,000 per year.

Republicans used the final budget of the year to cut an additional $32.5 million out of the AEAs' budget, using the bulk of the money to fund a new Division of Special Education in the Iowa Department of Education and to pay for higher wages for paraeducators in schools.

Lawmakers also shepherded through measures to implement a 3.8% flat tax next year, create a new crime of “illegal reentry” into the state by undocumented immigrants, enact language intended to protect religious freedom, consolidate dozens of state boards and commissions and allow teachers and other school staff to obtain a professional permit to carry guns at school.

"Big and bold ideas have always been our focus, and our caucus has never shied away from difficult or complex issues. This year was no different," Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver, R-Grimes, said in prepared remarks. "This session was another tremendous success for Senate Republicans as we kept our promises to Iowans and focused on big reforms, bold changes and major tax relief."

Democrats, limited to minorities in both chambers, frequently sought to dilute Republican priorities while urging them to pursue policies raising wages and improving health care, among other issues.

"Everything House Democrats proposed is for everyday Iowans. I'm darn proud of that," said House Minority Leader Jennifer Konfrst, D-Windsor Heights. "I'm really proud of what we did this year. And we think it draws a very sharp contrast about who in this Legislature is fighting for Iowans and who's fighting for special interests."

Democrats pledged to take that message to the campaign trail this fall.

“Iowans will remember how Republicans chose to serve their governor rather than their constituents. They’ll remember how they slashed our Area Education Agencies and put special interests over Iowa’s children,” said Senate Minority Leader Pam Jochum, D-Dubuque. “And they will remember in November.”

Camaraderie and closed-door negotiations in session's final days

Lawmakers and staff found ways to keep themselves entertained during long hours of waiting in the final days before the session's end.

Legislative pages and doormen lounged around the entrance to the House, humming along to the song "Come and Get Your Love” being played through a phone while lawmakers huddled in closed-door meetings. Another page plucked tunes on a banjo on the Senate floor Friday afternoon.

On Thursday evening, when the Senate had moved after 10 p.m. to adjourn for the day, staff seated along the edge of the chamber quietly cheered.

Retiring lawmakers drew praise and gratitude from their colleagues as they wrapped up their work.

“My very last tax committee meeting in my life!” Jochum exclaimed Thursday, on the verge of retiring after 30 years in the Iowa Legislature.

“Keep up the good work and always keep in mind that when we do anything we need to do it for the greatest good for the greatest number,” Jochum told her fellow Ways and Means Committee members.

Sen. Dan Dawson, R-Council Bluffs, called it “an honor” to serve on the committee with her and declared that “no one else is going to beat you as a ranking member.”

A few filled their downtime with some good-natured ribbing of their colleagues.

Rep. Hans Wilz, R-Ottumwa, turned the nameplate on Rep. Austin Harris’ desk upside down Thursday night. A few hours later, Harris, R-Moulton, noticed the sign and flipped it back around.

Last-minute debate on AEA budget cuts and a casino moratorium keeps lawmakers through early Saturday

A series of eleventh-hour debates kept the Capitol lights on overnight and into early Saturday morning.

House Republicans suspended the chamber's rules just after midnight to vote on legislation preventing new casinos from being built in Iowa until 2029. But the Senate adjourned without passing the measure.

And throughout the night, both parties frequently broke for closed-door caucus meetings as key spending bills inched closer to agreement.

The final budget of the year, for standing appropriations, cuts $32.5 million out of the AEAs' budget. That includes a $7.5 million cut required by law, $10 million to fund the Division of Special Education and $14 million for pay increases for paraeducators and other school staff. The final $1 million returns to the state's general fund.

The budget also includes $2 million in new money for the Department of Public Safety to fund 12 positions "to address the rise in illegal immigration and related criminal conduct such as drug trafficking and human trafficking."

Lawmakers set $8.9 billion budget for Iowa's upcoming fiscal year

Much of the final week of the session was dedicated to final negotiations on the annual budget, which ended up at $8.9 billion for fiscal year 2025 and landed on Reynolds’ desk by late Friday.

The spending marks a roughly 4.5% increase over last year’s $8.5 billion budget. Still, the Republicans’ budget spends only 92% of the state’s overall available revenue.

Republicans have consistently budgeted less than the state takes in, leaving themselves room to continue annual discussions about cutting taxes. This year, that meant accelerating an existing series of gradual income tax cuts — a plan released by Republican tax writing chairs on Thursday and approved by both chambers Friday.

More: Iowa lawmakers vote to speed up 3.8% flat income tax, sending it to Gov. Kim Reynolds

Tucked into the budget bills were a 5% pay bump for judges and staff in the Iowa Judicial Branch, plus several policy priorities, including a ban on diversity, equity and inclusion operations in higher education, with exceptions for compliance with federal law and accreditation.

In a House committee Thursday debating the plan to cut taxes, lawmakers were offered a taste of the politics that are likely to await them as they head into election season this fall.

“I would like to thank President Biden and this economy,” said Rep. Dave Jacoby, D-Coralville. “Without that economy, we wouldn’t be able to consider this bill today.”

Rep. Bobby Kaufmann, R-Wilton — who served as an adviser to former President Donald Trump's Iowa caucus campaign — advanced the legislation while pledging to “make taxes great again.”

Stephen Gruber-Miller covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. He can be reached by email at [email protected] or by phone at 515-284-8169. Follow him on Twitter at @sgrubermiller.

Galen Bacharier covers politics for the Register. Reach him at [email protected]m or (573) 219-7440, and follow him on Twitter @galenbacharier.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa Legislature adjourns 2024 session after late-night marathon