– Week Fifteen –
Fifteenth Week of the 91st General Assembly
Drawing Closer to the End of Session
As we draw nearer to our scheduled end date, we continue to work through the bills that have cleared our legislative deadlines. Once again, the week started right off with debate when we gaveled in at 1:00 on Monday. We passed eight pieces of legislation and all but one received complete bipartisan support from senators in attendance. Debate continued through Tuesday and Wednesday, and we passed over 20 new pieces of legislation by the week’s end. Of course there are always many emails to respond to and other constituent work needing to be accomplished during times when we are not in meetings and not debating, so the days were full and purposeful this week.
We have also started working through the various budgets we must come to agreement on in order to finish up the year. Two of these budget bills that passed this week are Senate File 626, the federal block grant bill that allocates over $574 million for Federal Fiscal Year 2026 and 2027, and Senate File 628, the transportation budget. Senate File 628 appropriates a little over $500 million from the Road Use Tax Fund and Primary Road Fund to support road improvement projects and DOT facilities across Iowa.
A Difficult but Very Worthy Topic of Conversation
Terminal illness is a topic that nobody likes to talk about, but this was a matter of discussion on two occasions this week in the Iowa Senate. On Tuesday, we passed a bill that makes changes to Iowa’s “Right to Try” Act. Senate File 233 would increase access to alternative treatments that can provide hope in an unfortunate diagnosis of a rare disease, especially one that is life-threatening. The “Right to Try 2.0” bill passed unanimously by the Iowa Senate, and will allow Iowans the ability to seek out experimental drugs and therapies that offer a possible solution when standard medical treatments have failed. It gives Iowans the autonomy to individualize a treatment method that best suits their specific condition, while bypassing burdensome regulatory hurdles. This provides more freedoms for Iowans, even if the outcomes are uncertain, and gives them a fighting chance at a potentially life-saving treatment that may otherwise be unavailable in their current situation.
On Wednesday, the Iowa Senate passed “Mason’s Law”, House File 933. Unfortunately, terminal illness can happen at any age, and for Iowa youth, we want to make sure there is a place for them to receive long-term care that is able to support both parents and their children during this difficult time. For this reason, the Iowa Senate passed House File 933.
This bill allows the creation of “pediatric palliative care centers” to provide respite and hospice services for kids with terminal or life-threatening illnesses expected to shorten their life expectancy not past 21 years of age. These care centers are specialized in compassionate support for children and focused on enhancing quality of life through their difficult battle throughout their medical conditions. This type of care can address the physical, emotional, social, and spiritual distress a child may face in the process of enduring unimaginably difficult times.
This bill came to us from the mother of a young boy, named Mason, whose family wanted to establish a center that provided end-of-life support and services close to home. Because of the medical care and attention that Mason required, his family had no feasible, comfortable, in-state options for his long term but end of life care. Currently, Iowa only offers in-home or hospital hospice services. Mason’s family made the difficult decision to uproot their family to a palliative care center five hours away from their family and friends and in the state of Minnesota, so that Mason could receive the care he required in a home-like setting for the end of his life. Mason would wake up each morning at the palliative care center and say, “Mama I love it here.” For this reason Mason’s family is committed to providing such a place closer to home for other Iowa families who are dealing with a terminally ill child.
We don’t want Iowa families to have to endure what Mason’s family did by moving so far away to receive care. We know that Mason’s Law will have a long-standing impact to help families focus on what is important as they manage life in these circumstances. Mason’s mom hopes to be one of the first to open a palliative care center. She is currently raising money to make this dream a reality and has . More information about Mason’s Lighthouse is linked here.
Expanding Opportunities for Those Serving Iowa
Another bill passing the Iowa Senate this week was a bill that creates a scholarship to expand opportunities for current and future Iowa National Guard members. House File 117 sets up the National Guard Service Professional Qualification Scholarship program. It also allows National Guard members who are seeking a credential instead of a degree to access scholarship funding for their credentialing program.
The scholarship program is a beneficial part of recruiting efforts for the National Guard. This legislation will allow them to reach even more students. Additionally it creates incentives for current members of the National Guard to pursue other industries if a degree program is not their desired course of action outside of their military service. It will help them find a quality alternative to their career path outside their work with the Iowa National Guard. For more information about the Iowa National Guard, visit their webpage at:
https://www.iowanationalguard.com/
Improving Our Workforce and Strengthening Childcare Access in the State of Iowa
Although we have worked to enact legislation and have made progress on both issues, Childcare and Workforce continue to be concerns for Iowans. As we continue working on bills to help expand and grow Iowa’s workforce, we must keep in mind the relationship to childcare issues, since these are so interconnected.
Senate File 445 expands access to preschool for families, encourages child care and preschool programs to work together, and provides child care solutions for those working in child care centers. It expands the preschool options available to Iowans and allows community-based providers to directly participate in the statewide voluntary preschool program. It also creates a grant worth up to $100,000 per year to accomplish the aforementioned goals. The bill also codifies a pilot program that provides free child care to child care workers.
Senate File 445 uses $11 million of state funding, reallocated to help provide equal access to funding statewide, and an additional $5 million in federal funding. The proposal also leaves over $18 million to be used by local Early Childhood Iowa area boards to fit local needs.
Child care has been a focus in the legislature for the last several years. In her Condition of the State address, Governor Reynolds stated over the last four years, we have increased child care capacity by nearly 27,000 slots. We have also passed a number of bills to help expand child care assistance for families, cut burdensome regulations for child care centers, and provided more child care incentives. This bill is one more way we can help working Iowa families and provide affordable options for their children to be cared for throughout the day.
Expanding Access to Care for Individuals with Autism
House File 330 passed out of the Iowa Senate on Monday. This bill would forbid a health insurance plan to fix annual or lifetime limits on coverage benefits for autism, or any limit on the number of outpatient visits for applied behavior analysis or other treatment of autism. It would eliminate the maximum age of 19 for mandated coverage of applied behavioral analysis benefits, and would strike the scheduled annual maximum for benefits paid. The bill would also amend Iowa Code section 514C.22 (“biologically based mental illness coverage”) to require that definitions of mental illnesses, including autism spectrum disorder, shall be consistent with definitions contained in the American Psychiatric Association’s diagnostic and statistical manual. These protections for Iowans on the autism spectrum will help to ensure they are able to access the benefits they need throughout their lives.
Time for a Short Visit in the Iowa House
While visiting the Iowa House on Wednesday to discuss some bicameral issues with various representatives, I took the opportunity to visit with my former Senate Clerk, Zeke Walker and his newly-elected Representative, Blaine Watkins from Lee County. I’ve been hearing great things about Blaine’s beginning work in the Iowa House of Representatives.
Looking Ahead…
This coming week in the Senate will once again include much debate as well as finalizing Appropriations bills in committee on Wednesday and Thursday. It is likely that we will go past our ending 110th day of session which is May 2nd, but I’m looking forward to coming to agreement on these important financial pieces that will continue to move our state forward.
Best regards,
Mark