Before the session began on Jan. 13, Iowa Catholic Conference staff met with legislative leaders to advocate for several priorities, including preschool access, immigration concerns, conscience rights for medical professionals, probation reform, maternal health care, and addressing the online black market for abortion pills. Republicans had 34 seats in the Senate with the Democrats having 16. In the House, Republicans have 67 members, compared to 33 for the Democrats.
An unusually large number of bills was introduced during the 2025 session. More than 1,000 bills were filed in the House, at least 20% more than “normal.” The Senate had more than 600 bills, also a large increase. Any bill that failed this year is eligible for consideration again next year.
EDUCATION COMMITTEE
All students attending a nonpublic school are now eligible to receive an Education Savings Account (ESA) scholarship in the fall. Registration for ESAs opened on April 16 and concludes on June 30, 2025. With the expansion of the program for the 2025-26 school year, it’s estimated the program will cost about $316 million. The legislature approved a 2% increase in public school funding, which meant a 2% increase in the Education Savings Account amount for parents – $7,983.
Preschool access and funding was a priority of the ICC this session. We collaborated with the Iowa Association of School Boards, the Iowa Association of Christian Schools and other groups in support of 100% per-pupil funding for preschool students. Currently preschoolers receive 50% of the K-12 per pupil funding amount. Bills were introduced to implement the proposal but did not advance.
We have also been working with legislators and the governor for several years to find additional pathways for Catholic preschools to participate in the state-funded program. Currently community providers can access the program only through a public school district.
SF 445, supported by the ICC, would have authorized community providers to directly apply to the state Department of Education for funding. The bill also set up a “childcare continuum” partnership grant pilot program between state-funded preschools and childcare centers. The bill passed the Iowa Senate but was not brought up for debate in the House. We think the bill failed in part because of concerns it would hurt childcare centers by taking away some of their business.
The ICC was successful in advocating for a provision that requires state money “generated” by nonpublic school students for media and educational services be sent to an Area Education Agency for services to those nonpublic school students. The status quo has been that the money could be used by the public school district for any lawful purpose.
As it has for many years, the “standings” appropriations bill limited the amount of money going to public schools to provide transportation services for nonpublic school students. The total appropriation is about $9 million although claims are about $14 million.
HF 189 requires public schools to allow nonpublic school students to participate in a sport if not offered by the nonpublic school.
All diocesan Catholic schools are accredited by the state. This means that many curriculum and other policy items affect Catholic schools just as much as public schools. Among the bills that became law in this category were:
SF 369 – Required passage of a civics test for high school graduates
HF 783 – Athletic conference reorganization committee
HF 784 – “Math Counts” Act
HF 870 – Religious Instruction Release Time. The law requires all schools to release students for religious education upon request. We worked to take the nonpublic schools out of the bill but were not successful. It makes little sense to require a religious school to allow a student to leave the school for religious education.
SF 583 – school safety assessment teams
HF 865 – delete mention of specific traits for bullying
HF 835 – training on epileptic seizures and a health care training task force
The ICC supported HF 835 and monitored the other bills.
Other proposals monitored by the ICC did not become law as of press time:
HF 851 – nutrition curriculum requirements
HF 389 – student abuse by school employees (although some provisions were enacted in the standings appropriation bill, SF 659)
SF 273 – grooming of students
HF 603 – school safety threat reporting and fortifying building security
HSB 276 – counting days of instruction, not hours
HF 513 – requiring eighth graders to be allowed to participate in high school sports
HF 8 – allowing cannabidiol products for students
HF 27 – tax deduction for uniforms
SF 34 – new physical activity requirements for students
HF 199 – repeal of Education Savings Accounts (opposed)
SF 58 – school lunch paid for by the state (supported)
HUMAN LIFE AND DIGNITY COMMITTEE
Abortion/Assisted suicide/Pro-Life
The ICC supported House File 391, the so-called “Baby Olivia” bill. The new law requires middle and high school curriculum to include a three-minute video showing fetal development. The proposal would ensure that students grades 5-12 can see the miracle of life and how it develops in the womb. This was a priority of the pro-life coalition in Iowa.
The ICC spoke in opposition to SF 320, which would allow the death penalty for the murder of a peace officer on duty. The bill was advanced by a subcommittee but thankfully was not debated by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The State of Iowa abolished the death penalty in 1965. While the death penalty is popular among some, the Catechism of the Catholic Church reads that “the death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person, and she (the Church) works with determination for its abolition worldwide.”
HF 775 would have required abortion providers to inform women about the possibility of reversing the effects of abortion medication and require the pills to be provided through a clinic, medical office, or hospital. The medication is available cheaply online with no medical supervision. The bill passed the House Health and Human Services Committee but advanced no farther.
Abusive Lending
HF 878, a bill to limit “payday lending” interest rates to 36%, was passed by the House Commerce Committee with the support of the ICC. The state banking division reports that most customers of payday lending businesses have had 12 or more loans with an average annual percentage rate of 250%. The bill sponsor, Rep. Carter Nordman, says the bill will be worked on during the interim.
Corrections/Justice System
By a vote of 88-0, the Iowa House approved a bill the ICC has supported for several years. HF 570 offers discharge credits, educational credits, and workforce credits that reduce an individual’s term of probation. The maximum reduction of the individual’s probation term earned through these credits is 40%. In addition, the individual must pay probation fees or court debt or be subject to a payment plan. The purpose of the bill is to help offenders reintegrate into society sooner without undermining public safety. Regrettably, we ran into the same roadblocks in the Senate we have had previously. The Senate Judiciary Committee is generally not friendly to legislation that could benefit offenders.
Family
HF 864 passed the Iowa House 88-1 but unfortunately the Senate did not take up the bill. To protect minors, the bill requires adult websites to perform reasonable age verification of individuals attempting to access obscene material. The Church is opposed to obscene material because it does grave injury to the human dignity of its participants. The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains “[pornography] perverts the conjugal act, the intimate giving of spouses to each other. It does grave injury to the dignity of its participants (actors, vendors, the public), since each one becomes an object of base pleasure and illicit profit for others. It immerses all who are involved in the illusion of a fantasy world.” We believe this policy could protect children by simplifying things for parents, some of whom are unaware that filtering options exist on their devices or do not have the technical know-how to activate them.
After about 10 years of consideration, the Iowa Legislature passed House File 248, which requires employers to treat employees who adopt a child under six years of age in the same manner as a biological parent for purposes of employment benefits. The ICC supported the bill because adoption helps to build families, providing a loving and supportive environment for children to grow and thrive. Bonding with children is very important as there can be issues with identity for adoptive children even as adults.
Health care
SF 615 became law despite the opposition of the ICC. The bill would affect the 180,000 members of the Iowa Health and Wellness Plan, the “Medicaid expansion” population, by adding a requirement that as a condition of eligibility a member work at least 80 hours each month. The Iowa Health and Wellness Plan provides affordable health coverage through Medicaid to Iowans aged 19 to 64 whose income does not exceed 133% of the federal poverty level.
The Catholic Church values the dignity of work as a way of cooperating with God’s creation. However, about 75% of Iowa’s Medicaid recipients are already working. Those who are not often face barriers such as lack of education, struggles with mental health, substance abuse, or a criminal conviction. Many recipients work in low-wage industries with low rates of employer-sponsored insurance. With the new law, eligibility for Medicaid could change regularly depending on how a person’s work hours change outside of their control. These requirements are also added to the SNAP (food stamp) program.
Immigration/Refugees
One of the top priorities this legislative session was to successfully defeat HF 572, creating a new crime of “human smuggling” in Iowa. The bill passed the House but was not taken up for debate on the Senate floor. Among other issues, the ICC is concerned the bill could be interpreted by some to criminalize providing basic charity to immigrants. The bill is duplicative in the sense that it is already against federal and state law to traffic in humans. It is asking a lot from local law enforcement personnel – who don’t work with immigration law every day – to distinguish who are “smuggling and harboring” and who are just riding together in a car.
Religious liberty/Conscience
HF 571, the “Med Act,” would allow a medical professional or health care institution to refuse to perform a medical service (not including emergencies) for reasons of conscience. The ICC supports the bill, which passed the House but was not debated in the Senate.
Federal law does not protect rights of conscience for healthcare workers in some contexts such as assisted suicide and prescribing unnecessary opiates to patients requesting them. We believe the freedom to follow one’s conscience is foundational.
The ICC also supports SF 473, which passed the Senate and was not debated in the House. It forbids HHS from rejecting prospective foster care/adoptive parents simply on the basis of their beliefs related to sexual orientation or identity. There is evidence that this has already happened in the state. The legislation would not have changed Iowa’s law which requires placements to be made in the best interest of the child.
