The following is a legislative update from Republican Representative Henry Stone of Forest City, representing portions of Emmet, Kossuth and Winnebago counties in Iowa House District 9:
SINE DIE
Well, that’s a wrap folks! The second session of the 91st General Assembly is in the books. There have been some pretty good accomplishments this session. There have also been some key pieces of legislation left on the table. The great thing is that we plan to tackle these issues head-on again next session. And I will do my best to lead the way on some of these issues. Now, let’s start with a couple key pieces of legislation that made it through both chambers, starting with the most talked about bill of the session…
Putting Taxpayers First/Lowering Costs for Iowans
After months of negotiations, we delivered a property tax reform package that finally puts the taxpayers first and delivers real, tangible relief for taxpayers to the tune of roughly $350 million next year and about $4 billion over 6 years. SF 2472 delivers certainty for the taxpayer and real tax relief. This proposal contains provisions to:
Implement revenue caps on cities and counties to provide some certainty for taxpayers and introduce some accountability to local government spending:
- 2% hard cap on all general levies plus new construction.
- 3% hard cap on DART and Emergency Management Authorities.
- 4% hard cap on county hospitals.
- The Debt levy, school funding, city special revenue, county supplemental, and community college variable levies remain uncapped
Delivers real, tangible residential Property Taxpayer Relief:
- Converts the homestead credit to an exemption (currently a $4,850 exemption) and expands it to a 10% exemption with a minimum of $5,500 and maximum of $20,000, while allowing the exemption to rise with CPI.
- Leaves in place the current military and senior exemptions and increases the elderly and disabled Iowans rental credit from $1,000 to $1,500.
- Uses the funds saved by making the Homestead Credit an exemption to buy down the $5.40 levy to $4.90 – phased in over 3 years.
- Eliminates the backfill of the business property tax exemption and transfers the roughly $125 million to the Taxpayer Relief Fund to deliver additional tax relief.
- Gradually increases the share of SAVE money collected from the sales tax devoted to property tax relief from the current 7% to 25% by 2031.
Introduces some common-sense fiscal responsibility practices in local government:
- Restricts the use of debt service funds for operating expenses.
- Limits reserve accounts to 35 percent to ensure tax dollars aren’t sitting in stagnant accounts while residents struggle to pay their tax bills. We know that a large surplus of government money is an overcollection of tax dollars.
- Allows for the creation of a new account that local governments can devote funds of over the 35% to save for big infrastructure projects or big equipment expenses, like, for example, a fire truck.
- Limits TIF districts to 23 years, ensuring this economic tool is used for its intended purpose—temporary development—rather than becoming permanent drains on the tax base.
- Empowers voters by allowing cities and counties to increase the EMS levy maximum from $0.75 to $1.50 via referendum, expanding access to emergency services.
Includes these additional common-sense reforms that are good for the taxpayer:
- Create a FirstHome Iowa program modeled after Iowa’s 529 accounts, helping Iowans save for their first home.
- Revamp the informational mailer sent to every property taxpayer to increase transparency and give taxpayers a better idea of where their money is going and how it’s being spent.
- Shift the burden of proof on the assessor when valuation increases by 10 percent or more, so that the government must justify why your bill is going up, not you.
This next piece of legislation was a priority of the House heading into session. We’ve all seen what has happened across the country when it comes to repeat offenders continuing to destroy lives. Mothers, fathers, husbands and wives have had to endure some of the most heartbreaking and tragic events because of career criminals who were set free. We set out on trying our best to not have that happen to our state…
Keeping Iowans Safe
HF 2542 implements a “Three-and-Done” Strike System. If you choose a lifestyle of crime, you will be removed from society and incarcerated for at least seven years.
This legislation creates a cumulative strike system for repeat offenders, triggering a mandatory minimum seven-year sentence without parole once a career criminal reaches three full strikes.
– The final version of this bill requires a person convicted of three class “D” or “C” felonies to be sentenced as a habitual offender, requiring a minimum sentence of seven years or a maximum of 20 years with no earned time.
– Under current law, repeat violent offenders are released back onto the streets where they become a risk to our children and loved ones.
– By using a strike system with clear warnings, we give individuals every opportunity to change their path. This isn’t about one mistake; it’s about a proven pattern of dangerous behavior. We hope that the threat of a longer prison sentence will prevent future crimes from ever being committed.
– The habitual offender language outlined in this bill is a common-sense, fair system that ensures that once an individual chooses a pattern of dangerous criminal behavior, they are removed from society and unable to continue to wreak havoc on our communities.
In the coming weeks, I plan on presenting more pieces of legislation that made it through to the Governor and a few that didn’t. I look forward to hearing from everyone this off session but more importantly, I urge everyone to get out this year and vote:
– Primary voting: June 2nd
– General Election: November 3rd
