Iowa Legislature chances of meeting session deadline dwindle as House and Senate spar over budget
Hunter
05/01/25
The Iowa House and Senate are sparring over how much to put into the 2026 fiscal year budget, and the odds of meeting Friday’s deadline are dwindling as legislatures continue to be far apart.
Earlier this week, the Republican-led Senate and Governor Kim Reynolds released a joint statement highlighting their $9.42 billion budget. In the release, Reynolds said, “We cut taxes to ensure Iowans could keep more of their hard-earned money, and we must maintain spending discipline to ensure it stays that way. Iowa remains on a strong fiscally sustainable path, and we should continue our focus on putting taxpayers first.”
House Republicans put out their own statement on the budget, saying they want to spend $9.45 billion, which is around $36.5 million more than the Senate wants to spend.
House Speaker Pat Grassley said, “Iowans expect to see their tax dollars used wisely to fund important services like nursing homes, paraprofessional pay, support for human trafficking victims, and more of that sort, and that’s what this House Republican caucus is fighting to deliver.
State Democrats criticized the Republicans, saying they knew back in January that the last scheduled day of the legislative session was May 2nd, and the fact that they’re not done is a failure of Republican leadership because they are, quote, “in charge of everything and should be able to get this done.”