Adjournment
The first session of the 91st Iowa General Assembly will adjourn this Friday.
Well, that’s what the session timetable says. Friday is the 110th calendar day of the session…and the day that lawmakers’ per diem expenses end, according to state law.
But there’s been relatively little public action on major issues since the second funnel deadline three weeks ago. Word at the time was that this might be one of those sessions that extends not just past the projected adjournment—that happens often—but well past it.
There’s going to be some pressure to get done by the end of next week—one week without expenses, and in time for Mother’s Day. But the way some talked not long ago, Memorial Day might be a better gauge.
Granted, things tend to fall in place all at once. That typically includes the budget.
But what about property tax relief? What about private property rights as they relate to eminent domain and carbon capture pipelines? What about the things that Iowans told lawmakers last summer and fall, before the 2024 election, they felt were important?
Various lawmakers suddenly shifting into “auditioning for governor” mode probably doesn’t help.
Lawmakers typically send news releases at the end of each week, reporting back to their district on the events of the week. Those are delivered via email these days, and voters often subscribe directly. All the ones I saw here last Friday talked about nearing the “scheduled end of the session”—another sign that everyone had better settle in for long weeks to come.
Let’s hope leadership doesn’t just send everyone home until deals are finished. That happened not all that long ago, because all sides were so far apart, there was no sense keeping members sitting around away from home in Des Moines. Again, a sure sign that adjournment is not near.
Springtime in Des Moines—let’s hope lawmakers don’t also experience summertime there.
