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2023 Iowa legislative session
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| 2023 Iowa legislative session |
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| General information |
| Session start: January 9, 2023 Session end: May 4, 2023 |
| Leadership |
| Senate President Amy Sinclair (R) House Speaker |
| Elections |
| Next Election: November 5, 2024 Last Election: November 8, 2022 |
| Previous legislative sessions |
| 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 |
| Other 2023 legislative sessions |
In 2023, the Iowa State Legislature was scheduled to convene on May 4, 2023, and adjourn on May 4, 2023.
The legislators serving in this session took office following the 2022 elections. Republicans won a 34-16 majority in the Senate and a 64-36 majority in the House. Republicans also controlled the governorship, creating a Republican state government trifecta. At the start of the 2023 session, Iowa was one of 23 state legislatures where neither party had a veto-proof supermajority in both chambers.
Leadership in 2023
Iowa State Senate
- Senate president: Amy Sinclair (R)
- Majority leader: Jack Whitver (R)
- Minority leader: Pam Jochum (D)
Iowa House of Representatives
- Speaker of the House: Pat Grassley (R)
- Majority leader: Matt Windschitl (R)
- Minority leader: Jennifer Konfrst (D)
Partisan control in 2023
- See also: State government trifectas
Iowa was one of 17 Republican state government trifectas at the start of 2023 legislative sessions. A state government trifecta occurs when one political party holds the governor's office, a majority in the state Senate, and a majority in the state House. For more information about state government trifectas, click here.
Iowa was also one of 23 state legislatures where neither party had a veto-proof supermajority in both chambers. Veto overrides occur when a legislature votes to reverse a veto issued by an executive such as a governor or the president. If one party has a majority in a state legislature that is large enough to override a gubernatorial veto without any votes from members of the minority party, it is called a veto-proof majority or, sometimes, a supermajority. To read more about veto-proof supermajorities in state legislatures, click here.
The following tables show the partisan breakdown of the Iowa State Legislature in the 2023 legislative session.
Iowa State Senate
| Party | As of January 2023 | |
|---|---|---|
| Democratic Party | 16 | |
| Republican Party | 34 | |
| Total | 50 | |
Iowa House of Representatives
| Party | As of January 2023 | |
|---|---|---|
| Democratic Party | 36 | |
| Republican Party | 64 | |
| Total | 100 | |
Regular session
The list below shows up to 25 pieces of legislation in the 2023 legislative session that most recently passed both chambers of the legislature, were signed by the governor, or were approved by the legislature in a veto override. If no bills are displayed below, no legislation met these criteria in 2023. This information is provided by BillTrack50.
Standing legislative committees
A standing committee of a state legislature is a committee that exists on a more-or-less permanent basis, from legislative session to session, that considers and refines legislative bills that fall under the committee's subject matter.
At the beginning of the 2023 legislative session, there were 36 standing committees in Iowa's state government, including 16 state Senate committees, and 20 state House committees.
Senate committees
- Labor and Business Relations Committee
- Natural Resources & Environment Committee
- Rules and Administration Committee
- Senate Agriculture Committee
- Senate Appropriations Committee
- Senate Commerce Committee
- Senate Education Committee
- Senate Ethics Committee
- Senate Government Oversight Committee
- Senate Human Resources Committee
- Senate Judiciary Committee
- Senate Local Government Committee
- Senate State Government Committee
- Senate Transportation Committee
- Senate Veterans Affairs Committee
- Senate Ways and Means Committee
House committees
- Administration and Rules Committee
- Economic Growth Committee
- Environmental Protection Committee
- House Agriculture Committee
- House Appropriations Committee
- House Commerce Committee
- House Education Committee
- House Ethics Committee
- House Government Oversight Committee
- House Human Resources Committee
- House Judiciary Committee
- House Local Government Committee
- House State Government Committee
- House Transportation Committee
- House Veterans Affairs Committee
- House Ways and Means Committee
- Information Technology Committee
- Labor Committee
- Natural Resources Committee
- Public Safety Committee
Legislatively referred constitutional amendments
In every state but Delaware, voter approval is required to enact a constitutional amendment. In each state, the legislature has a process for referring constitutional amendments before voters. In 18 states, initiated constitutional amendments can be put on the ballot through a signature petition drive. There are also many other types of statewide measures.
The methods by which the Iowa Constitution can be amended:
The Iowa Constitution provides two mechanisms for amending the state's constitution— a legislative process and a state constitutional convention. Iowa requires a simple majority vote (50% plus 1) for voters to approve constitutional amendments.
Legislature
A simple majority vote is required during two successive legislative sessions with an election for state legislators in between for the Iowa State Legislature to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot. That amounts to a minimum of 51 votes in the Iowa House of Representatives and 26 votes in the Iowa State Senate, assuming no vacancies. Amendments do not require the governor's signature to be referred to the ballot.
Convention
According to Section 3 of Article X of the Iowa Constitution, a question about whether to hold a state constitutional convention is to automatically appear on the state's ballot every 10 years starting in 1970. Iowa is one of 14 states that provides for an automatic constitutional convention question.
The table below shows the last and next constitutional convention question election years:
| State | Interval | Last question on the ballot | Next question on the ballot |
|---|---|---|---|
| Iowa | 10 years | 2020 | 2030 |
Historical partisan control
The table below depicts the historical trifecta status of Iowa.
Iowa Party Control: 1992-2025
Four years of Democratic trifectas • Eleven years of Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.
| Year | 92 | 93 | 94 | 95 | 96 | 97 | 98 | 99 | 00 | 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Governor | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R |
| Senate | D | D | D | D | D | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | S | S | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R |
| House | D | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | D | D | D | D | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R |
Historical Senate control
From 1992 to 2022, the Iowa State Senate was competitive between the Democratic and Republican parties. During the 26-year period, partisan control changed three times and the chamber was split evenly between the parties once. By 2022, the Republican Party had taken control with a 34-16 majority. The table below shows the partisan history of the Iowa State Senate following every general election from 1992 to 2022. All data from 2006 or earlier comes from Michael Dubin's Party Affiliations in the State Legislatures (McFarland Press, 2007). Data after 2006 was compiled by Ballotpedia staff.
Iowa State Senate election results: 1992-2022
| Year | '92 | '94 | '96 | '98 | '00 | '02 | '04 | '06 | '08 | '10 | '12 | '14 | '16 | '18 | '20 | '22 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democrats | 26 | 27 | 21 | 20 | 20 | 21 | 25* | 30 | 32 | 27 | 26 | 26 | 20 | 18 | 18 | 16 |
| Republicans | 24 | 23 | 29 | 30 | 30 | 29 | 25* | 20 | 18 | 23 | 23 | 24 | 29 | 31 | 32 | 34 |
The Iowa State Senate was somewhat competitive from 1900 to 2022, switching partisan control 10 times during that period. Of the 10 times partisan control changed, eight occurred between 1964 and 2020. Three of the changes in partisan control occurred from 1992 to 2022. In 1992, Democrats took a slim 26-24 majority in the chamber. They had been in control since 1982. Their majority increased during the 1994 election to 27-23, but then Republicans won control of the chamber in 1996. The Republican majority persisted until the 2004 elections, with the GOP usually having either 29 or 30 members. They lost their majority in 2004 when Democrats gained four seats and the chamber split 25-25. To accommodate the tied chamber, the two parties entered into a power-sharing agreement.[1]
Democrats gained an outright majority in the 2006 elections and then bolstered their numbers to 32 seats in 2008. The Democratic majority persisted in the next three election cycles, despite national Republican gains in 2010 and 2014. Although they stayed in the majority, Democrats lost five seats in 2010 and one seat in 2012. They held onto their 26-24 majority in the 2014 elections, but they lost it in 2016 as Republicans retook the chamber for the first time since 2002 with a 29-20 advantage and one independent member. Following the 2022 elections, Republicans had a 34-16 majority. The chamber's Republican gains from 2010 to 2016 were in line with a national trend toward Republican state legislatures during the presidency of Barack Obama (D). From 2009 to 2017, Democrats experienced losses in state legislative elections, totaling 968 seats all together.
Historical House control
From 1992 to 2022, the Iowa House of Representatives was mostly controlled by Republicans, although it did switch to Democratic control during the 2006 and 2008 elections. Starting in 2010, Republicans regained a majority and held it through the 2022 elections. The table below shows the partisan history of the Iowa House of Representatives following every general election from 1992 to 2022. All data from 2006 or earlier comes from Michael Dubin's Party Affiliations in the State Legislatures (McFarland Press, 2007). Data after 2006 was compiled by Ballotpedia staff.
Iowa House of Representatives election results: 1992-2022
| Year | '92 | '94 | '96 | '98 | '00 | '02 | '04 | '06 | '08 | '10 | '12 | '14 | '16 | '18 | '20 | '22 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democrats | 49 | 36 | 46 | 44 | 44 | 46 | 49 | 54 | 56 | 42 | 47 | 43 | 41 | 46 | 41 | 36 |
| Republicans | 51 | 64 | 54 | 56 | 56 | 54 | 51 | 46 | 44 | 58 | 53 | 57 | 59 | 54 | 59 | 64 |
The Iowa House of Representatives was somewhat competitive from 1900 to 2022, switching partisan control 10 times during that period. Of the 10 times partisan control changed, eight occurred between 1964 and 2010. Three of the changes in partisan control occurred from 1992 to 2010. In 1992, Republicans had a 51-49 majority in the chamber, winning control for the first time since 1980. Their majority increased after the 1994 election, rising to 64-36. After that election, Republicans stayed in control until 2006. However, their majority fell in some elections as they lost 10 seats in 1996, two seats in 2002, and three seats in 2004.
Democrats had a 54-46 majority in 2006 and then gained a 56-44 majority after the 2008 elections. Republicans retook the chamber in 2010. They gained 14 seats and held a 58-42 majority. After the 2022 elections, they held a 64-36 majority. The chamber's Republican gains from 2010 to 2016 were in line with a national trend toward Republican state legislatures during the presidency of Barack Obama (D). From 2009 to 2017, Democrats experienced losses in state legislative elections, totaling 968 seats total.
Ballotpedia's Election Administration Legislation Tracker
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See also
| Elections | Iowa State Government | State Legislatures | State Politics |
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External links
Footnotes
