2024 Iowa legislative session
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| 2024 Iowa legislative session |
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| General information |
| Scheduled session start: Jan. 8, 2024 Scheduled session end: April 20, 2024 |
| Leadership |
| Senate President Amy Sinclair (R) House Speaker |
| Elections |
| Next Election: November 5, 2024 Last Election: November 8, 2022 |
| Previous legislative sessions |
| 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 |
| Other 2024 legislative sessions |
In 2024, the Iowa State Legislature was scheduled to convene on January 8 and adjourn on April 20.
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. The party also controlled the governorship, creating a Republican state government trifecta. At the start of the 2024 session, Iowa was one of 21 state legislatures where neither party had a veto-proof supermajority in both chambers.
Leadership in 2024
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 2024
- See also: State government trifectas
Iowa was one of 23 Republican state government trifectas at the start of 2024 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 21 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 2024 legislative session.
Iowa State Senate
| Party | As of January 2024 | |
|---|---|---|
| Democratic Party | 16 | |
| Republican Party | 34 | |
| Total | 50 | |
Iowa House of Representatives
| Party | As of January 2024 | |
|---|---|---|
| Democratic Party | 36 | |
| Republican Party | 64 | |
| Total | 100 | |
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 2024 legislative session, there were 39 standing committees in Iowa's state government, including 18 state Senate committees, and 21 state House committees.
Senate committees
- Health and Human Services
- 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
- Workforce
House committees
- Administration and Rules Committee
- Economic Growth Committee
- Education Reform
- 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
Legislation
Enacted legislation
The list below shows up to 25 pieces of legislation in the 2024 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 2024. This information is provided by BillTrack50.
Election administration legislation
State election laws are changing. Keeping track of the latest developments in all 50 states can seem like an impossible job. Here's the solution: Ballotpedia's Election Administration Legislation Tracker.
Ballotpedia's Election Administration Tracker sets the industry standard for ease of use, flexibility, and raw power. Ballotpedia's election experts provide daily updates on bills and other relevant political developments, translate complex bill text into easy-to-understand summaries written in everyday language, and, because it's from Ballotpedia, our Tracker is guaranteed to be neutral, unbiased, and nonpartisan.
The table below lists 2024 election-related legislation in Iowa. The following information is included for each bill:
- Bill number
- Official name or caption
- Most recent action date
- Legislative status
- Topics dealt with by the bill
Bills are organized by bill number. The table displays up to 100 results by default. To view additional results, use the arrows in the upper-right corner of the table. For more information about a particular bill, simply click the bill number. This will open a separate page with additional information.
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
Republicans won control of the Iowa State Senate in 2016. In 2022, they won a 34-16 majority.
The table below shows the partisan history of the Iowa 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 switched partisan control 10 times from 1900 to 2022.
Historical House control
Republicans won control of the Iowa House of Representatives in 2010. In 2022, they won a 64-36 majority.
The table below shows the partisan history of the Iowa House 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 switched partisan control 10 times from 1900 to 2022.
See also
| Elections | Iowa State Government | State Legislatures | State Politics |
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External links
Footnotes
