Capitol Notebook: Iowa eminent domain, landowner rights bill passes House committee

DES MOINES — A ban on companies using eminent domain for carbon capture pipelines took its second legislative step Wednesday, just the third day of this year’s session, and could be approved by the Iowa House as early as next week, a key state lawmaker says.

Legislation that would prohibit companies constructing carbon sequestration pipelines from using eminent domain to acquire land for their projects was approved by the Iowa House Judiciary Committee by a 19-2 vote Wednesday, just one day after clearing its first legislative hurdle, a subcommittee hearing held just two hours before Gov. Kim Reynolds’ Condition of the State address.

After a five-year debate in the legislature over balancing landowner rights and projects that companies and agriculture associations argue will enhance economic development, lawmakers have yet to come to a consensus and many in each chamber plan to address it in 2026.

House Republicans’ latest legislative proposal, House Study Bill 507, would simply ban the use of eminent domain for carbon dioxide pipeline projects. The bill is modeled after similar legislation passed and signed into law last year in South Dakota.

“Freedom and property rights are inseparable,” Iowa Rep. Steve Holt, R-Denison, who chairs the Judiciary Committee, said during Wednesday’s meeting. “The use of eminent domain should be incredibly rare and must meet the constitutional requirement for public use.”

Holt said the bill could be debated by the full Iowa House as early as next week.

Rep. Ross Wilburn, D-Ames, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, was one of two Democrats on the committee to vote against the bill Wednesday. Wilburn cited uncertainty about the bill’s future given no agreement has yet been reached between majority Republicans in the Iowa House and Senate and Gov. Kim Reynolds.

Summit Carbon Solutions has proposed a 2,500-mile CO2 pipeline through five states, including Iowa, to capture the greenhouse gas from ethanol plants and bury it in North Dakota. Defenders of the pipeline project say it will boost Iowa’s ethanol industry and reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

Regulators on the Iowa Utilities Commission in 2024 approved a permit for the Iowa section, including granting Summit eminent domain powers.

In 2025, the Iowa Legislature passed sweeping legislation that would have defined in state law what constitutes public good for the use of eminent domain, required pipeline companies to carry a certain amount of insurance, prohibited pipeline renewal after 25 years, and constrained when and how pipeline companies can sue landowners, among other provisions. But Reynolds vetoed the measure, saying it went too far and threatened the state’s energy reliability, economy and reputation as a place that is welcoming to business.

Lawmakers advance bill restricting kratom sales, use statewide

A bipartisan panel of Iowa House lawmakers unanimously advanced a bill that would designate kratom as a Schedule I controlled substance, setting criminal penalties for possession and placing the plant and its derivatives alongside the state’s most tightly restricted drugs.

Kratom, an herbal product commonly sold in pill, powder or drink form, can produce stimulant effects at low doses and sedative or opioid-like effects at higher doses.

Supporters told lawmakers the proposal is a necessary response to mounting public-health concerns. Josie Wagler, on behalf of the Iowa Department of Public Safety, cited a sharp rise in calls to the Iowa Poison Control Center, with kratom-related reports jumping from 24 in 2023-24 to 53 in 2025. Supporters also cited reports of NICU births with withdrawal linked to kratom, seizures, neurological disorders, respiratory depression, coma and 92 reported deaths in the state over the past decade in which kratom was listed as a contributing factor.

Much of the concern focused on highly concentrated or synthetic products, which witnesses said can act on opioid receptors and, in some cases, be reversed with naloxone. Advocates for the bill argued Iowa currently has no regulatory framework, even as kratom products are widely sold in gas stations, convenience stores, smoke and vape shops, and online. They also noted that the Drug Enforcement Administration classifies kratom as a drug of concern and that the Food and Drug Administration is moving toward scheduling some of its psychoactive compounds.

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Physicians and the Iowa Medical Society worry about widespread misuse and having to manage serious complications without FDA‑approved kratom medicines.

Representatives of Botanicals for Better Health and Wellness, a trade association that advocates for the safe and effective use of botanical products, urged lawmakers to distinguish between natural kratom and synthetic or highly concentrated derivatives, backing restrictions on the synthetic products while opposing restricting access to the plant itself. They described natural kratom as a coffee-family botanical with a long history of use and a relatively mild, stimulant-like profile. Advocates also pointed to a growing body of research — including recent studies and a recent FDA-run human trial — suggesting general safety for adults.

Rather than prohibition, they argued Iowa should follow other states by regulating kratom through age limits, testing and labeling to curb dangerous products while preserving adult access to natural kratom.

House Study Bill 508 defines kratom as any part of the plant Mitragyna speciosa — whether natural or synthetic — including compounds such as mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine, as well as any salts, mixtures or preparations derived from it. Under the bill, first-time possession would be a serious misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in jail and fines of up to $2,560. Subsequent offenses would escalate to an aggravated misdemeanor, and a third or later conviction would be a Class D felony carrying up to five years in prison and fines of up to $10,245.

Amy Campbell, on behalf of the Iowa Behavioral Health Association — which represents substance use disorder providers in the state — urged deferred treatment options rather than pure criminalization, but still wants kratom clearly controlled and restricted.

The bill now moves to the House Public Safety Committee for further consideration.

Bill would require parental consent for minors receiving HPV vaccine

Iowa minors would need parental consent to receive the HPV and Hepatitis B vaccines under legislation being considered by state House lawmakers.

Senate File 304, which would take away a minor’s legal capacity to consent to receiving vaccines that treat sexually transmitted diseases or infections without parental approval, was advanced out of a three-member House subcommittee by Republican lawmakers on Wednesday. The bill was passed by the Senate last session, 33-14.

Backers of the legislation say it would align the HPV, or human papillomavirus, vaccine with current state laws requiring parental consent for all other vaccines.

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Brei Johnson, representing Informed Choice Iowa, said parental consent should be required for vaccines that come with products carrying “risk and side effects.”

“In the end, it is the parents' role to help determine what is right for their own child, and they are the ones who have their child's best interests at heart,” Johnson said.

The HPV vaccine is recommended for those between the ages of 11 and 12 by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to prevent the risk of sexually transmitted diseases and multiple forms of cancer, including cervical cancer.

The vaccine has been found to be safe in many studies, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Amy Shriver, a pediatrician and president of the Iowa chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, argued that the legislation would hinder access to a vaccine for minors that significantly reduces the risk of cancer in a state where rates for the disease are some of the highest in the nation.

“This affects access to care for children and families in our state. Iowa pediatricians want to partner with families and legislators to protect kids' health and reduce cancer in our state,” Shriver said.

Reps. Eddie Andrews, R-Johnston and Austin Harris, R-Moulton, signed on to advance the bill to full committee. Democratic Rep. Beth Wessel-Kroeschell did not support the legislation, noting that it would make it more complicated for kids in foster care and vulnerable to access the vaccine.

Gazette-Lee Des Moines Bureau

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