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Iowa lawmakers vow to tackle property taxes, affordability, eminent domain as 2026 session starts
Leaders of both parties called for civility during this session, urging lawmakers to disagree ‘without being disagreeable’
Jan. 12, 2026 5:11 pm
The Gazette offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
DES MOINES — Renewed action on property tax relief, a tougher approach to repeat violent crime, state spending, affordability and bipartisan calls for cooperation and civility were among the pledges and requests made by leaders during the first day of the 2026 session of the Iowa Legislature on Monday at the Iowa Capitol.
As is tradition, legislative leaders gave opening-day remarks as they began their work for the session, which is scheduled to last roughly into late April.
Republicans hold large agenda-setting majorities in both chambers and control the governor’s office.
Gov. Kim Reynolds will deliver the annual Condition of the State address to the Iowa Legislature on Tuesday.
How to watch Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds’ Condition of the State address
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, who is not seeking re-election to another term, will deliver her ninth Condition of the State address to the Iowa Legislature on Tuesday, when she will present her legislative agenda and priorities for the year.
When: Tuesday, Jan. 13 at 6 p.m.
Where: Iowa State Capitol, delivered to a joint session of the 91st Iowa General Assembly
How to Watch: Live on Iowa PBS (both on air and online at iowapbs.org), the governor’s Facebook page facebook.com/IAGovernor and on thegazette.com.
2026 Iowa Condition of the Judiciary
At 10 a.m. Wednesday, in the House chambers, Chief Justice Susan Christensen of the Iowa Supreme Court will address a joint session of the Iowa Legislature on the Condition of the Judiciary.
2026 Iowa Condition of the Guard
At 10 a.m. Thursday, Maj. Gen. Stephen E. Osborn, adjutant general of the Iowa National Guard, will deliver the annual Condition of the Guard address to a joint session of the Legislature.
You can watch the livestream of the address on thegazette.com or iowapbs.org.
Majority Republicans unveil their agenda
House Speaker Pat Grassley, a Republican from New Hartford, said property taxes would be the top priority for House Republicans after last year’s efforts to address the issue failed to take off. Iowans have made clear the current system “is not working,” Grassley said, citing seniors being priced out of their homes, young families delaying homeownership and taxpayers facing rising bills with little predictability.
“For too long, certainty for the taxing entities has taken priority over certainty for the taxpayers,” Grassley said. “It’s time to put the taxpayers first once again.”
He said lawmakers will revisit eminent domain protections for landowners, signaling a narrower approach after previous bills stalled. He also outlined a “tough on crime” agenda aimed at repeat violent offenders, proposing a “three strikes” framework that would remove habitual offenders from the streets.
Grassley underscored his push for tougher sentencing by pointing to recent, high-profile cases involving repeat offenders, arguing they illustrate the risks of allowing habitual violent criminals back into the community.
Citing the August 2025 stabbing death of a 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee on a train in North Carolina, Grassley said the man accused in that case had more than a dozen prior arrests and had previously served five years in prison for armed robbery. He also referenced the attack on a 26-year-old woman who was set on fire while riding a Chicago L train, noting the man arrested in that case had 72 prior arrests, including eight felony convictions.
“These are not isolated lapses in judgment,” Grassley said, arguing the cases reflect systemic failures to incapacitate repeat offenders before violence escalates.
Turning to Iowa, Grassley pointed to the 2020 killing of 10-year-old Breasia Terrell in Davenport. Henry Dinkins, who was later convicted of first-degree murder and kidnapping in her death, had a lengthy criminal history that included more than 10 prior convictions, several of them felonies.
“Repeat violent offenders are released back onto the streets where they become a true risk to our children and our loved ones,” Grassley said. “For those of you who say, ‘Well, this really isn't a big problem here in Iowa,’ I say that even one instance is too many. If Dinkins had been incapacitated once he'd shown a pattern of violent crime, Breasia Terrell would still be alive today. We cannot and will not sit back and wait for these tragedies to pile up before we take action. … This legislative session, career criminals will get the message they are not welcome here in Iowa.”
Grassley also pushed back on Democratic criticism of the state budget. Iowa is using well-stocked budget reserves to cover spending shortfalls created by recent reductions to Iowans’ income taxes.
Republicans insist the state’s finances are in good health and everything is proceeding as they planned when they lowered state income taxes. Democrats are sounding alarms over the state spending more money than it is taking in.
Grassley said Iowa collected “way more” money than needed in recent years, leaving the state with full reserve funds and large surpluses. On Dec. 12, the state’s nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency projected that in the 2026-2027 state budget year, the state general fund surplus will be $546 million and the Taxpayer Relief Fund will contain $2.9 billion. Grassley argued Republicans deliberately built those balances so the money could be returned to taxpayers through income tax cuts and used to manage a temporary dip in revenue.
The balances in those surplus funding sources, however, are declining. In less than two years, those combined surpluses have dropped from $6.7 billion to $3.5 billion.
The Taxpayer Relief Fund, Grassley said, was created in a bipartisan manner specifically to cut taxes, and using it for other purposes would amount to “a betrayal” of promises made to Iowans.
Newly installed House Majority Leader Bobby Kaufmann, a Republican from Wilton, echoed Grassley’s priorities and said debates over eminent domain and property taxes will come early in the session. Kaufmann, known for his blunt style, said his approach as majority leader will be “fair” and that he intends to listen — even if disagreements remain sharp.
“My personality is going to be the same. I might curse every once in a while. I might be a little controversial, but I will be fair. I will listen. I probably will not have quite as many hand gestures,” said Kaufmann, who went viral for holding up the middle finger of each hand during a 2022 rally at the Statehouse.
Kaufmann also revived a politically sensitive issue: legislative pay. He argued the current $25,000 salary limits who can realistically serve, warning that without a raise, the legislature risks becoming accessible only to the retired or independently wealthy.
“I think it’s in our best interest for us to have families on both sides of the aisle serving in the Legislature,” he said.
Mike Klimesh, a Republican from Spillville in his first session as the new Iowa Senate Majority Leader, highlighted the property tax legislation that Senate Republicans introduced on opening day Monday. During his remarks, he also talked about eminent domain and property rights legislation that he hopes will break a yearslong stalemate, and said one proposal would help make new revenue for the state and create a path for the state to eliminate its income tax.
Among the proposals Klimesh plans is a severance tax on carbon dioxide.
“Just like states with their own natural resources have no income tax, Iowa can use its natural resources to accelerate our trajectory to no income tax — not to make government bigger, but to continue to make our state more competitive and put Iowans on a path to prosperity," Klimesh said.
Klimesh also plans to propose allowing pipeline projects to stray from their original route in order to enter into more voluntary easement agreements with landowners. That bill will be Klimesh's attempt to address the thorny issue of landowner rights and eminent domain.
Despite partisan rhetoric, both leaders emphasized bipartisan cooperation. Kaufmann invited House Minority Leader Brian Meyer, a Democrat from Des Moines, to work together, noting that the vast majority of bills passed each year receive overwhelming bipartisan support. Grassley similarly said Republicans are focused on finishing the session efficiently and delivering results Iowans expect.
“We’re proud to be from the state of Iowa, and we’re willing to work hard to make sure it remains a great place to live and raise a family," Grassley said.
Democrats express concern for budget, affordability
Meyer, who is serving his first session as leader of the House Democratic caucus, expressed concern about the state budget, arguing that Republicans are using “one-time money” from the Iowa Taxpayer Relief Fund.
Meyer argued that after nearly a decade of Republican control in the state, Iowa’s fiscal health has declined while its cost of living has continued to increase. He said Democrats in the chamber will be prioritizing three focus areas during the session: public education, affordability and quality of life.
“After nearly a decade of total Republican control in this state, working families are facing higher costs, fewer opportunities,” Meyer said. “Public schools are being undercut. Health care has become even more difficult to access and families are being forced to tighten their belts.”
Iowa Senate Minority Leader Janice Weiner, a Democrat from Iowa City, also leaned into assertions that there are multiple issues with the state that have cropped up under all-Republican rule at the statehouse.
Weiner also noted the state’s finances, as well as slow state GDP growth, young people leaving the state after their college graduation, a low number of OB-GYNs, increasing health insurance costs, and high and increasing cancer rates.
“It is time for change,” Weiner said. “It’s time to listen to the working Iowans who power this state, who are telling us, in cities, big and small, in rural communities and everywhere in between, that their core issue is affordability.”
Bipartisan calls for civil debate
In the Iowa Senate, Republican and Democratic leaders called for more civility in statehouse debate in the wake of political violence that has occurred across the country.
Amy Sinclair, the Iowa Senate President and a Republican from Allerton, talked about a targeted shooting that resulted in the deaths of former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark, and injuries to Minnesota State Sen. John Hoffman and his wife Yvette, and the shooting death of conservative media personality Charlie Kirk.
Sinclair urged Iowa Senators to debate each other and be able to disagree “without being disagreeable.”
“We agree far more than we disagree, in spite of what the media might tell you. Certainly, those minority of the bills that we disagree on are important issues, and this is what differentiates us in governance and in the eyes of voters. But let’s not lose sight of the fact that we’re all working to do what’s best for our state. Let’s not lose sight of the fact that we’ve made great achievements together,” Sinclair said.
“We're a collegial body, a Senate family. And like any family, we don’t always see eye to eye. We have our squabbles now and then, but when it matters, we pull together. We get the job done. Even when we disagree, we need to do it without being disagreeable.”
Sinclair decried the name-calling and vilifying that can take place in political debate.
“I call on all of us to do better and to set a positive example of what civility looks like in our political discourse. We are all human beings created in God’s image, and we need to remember that, not just today as we rejoin, but every day,” Sinclair said. “In a time where our nation and our state, even our neighborhoods, have become divided along party lines, left and right, right and wrong, good and evil, I encourage each of us to tone down our rhetoric and to get to work on what Iowans are telling us they really want.”
Weiner also called for civility in the statehouse. She noted the Minnesota woman who was shot to death by an ICE officer and a fire at a centuries-old Mississippi synagogue that has led to arson charges.
“We are Iowans. We take care of our neighbors. We are tolerant and we stand up for their rights that are our rights, too. Because we all know that 'love thy neighbor' comes with no exceptions,” Weiner said. “So let us resolve to carry out the people’s business with civility and empathy. Let us do so keeping in mind our state motto: our liberties we prize and our rights we will maintain.”
Republicans talk election at party event
At the Republican Party of Iowa’s annual legislative breakfast Monday, Reynolds and other GOP leaders framed the opening of the 2026 legislative session as a continuation of GOP governance priorities while sharpening contrasts with Democrats — including pointed attacks on State Auditor Rob Sand, widely viewed as the Democratic front-runner in the open 2026 governor’s race.
Reynolds, who is not seeking another term, cast Iowa Republicans as a governing “family” that has delivered on conservative promises, citing tax cuts, education policies expanding parental choice, support for law enforcement and economic growth. She said the coming session would focus on “property tax relief, smaller government, smarter government, stronger and healthier communities,” and pledged to campaign statewide for GOP legislative candidates as election season approaches.
Reynolds warned voters to look to Democratic-led states such as Minnesota, California and New York as a preview of what Democratic leadership would bring, arguing Iowa’s Republican trifecta has allowed lawmakers to “get things done.” GOP leaders cast Sand as a partisan liberal despite his moderate branding, and warned that a Democratic administration would undo years of Republican tax cuts and budget restraint. The message, Republicans said, is that maintaining GOP control of the Legislature and governor’s office is necessary to preserve Iowa’s conservative fiscal and social policies.
Senate and House leaders emphasized continued restraint on spending, tax competitiveness and opposition to new regulations, while touting past GOP accomplishments ranging from election law changes to abortion restrictions to gun rights to tax reform.
Sinclair framed Republican priorities as a “common sense” response to rising costs, arguing lawmakers should focus on affordability and avoid what she described as the policy excesses of Democratic-led states.
“This year we're going to take the step to make sure Iowans have an affordable living, that we aren't outpacing inflation, that we aren't doing what those Democrat states are doing,” she said. “I mean, come on, Minnesota, America needs a break.”
The remarks underscored the early contours of the 2026 campaign: Republicans seeking to portray Democrats as out of step with voters on taxes, crime and spending, while Democrats vow to focus on lowering Iowans’ cost of living and improving their quality of life.
Comments: (515) 355-1300, erin.murphy@thegazette.com
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