DES MOINES — Iowa lawmakers gaveled in the 2025 legislative session on Monday with Republicans holding a supermajority and a trifecta. Republican legislative leaders are looking to pin property tax relief and education reform as their top issues this session, while Democrats look to work across the aisle to cut costs for Iowans.

Iowa Statehouse Republicans are taking President-elect Donald Trump’s resounding win in the state and their expanded majorities in each chamber as a mandate to continue to enact a conservative agenda in this year’s legislative session. 

Republicans returned to the state capitol with a trifecta and an expanded majority of 67 seats over Democrats — the largest majority since 1971.

Republican legislative leaders look to continue their agenda this session and expand on their legislative accomplishments of the last eight years. 

“Voters resoundingly supported common sense conservative values, expanding our legislative majorities, keeping our federal delegation Republican, and helping President Trump return to the White House,” Senate President Amy Sinclair, R-Allerton, said during her opening remarks Monday. “Over the previous eight years, we have enacted numerous common sense solutions to address the problems across the state and to better the lives of all Iowans.” 

Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver, R-Grimes, said the message was made clear after the party expanded its supermajority in the state senate by two seats in November. 

“The verdict issued by Iowans and Americans leaves no doubt about what direction they want government to take,” Whitver said. “My message to Iowans is this: We heard you and we’re going to keep doing what we’ve been doing. We will address the rising cost of living, continue cutting taxes, build new career opportunities, and ensure we all have a safe community to call home.” 

Among the top priority for Republicans is cutting property taxes. 

Property tax relief set as top priority 

Iowa Republican lawmakers are looking to provide further relief to Iowa homeowners by readdressing property tax relief this session. The party passed a nearly $100 million property assessment reduction in 2023, which may have cost local governments nearly $30 million, according to the Legislative Services Agency analysis at the time. 

Iowa Republican lawmakers are looking to provide relief to homeowners this session, but the details on how it will be done are not clear. 

House Speaker Pat Grassley, R-New Hartford, said while the specific plan for property taxes is not yet clear, he wants to shift the focus from cutting the state’s income tax — which Republicans accelerated last session and a new flat tax rate of 3.8 percent kicked in on Jan. 1 — to property tax relief this session. 

“There will likely be multiple ideas brought forward this session on the best way to address property taxes,” Grassley said. “For anyone who is interested in delivering real solutions and not just trying to kill everyone else’s ideas – I’m all ears. We will do our due diligence and consider each idea. As we do so, I will encourage this chamber to prioritize certainty for the taxpayers over certainty for the taxing entities.” 

New House committee, cell phone ban proposed for education reform

Grassley also pinned education as a priority for the 2025 legislative session, highlighting the creation of a new Higher Education Committee tasked with reviewing colleges and universities in the state to better meet the state’s workforce needs. 

Splitting K-12 education and higher education in different committees means nothing will hinder the improvement of the state’s K-12 education system, according to Grassley. 

“In the House, we have done great work to refocus our regent institutions on providing quality education and preparing our workforce,” Grassley said. “However, a comprehensive review of our entire higher education system is long overdue.” 

Grassley said the committee will review how taxpayers’ dollars can best address Iowa’s workforce shortages and not enforce ideological agendas. 

Grassley said the legislature must ensure Iowa’s schools stick to math, science, reading, and history, rather than social issues. 

He proposed limiting cell phone use during instructional class time in Iowa’s elementary and high schools, and giving more control to parents for their children’s social media accounts. 

“This session, we will ensure Iowa laws are protecting our youth and setting them up for success in life,” Grassley said. “We know the dangers of smartphones and social media. It’s time to take action.” 

Last session, Reynolds spearheaded a reform to AEA funding for school districts and shifted oversight of special education from AEAs to the state. Reynolds also expanded funding for private school vouchers last session, and this year income restrictions will end which means all Iowa students can apply for them. 

Republicans pin immigration, safety as a top priority

Immigration came as another clear priority for Iowa Republican lawmakers during their opening remarks Monday, with several emphasizing their focus on combating illegal immigration. 

Sinclair said Iowa Republicans have made progress towards their goal to combat illegal immigration in Iowa. 

Sinclair emphasized the passing of Senate File 481 in 2018 which banned sanctuary cities in Iowa and Senate File 2340 in 2024 which made it a state crime to be an illegal immigrant in Iowa. 

Sinclair spoke of the threats she said come with unchecked illegal immigration including crimes committed by undocumented immigrants. 

“Iowans can count on their state government to not only protect them from these heinous crimes and ensure that the rights of citizenship are only afforded to citizens, but also know that they have a right to defend themselves and their families,” Sinclair said. “The right to self-defense and the ability to count on a law-abiding citizenry are common sense.” 

Iowa had as many as 75,000 unauthorized immigrants living in the state in 2024, according to the Pew Research Center, which is roughly 2 percent of the state’s total population. 

Illegal border crossings soared to record highs under Biden, averaging 2 million per year from 2021 to 2023. December 2024 observed the highest illegal border crossing ever recorded hitting 250,000.  

Grassley said that immigration is one of his top issues, and he is confident that Trump’s policies will help secure America’s borders. Grassley stated that his goal is for the state government to partner with the federal government in achieving border security. 

“Now, we can be partners in combating illegal immigration,” Grassley said. “Instead of having to get creative on how to go it alone, we will finally have a partner in the federal government to help keep our communities safe.”

Working across the aisle, collaborating to cut costs 

House Speaker Pro Tempore John Wills, R-Spirit Lake, underscored the importance of maintaining a civil discourse, honor, and integrity as an elected body. 

Wills said each representative in the chamber has their own priorities and desires for the session, and he anticipates working together to fulfill Iowans’ needs. 

“I look forward to working with each of you as we try to accomplish those things, those priorities that Iowans, that our constituents want from us, and then there’s going to be areas that we disagree with each other on, and we’ll be zealous in defense of those values, but we’ll also find that we agree a lot more than we disagree,” Wills said. 

Roughly 80 percent of the time the House will pass bipartisan legislation, Wills said, and the legislation will likely not do everything every lawmaker wants. 

House Minority Leader Jennifer Konfrst, D-Windsor Heights, said the opening session marked the beginning of a 110-day journey to improve the lives of all Iowans. 

Calling on her peers, Konfrst said the representatives have a choice: to work together to make life better for all Iowans or spend the session playing politics. 

Konfrst said too many families are struggling with the rising cost of health care and child care, stagnant wages, and worries of more layoffs around the state. She pointed to Reynolds as a reason for Iowa being second-to-last in growth. 

“We need to think more broadly,” Konfrst said to her fellow representatives. “Iowans expect us to help. They expect us to ease their burden. Will we work together to make life better, or will division rule the day?” 

Senate Minority Leader Janice Weiner, D-Iowa City, called on Senate Republicans to work with Democrats on lowering costs for Iowans. 

“We need to do a better job for Iowa’s workers,” Weiner said. “They deserve a chance to earn a paycheck that supports their family and respects their hard work. But you can’t go anywhere in this state without hearing stories about hard-working Iowans doing their best – and barely making ends meet. Our job is to ensure they can get ahead.”

Both Republican and Democratic leaders said they want to focus on addressing the cost of childcare, hand ousing, and keeping more money in Iowans’ pockets.

Grassley said Iowans felt the pain of inflation during the Biden administration and it is clear that Iowa lawmakers need to deliver economic relief for the state. 

Inflation flared to a four-decade high under the Biden administration, although it is currently at a three-year low. Biden’s annual inflation rates equated to 5.4 percent, while they were 1.9 percent under Trump, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics consumer price index.

Grassley pointed to past successful legislation, such as income tax cuts. Reductions implemented on Jan. 1 lowered Iowa taxpayers’ rate to 3.8 percent. 

While Democrats and Republicans share the common goal of reducing costs, Konfrst said she had little hope that Iowa lawmakers could work past political divisions. 

“Frankly, I don’t have a lot of confidence already this morning, I hope we can do better than that,” Konfrst said. “Will we see each other as caricatures or colleagues? Will we find solutions or search for headlines? Will we listen to Washington or Iowans?”