Listen: 2025 legislative session is likely to extend past schedule as legislators negotiate the state budget

Iowa's 2025 legislative session is likely to extend past its scheduled last day, which is this Friday, May 2.

Lawmakers must finalize the state budget before they can end the session. It's unclear how long that process will take, as most of the bills that need to be passed as a part of that process have not yet been introduced.

Aside from budget conversations, there are some policy proposals that lawmakers are hoping to finalize before the session is over.

House lawmakers have introduced bills aimed at limiting eminent domain for carbon capture pipelines over the last few years, but the legislation hasn't been passed in the Senate. This year, a Senate committee advanced one of the House bills, but with amendments that caused some concern with opponents of CO2 pipeline projects in the state. Some Republicans in the Senate have been publicly calling on leaders to bring the bill up for a vote.

Childcare providers and Democratic lawmakers have raised concerns over Gov. Kim Reynolds' bill that would change funding and policies for preschools. The bill aims to improve access to full-day preschool for 4-year-olds using $16 million of existing child care funding to start new partnerships for full-day schooling options.

Opponents say the bill could take away state funding from existing programs. The bill passed in the Senate last week and is pending in the House.

The House passed bills to exempt toilet paper, laundry detergent and vitamins from sales tax. It also passed a bill to establish a tax credit for people who install radon mitigation systems in their homes or existing buildings and advanced a proposal that would eliminate income limits for people to qualify for the child and dependent tax credit. It's unclear if these proposals will move forward in the Senate.

Lawmakers sent a bill to the governor's desk that will create protections against strategic lawsuits against public participation, or SLAPP. These lawsuits are often deployed to scare people or media outlets out of exercising their free speech rights. If signed, the new law would provide a faster path to get them dismissed, and the losing party could be on the hook for the other side's legal costs.

Gov. Reynolds' bill in response to recent major natural disasters also passed the Legislature recently. Reynolds signed the bill into law last week. It earmarks nearly $14 million for fixing damaged homes and demolishing hazardous buildings, and it aims to protect Iowans from unfair insurance practices by adding more regulations. In a statement, Reynolds said the legislation will streamline the process for issuing disaster assistance in the future and make it easier for Iowans to get help faster.