Reflecting on a very productive 2025 session of the 91st Iowa General Assembly, we accomplished a great deal! nnThis edition of the newsletter highlights some important legislation passed this year that maybe didn’t attract as much media attention as some of the higher profile bills:
SF57: Civil Commitment Unit for Sexual Offenders Bill — Requires the Department of Health and Human Services to reimburse a county for the temporary holding of a sexually violent predator who commits a public offense while subject to an order of civil commitment. This bill has a direct impact on my Senate district and I was the floor manager. (Signed by the governor)
HF473: Center For Intellectual Freedom Act — Establishes a Center for Intellectual Freedom at the University of Iowa to conduct teaching and research in the historical ideas, traditions, and texts that have shaped the American constitutional order and society. (Signed by the governor)
HF440: College Affordability Act — Contains several provisions to control the cost of college for students. (Signed by the governor)
HF782: No Phones During Instructional Time — Requires school districts to implement a policy that, at a minimum, prohibits the use of cell phones during instructional time. I had the privilege of floor managing this bill. (Signed by the governor)
SF369: Civics Test For All High School Graduates — Requires high school students to pass the U.S. citizenship and immigration services naturalization civics test in order to graduate. (Signed by the governor)
SF583: School Safety Threat Assessment Teams — Requires schools to create a multidisciplinary threat assessment team to intervene when a student is exhibiting threatening behaviors. (Signed by the governor)
SF175: Fetal Development Instruction — Requires human growth and development curriculum in 5th-12th grade to include instruction related to human development inside the womb. As the chair of the Senate Education Committee, this was one of my priority bills. (Signed by the governor)
HF1049: Taxpayer Dollars For Sex Reassignment Surgeries — Prohibits funds from being used for reimbursement for sex reassignment surgeries or associated procedures. (Signed by the governor)
HF1049: Health & Human Services Budget — Increases foster care and adoption subsidy rates by about 5%. (Signed by the governor)
HF856: Replacing DEI with MEI (Merit, Excellence, and Intelligence) — Prohibits state entities and community colleges from using any funds to establish or support DEI offices. (Signed by the governor)
HF954: Ensuring Only U.S. Citizens Vote In Our Elections — Ensures that every voter in Iowa’s elections are U.S. citizens. It does this by outlining efforts to clean the current voter rolls and verify the citizenship status of voters in advance of Election Day. (Signed by the governor)
HF649: Improving Iowa Code Definitions Of Human Trafficking — Improves Iowa code around human trafficking to give more tools to our investigators and our prosecutors when tackling the issue of human trafficking. (Signed by the governor)
SF22: Distracted Driving — Changes Iowa’s texting while driving ban into a ban on using electronic devices while driving. Drivers can use their device hands-free. (Signed by the governor)
SF619: Governor’s Disaster Relief Bill — Allows Iowa’s Executive Branch to more easily utilize the state’s Economic Emergency Fund for disaster recovery by giving the Department of Management access to 10% of the fund each year. This bill has a direct positive impact on my Senate district. (Signed by the governor)
HF306: Increased Penalties For Providing Obscene Materials To Children — Protects children by increasing the penalties for the dissemination of obscene materials to a minor. (Signed by the governor)
HF969: Cancer Coverage and Screening For First Responders — Expands the definition of cancer for the Municipal Fire and Police Retirement System and the Special Services Members of IPERS. (Signed by the governor)
HF248: Adoptive Parental Leave — Requires employers to treat employees who have adopted a child six years old or younger the same way as those who have had a biological child in regard to parental leave policies. (Signed by the governor)
HF887: More Birthing Centers In Iowa — Removes the requirement that birth centers must obtain a certificate of need prior to opening or expanding their services. (Signed by the governor)
Email: lynn.evans@legis.iowa.gov
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