May 06, 2026
This Week at the Statehouse - The Final Days of Session
The legislative session for 2026 concluded on Sunday, May 3 in exhausting form, with legislators holding a 34.5-hour session that lasted from 8:30 am Saturday morning through 7:00 pm Sunday evening. During that time, they completed the budget, passed property tax reform, and finished the process on dozens of other remaining bills.
While the Regents monitor hundreds of bills during the session, the vast majority do not make it through the entire process. Here's a look at the session in numbers:
- Bills Introduced in the House and Senate: 1,666
- Bills Passed by Both House and Senate: 142
- Bills the Board monitored: 306
- Number of those that passed House and Senate: 39
The closing days of session saw action on the following bills, which passed both chambers:
- HF 2800 – Standings Appropriations – Gen Ed Requirements – Included language from an earlier bill requiring all undergrad students to take a 3-credit course in Civics and American History
- SF 2453 – Endowments and Innovation Funds - requires Iowa’s public universities to invest at least 1% of their endowment assets into state‑certified innovation funds
- SF 2484 - Infrastructure Budget - Funded UNI's Commons Renovation Project at $6 million. Did not fund University of Iowa's request for Nursing Lab Simulator
Budget Results
While UNI saw no additional funding in our General University line item (remained status quo at $101,894,146) and all other budget items remained the same as FY26, we did see increases in:
- $1,000,000 - Neighboring States Tuition Rate (Economic Development Budget HF 2772)
- $600,000 - Nursing Program Expansion (Economic Development Budget HF 2772)
- $6,000,000 - Commons Renovation Project (Infrastructure Budget SF 2484)
Final Disposition of Bills (Updated 5/18/2026)
Below are two tables:
- The first shows the bills that passed both chambers and will go to the governor for signature. The governor has 30 days from the end of session to sign all bills. After a bill passes both chambers, it gets enrolled, then is sent to the governor
- The second table is a recap of notable bills that did not pass this year
| Bill Number | Bill Title | Notes | Latest Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| HF 703 | An Act concerning information regarding certain state and federal student loan programs | Signed by Governor 5/6 | |
| HF 1023 | A bill for an act relating to benefits and contributions for members of the Iowa public employees’ retirement system who are employed in a protection occupation | Signed by Governor 6/2 | |
| HF 2230 | An Act relating to teacher education and licensing, including by modifying provisions related to practitioner preparation programs and licenses issued by the board of educational examiners | Signed by Governor 6/2 | |
| HF 2490 | An Act relating to public notice requirements for meetings of a governmental body | Signed by Governor 5/15 | |
| HF 2491 | A bill for an act providing for a waiver of tuition and mandatory fees at regents institutions for certain veterans with service-connected disabilities. | Signed by Governor 4/30 | |
| HF 2500 | An Act relating to contracts entered into by state agencies and including applicability provisions | Signed by Governor 4/16 | |
| HF 2502 | An Act relating to paid parental leave for state employees | Signed by Governor 4/30 | |
| HF 2539 | A bill for an act repealing certain programs and other matters relating to higher education. | Signed by Governor 4/30 | |
| HF 2610 | An Act relating to education programs and systems, including career and technical education expenditures and definitions, statewide lower division general education framework and common course numbering systems, and the implementation of a statewide corequisite model in Iowa community colleges. | Signed by Governor 6/2 | |
| HF 2670 | An Act relating to education, including by modifying provisions related to summative testing in schools and the educational program provided to students enrolled in kindergarten through grade twelve. | Signed by Governor 6/2 | |
| HF 2711 | An Act relating to state policies, programs, and licenses with race, gender, or citizenship requirements. | Signed by Governor 6/2 | |
| HF 2754 | An Act relating to education, including by modifying provisions related to charter school approval, contracts, funding, and operations, services provided to charter schools by area education agencies, charter school student participation in extracurricular activities provided by public schools, the Iowa public employees’ retirement system, education savings accounts, independent accreditation, teacher training and licensure, the statewide voluntary preschool program, the district-to-community college sharing or concurrent enrollment program, open enrollment, school tuition organizations, private instruction, and innovation zone schools; making appropriations; and including effective date and applicability provisions. | Made UNI an authorizer of charter schools | Signed by Governor 5/12 |
| HF 2772 | A bill for an act relating to and making appropriations for the economic development of the state, including to the economic development authority, Iowa finance authority, department of workforce development, and state board of regents and certain regents institutions, and codifying the housing renewal program | Economic Development Budget - includes funding for UNI - $1 million for Neighboring States Tuition and $600,000 for Nursing Program | Signed by Governor 6/2 |
| HF 2783 | A bill for an act relating to and making appropriations to the education system, including the funding and operation of the department for the blind, department of education, state board of regents, department of workforce development, and Iowa special education council | Education Budget - status quo funding | Signed by Governor 6/2
* Line item veto did not affect Regents language |
| HF 2797 | A bill for an act relating to the peace officer, public safety, and emergency personnel bill of rights, and providing fees | Signed by Governor 6/2 | |
| HF 2800 | A bill for an act relating to state and local government and finances | Includes language from HF 2361, gen ed requirements for history and civics courses | Signed by Governor 6/2
* Line item veto did not affect Regents language |
| SF 2039 | A bill for an act providing for intervention by members of the general assembly in proceedings for judicial review of agency action under the Iowa administrative procedure Act | Signed by Governor 6/2 | |
| SF 2207 | An Act relating to the submission of proposed legislation by state departments and agencies | VETOED 6/2 | |
| SF 2218 | A bill for an act relating to the verification of the identity and employment eligibility of individuals by the board of educational examiners, school districts, accredited nonpublic schools, charter schools, and innovation zone schools, and including applicability provisions. | Signed by Governor 6/2 | |
| SF 2365 | An Act relating to public improvement contracts, including notice requirements | Signed by Governor 5/15 | |
| SF 2430 | A bill for an act relating to the display of flags at half-staff on public buildings. | Signed by Governor 5/15 | |
| SF 2453 | A bill for an act providing for investment by regents institutions in certified innovation funds and including effective date provisions | VETOED 6/2 | |
| SF 2463 | A bill for an act concerning the executive branch rulemaking process, including the uniform rules on agency procedure and review and regulatory readoption of rules, and including effective date provisions | Signed by Governor 4/16 | |
| SF 2484 | A bill for an act relating to and making appropriations from the rebuild Iowa infrastructure fund, technology reinvestment fund, and renewable fuel infrastructure fund, providing for related matters including financial assistance eligibility for regional sports authority districts, department of health and human services information technology systems, the railway tracks overpass and underpass fund, and eligibility for entities to receive financial assistance from both the Iowa major events and tourism fund and the sports tourism infrastructure program | Includes $6 million for Commons Renovation Project | Signed by Governor 6/2
* Line item veto did not affect Regents language |
Notable bills that died for the year
| Bill Number | Bill Title | Notes | Latest Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| HF 2245 | An Act relating to selection committees for presidents of regents institutions | Did not pass | |
| HF 2361 | An Act relating to general education requirements, core curricula, other functions of regents institutions, and including applicability provisions | Language included in HF 2800 which did pass | While this bill did not pass, the language did |
| HF 2362 | An Act relating to tuition charged to resident undergraduate students enrolled at regents institutions | Did not pass | |
| HF 2487 | An Act prohibiting courses and content relating to diversity, equity, inclusion, and critical race theory in general education requirements and core curricula at regents institutions | Did not pass | |
| HF 2513 | An Act prohibiting institutions of higher education from entering into employment contracts with citizens of federally designated foreign adversaries and state sponsors of terrorism holding certain visas | Did not pass | |
| HF 2544 | An Act requiring annual reports on and the prohibition of antisemitism in community colleges, regents institutions, and public school districts | Did not pass | |
| HF 2608 | An Act relating to qualifications for certain rights and privileges prescribed by the state, including state employment, professional licensure, voter registration, and bail. | Did not pass | |
| HF 2691 | An Act relating to the ownership of artificial intelligence output and trained artificial intelligence | Did not pass | |
| SF 2199 | An Act relating to the ownership of artificial intelligence output and trained artificial intelligence | Did not pass | |
| SF 2227 | An Act relating to tuition charged to resident undergraduate students enrolled at regents institutions | Did not pass | |
| SF 2232 | An Act relating to general education requirements, core curricula, other functions of regents institutions | Language included in HF 2800 which did pass | While this bill did not pass, the language did |
| SF 2263 | A bill for an act relating to the carrying, transportation, and possession of weapons. | Did not pass | |
| SF 2303 | An Act providing for a review of undergraduate general education requirements and core curricula at regents institutions and authorizing elimination of certain required courses and course requirements | Did not pass | |
| SF 2336 | A bill for an act requiring annual reports on and prohibiting antisemitism in community colleges, regents institutions, and public school districts. | Did not pass | |
| SF 2359 | A bill for an act relating to selection committees for presidents of regents institutions. | Did not pass | |
| SF 2412 | A bill for an act relating to qualifications for state employment and professional licensure. | Did not pass |