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Iowa lawmakers return to Statehouse for 2025 legislative session

Iowa’s 2025 legislative session began Monday morning with lawmakers returning to the Iowa Capitol in Des Moines and taking the oath of office.

Two hours before the session began, Republican lawmakers and supporters attended a fundraising breakfast for the Republican Party of Iowa. They celebrated their wins, highlighting their supermajorities in the House and Senate.

Republican Party of Iowa Chairman Jeff Kaufmann even asked the group to dance along to “Y.M.C.A.” to show their excitement for the upcoming inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, who has danced to the song at his rallies.

“You’re going to see guys with the cameras. I have confirmation that what is on these cameras, we are going to get these to the president today,” Kaufmann said.

Madeleine Charis King
/
Iowa Public Radio

Gov. Kim Reynolds said she felt hope and optimism in the room.

“For almost a decade, we’ve been coming together on this very morning as a united party — and I think that’s something else that not a lot of other states can brag about — to really set a bold, conservative agenda for Iowans,” she said. “And I want to tell you, it’s working.”

Reynolds said she is “extremely, extremely proud” of everything she and GOP lawmakers have done, and she said they have more work to do.

Later in the morning, leaders in the Iowa Legislature gave speeches to welcome lawmakers and lay out their priorities.

Gov. Kim Reynolds said she is “extremely, extremely proud” of everything she and GOP lawmakers have done, and that they have more work to do.

In her speech on the Senate floor, Senate Minority Janice Weiner, D-Iowa City, urged lawmakers to work towards helping “all Iowans.”

“People just want a fair shot,” Weiner said. “They want a fair paycheck for an honest day's work. They want to feed their families. They want to be able to buy a house or afford their rent. They want their children to have the best education possible.”

Weiner also pushed for more funding for public schools and criticized Reynolds for signing a law shifting funding from Area Education Agencies to local school districts.

She encouraged senators to create more affordable housing, reevaluate changes made in 2022, which tightened restrictions on unemployment benefits, and expand access to child care.

“By making child care more accessible and affordable, we can allow parents to enter the workforce with one less worry,” she said. “Recognizing and paying child care workers as the professionals they are will help ease that shortage as well.”

Weiner also called on lawmakers to address rising cancer rates and water quality across the state, and called for transparent spending of opioid settlement funds.

Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver, R-Grimes, who announced he was receiving treatment for a brain tumor in May of last year, told senators Monday morning that his brain tumor has been getting smaller, but said he still has a “long ways to go.”

And in his message to Iowans, Whitver pointed to the recent election as evidence voters favor more conservative policies.

“Four years of inflation, open borders and radical leftist policies were rejected in every corner of the country,” Whitver said. “The verdict issued by Iowans and Americans leaves no doubt about what direction they want government to take.”

In the House of Representatives, U.S. Senate President Pro Tempore Chuck Grassley administered the oath of office to his grandson, Speaker Pat Grassley.

Speaker Grassley, R-New Hartford, congratulated newly elected representatives and thanked all of the families present for the sacrifices it takes to have a family member in the Legislature.

He said House members have recovered from the campaign trail and are ready to hit the ground running.

Grassley said House Republicans have been responding to the real concerns of real voters when cutting taxes, providing state-funded accounts for private school tuition and weighing in on various social issues.

“Our bills were characterized as an attack, hateful and divisive,” he said. “But the reality is — that we learned this election — that these issues, while emotional, have turned out to be more unifying than ever, based on the election results.”

Grassley reiterated his plans to focus on property tax relief and changes to higher education in the coming weeks.

Madeleine Charis King
/
Iowa Public Radio

House Minority Leader Jennifer Konfrst, D-Windsor Heights, said Monday marked the start of a 110-day journey to make the state better for Iowans. She said families are “feeling the pinch of” the high cost of health care and child care, as well as stagnant wages and layoffs.

“Iowans expect us to help,” she said. “They expect us to ease their burden. Will we work together to make life better, or will division rule the day?”

Konfrst said Democrats will be “laser-focused” on lots of different proposals that have the goal of lowering costs for Iowans.

Copyright 2025 Iowa Public Radio News

U.S. Senate President Pro Tempore Chuck Grassley administered the oath of office to his grandson, Speaker Pat Grassley on the first day of the 2025 Iowa legislative session.
Madeleine Charis King / Iowa Public Radio
/
Iowa Public Radio
U.S. Senate President Pro Tempore Chuck Grassley administered the oath of office to his grandson, Speaker Pat Grassley on the first day of the 2025 Iowa legislative session.
Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley at the Iowa Capitol during the first day of the 2025 legislative session.
Madeleine Charis King / Iowa Public Radio
/
Iowa Public Radio
Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley at the Iowa Capitol during the first day of the 2025 legislative session.

Katarina Sostaric is an Iowa City based reporter covering Eastern Iowa for Iowa Public Radio.
Isabella Luu