As Iowa lawmakers return to the State Capitol for a 100-day session beginning Jan. 12, business and nonprofit leaders say that while the agenda might look familiar, the stakes are high. Property taxes, workforce participation, child care and rising costs are once again the top priorities as state leaders work to make Iowa more competitive. 

The 2026 Iowa legislative session is the second half of the legislative period, held in even-numbered years, often focused on tying up issues brought up in the first half. The 2026 session is scheduled to end April 21. 

Greater Des Moines Partnership

Workforce readiness, economic growth and housing are at the top of the Greater Des Moines Partnership’s priorities this year. 

“The Greater Des Moines Partnership is really about convening and working together collaboratively to drive our region forward,” Tiffany Tauscheck, president and CEO of the Partnership, said at the group’s State Legislative Leadership Breakfast on Dec. 3. “We want to make sure that there’s continued economic growth, as well as making sure this is a place where people want to live and where they can grow and thrive.”

Based on surveys and member interviews, the Partnership’s top priorities are economic growth, workforce readiness, housing and promoting quality of life achieved through a competitive tax environment, improving talent recruitment and retention, investing in early childhood education and work-based learning opportunities. 

Growing the state’s workforce is of high importance to the regional chamber, said David Stark, 2026 chair of the Partnership’s Government Policy Council.

“If we don’t have an adequate workforce, we don’t have a growing state, we don’t have a growing economy, we don’t have a good quality of life. It all stems from that, both in increasing talent, finding talent, retaining talent, upskilling talent in things like AI skill sets and apprenticeships,” Stark said. 

Daryl Bouwkamp, the Partnership’s 2025 Government Policy Council chair, reviewed some 2025 session wins, such as Highway 65/5 receiving its interstate designation and unemployment tax changes. He also discussed details of the last session’s property tax discussion. 

“We headed into this past session with property taxes and [tax increment financing] being much talked about, and it consumed some of the oxygen in the session as well,” Bouwkamp said. “A few versions were proposed, and while it didn’t pass, there was a lot of advocacy going on. We worked very closely, I would say, with the General Assembly, the governor’s office, on a few things that seem to be sticking as we move into this next session.”

There were wins within the property tax discussion, he said. 

“I would say that the provisions for accommodating new growth are now stabilized,” he said. 

“Tying the general fund levy budget guarantees to the CPI, and also throughout the session, just making sure that TIF was top of mind and retained as a key development tool as well. I think those things are fairly baked into the cake now, maybe tweaked a bit, but they’re there. While property tax didn’t pass, and TIF didn’t change, we remain committed to those.”

The Partnership’s legislative preview event included a panel discussion with a handful of lawmakers, including Senate Majority Leader Mike Klimesh (R-Spillville), Senate Minority Leader Janice Weiner (D-Iowa City), House Appropriations Chair Gary Mohr (R-Bettendorf), and House Minority Leader Brian Meyer (D-Des Moines). Mohr said the 2025 session was a learning year for lawmakers when it comes to property taxes. 

“What we learned last year is it’s a whack-a-mole game, which we didn’t all know, meaning, if you do this with property taxes, it has an effect over here that we didn’t think about,” Mohr said. “And if you do this with property taxes, it has an effect over here which we didn’t think about. That was the benefit last year of having this discussion.”

Meyer said lawmakers need to rethink how they spend state money, adding that he disagreed with the $23.5 million allocated for the Pro Iowa Soccer Stadium in Des Moines, but he has no plans to propose changes to the state’s economic development tools. 

“We don’t need a soccer stadium in Des Moines,” he said. “I appreciate it being from Des Moines, but we’re going to look at some of these budget items that they’ve been doing. We’re going to say we don’t need that and we’re going to focus on property tax relief and backfill at the state level and not harm the local governments.”

Mohr said he thinks Republicans will not touch TIF incentives. 

“We understand, particularly from our developers, the importance of TIF and that without it, we just simply couldn’t do projects,” he said. “I live in an area of Bettendorf that’s rapidly growing and without TIF it wouldn’t grow as rapidly as it is.”

Last session, Senate File 657 overhauled how the state approaches incentives, capping most business development tax credits at $170 million. It sunsetted programs like the Angel Investor Tax Credit, replacing it with the new Seed Investor Tax Credit Program. The High Quality Jobs Program was eliminated and replaced with the Business Incentives for Growth Program, a similar system with different ground rules and benefits.

“We’re going to be watching those things and see if we need to tweak some of them, but at least that gives you some idea of what our priorities are for Iowa and economic development,” Mohr said. 

Weiner said the state’s entire tax system needs to be viewed as one ecosystem, adding that many state lawmakers’ local government background can help the legislature better understand how property taxes work. 

“When we look at one form of tax, property taxes, we need to look at the bigger picture, including income taxes and sales tax and understand that it’s all linked together,” she said. “We can’t just pick one piece and fix it without unraveling a thread that’s going to impact many people. We are ready to sit down and work on this and talk about it.”

Klimesh emphasized that the property tax system is very complex. While property owners need relief, state and local governments need to be able to function properly, he said. 

“At the end of the day, we need to find a way that we can provide property tax relief to Iowans, which is a most important step, while maintaining the ability of local governments to provide services to continue to make those communities, especially small communities like Spillville, a great, attractive place to live, work and raise a family,” he said. “It’s a complicated issue, but I think we’ll see cooperation between the Senate, the House and the governor’s office. We’ll sit around the table and have a conversation, and we should be able to exit those conversations with a strategy and a plan that makes sense for all Iowans.”

Iowa Association of Business and Industry

Before each legislative session, ABI has five committees that generate member feedback about business pain points and opportunities. Some of those issues have changed over time and some have remained the same. While before the pandemic businesses focused on the workforce shortage, now manufacturers are talking the most about workforce participation and upskilling. 

“When we’re talking to our members, workforce readiness is something that is always at the top of barriers to employment,” said JD Davis, ABI’s vice president of public policy. “Another big thing is child care and housing, for things that keep people out of the workforce. You’ve heard us and others talk about workforce participation rate; it’s really strong in Iowa compared with our neighbors, but it’s lower than it used to be in Iowa. So there’s something that’s keeping people out of the workforce. We continue to work on that, and that’s been since the pandemic. We’ve regained about half of what we lost then, but we’re working on the barriers there. 

Workforce training was one of the issues addressed in the Iowa DOGE report and it remains to be seen what action Gov. Kim Reynolds will take on the recommendations. 

“We’ve seen work going on with the DOGE taskforce that touched on worker training and we’ll be watching all of that, seeing how that was to be delivered to the governor and to the Legislature. We’ll see what gets picked up, and we’ll certainly want to influence it so that they have the input of our members that are talking about it,” Davis said. 

During ABI’s RV tour in October of Iowa manufacturers, ABI President Nicole Crain frequently heard business owners talk about upskilling as they take on more equipment with automation and other Manufacturing 4.0 features.  

“For our manufacturing members, there’s a big focus on work-based learning, and the state has done a great job of encouraging that, and we’ve seen some increases, but our manufacturing members are still trying to figure out how to get high school students interested in working for them,” Crain said. 

She said it’s been encouraging to see state agencies partner on finding solutions to the workforce issues affecting Iowa businesses. 

“Our population is not increasing that quickly, and that is something that we continue to watch, and that’s something that comes out in the [quarterly] survey, as well,” Crain said. “How can we continue to maximize the productivity of our current number of employees? The automation, the Manufacturing 4.0, that’s going to continue to be a solution for our members and their workforce issues.”

Property taxes are another top priority for ABI, as manufacturers pay a large share of the state’s property taxes, the group said.  

“The first goal will be finding out how to get the House, Senate and governor toward the same page,” Davis said. “They know where they want to end up and they all want to end up in the same place, but I think they’re going to start in slightly different places.”

Three different plans for property taxes emerged during the session last year, but none advanced. Davis said it’s important to ABI members that lawmakers don’t shift the burden to other tax classifications. 

“What we’d asked was, ‘As you go through working on property taxes, respect the different classifications of property: commercial, industrial, utility and residential. Don’t simply make a change.’ To make a reduction in one class, that can show up as an increase for another class. You have to do meaningful reform,” Davis said. 

Transparency will be important as lawmakers put together property tax changes, he said. 

“Before you even get to reduction, there’s some transparency things you can do so the taxpayer understands why they’re being taxed, and what it’s going to. There’s a disconnect there today,” he said. “Commercial, industrial and all the other non-residential classes actually pay the bulk of property taxes, so you have to be careful there.”

Davis said that unless a lawmaker served in local government to learn firsthand how Iowa property taxes really work, there is a lot for them to learn before they are knowledgeable to make reforms. 

“Reform can be added with simplicity and transparency,” he said. “No one should have to be an expert to the degree you need to be to understand whether or not your changes in your proposals are [beneficial or not]. Because it is one of the most [complex property tax systems] and because it’s developed over time, and as problems have arisen, fixes have been put on top of the current system. That’s the whole rollback system; that was 1986. You had certain classes of property beginning to bear incredible amounts of the local load, and so you had to have a rollback to keep them floating together. That was a fix, that wasn’t a feature of the property tax system when it was put in place.”

Davis said health care has also been a growing concern for many employers as prices continue to increase. 

“Not only are employers looking at the numbers hard, but employees are having their share presented to them at this time of the year, so it heightens everything. We’re pleased that the federal government is looking at ways to address this.”

Last session, ABI and other plaintiffs filed a lawsuit in federal court to halt enforcement of the pharmacy benefits manager law, which was designed to regulate and cut costs associated with pharmacy benefit managers. The law remains suspended while the lawsuit is pending litigation. 

ABI leaders will be watching for regulatory changes that may affect its members and are hoping for a quiet year overall. 

“I don’t think you’ll see any big asks, necessarily, from a legislative standpoint this year. I think we want good government,” Crain said. “We want to be part of the property tax reform, and make sure that the solutions that come forward on workforce make a difference to employers when they’re training. Boiling it down, it’s regulatory reform. If they’re looking at passing new regulations, making sure that they understand what that looks like.”

Iowa Business Council

The Iowa Business Council’s top priorities are competitive tax policy, workforce initiatives and federal policy initiatives. Like most business advocates in the state, IBC wants Iowa’s tax policies to be more competitive. Becoming more competitive in property taxes will enable businesses to invest more dollars into their companies and enhance housing affordability for Iowa’s residents, IBC said. 

“The IBC looks forward to working with the Iowa General Assembly, Governor Reynolds, and our congressional delegation on policy solutions that strengthen Iowa’s economic opportunity and set the stage for future long-term growth,” Joe Murphy, IBC’s president, said in a news release.

When it comes to workforce, Iowa needs a pipeline of talented workers to achieve long-term economic prosperity. IBC plans to advocate for work-based learning programs, child care and housing in the upcoming session. 

On the federal level, IBC supports immigration reform to improve economic development and population growth. The group is advocating for increasing visa caps, expediting processing and finding ways to retain foreign-born, skilled workers who came to Iowa for college and other educational opportunities. IBC’s team plans to continue to work with federal policymakers on trade policy, regulatory and permitting reform, and a multi-year Farm Bill.

“Our 2026 public policy priorities focus on strengthening the Iowa workforce and creating a competitive business climate that supports growth in every corner of the state. We’re committed to working with policymakers to advance practical solutions that make Iowa a destination for talent, innovation, and investment,” Gage Kent, chair of the IBC and chairman and CEO of Kent Worldwide, said in the release.

United Way of Central Iowa

Of top concern to the United Way of Central Iowa is protecting safety-net programs such as Medicaid, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, affordable housing and public transportation to reduce barriers to stability. Another priority is early childhood success and supporting the child care workforce through increased reimbursement rates, state income tax exemptions and other means. 

“Quality, affordable child care is foundational to family stability and a thriving workforce,” Dave Stone, United Way of Central Iowa’s advocacy officer, said in a news release. “By advancing these policies, we support both Iowa families and the child care providers who care for them.”

Improving access to education and quality jobs is another pillar of the organization’s legislative agenda. United Way would like to see more credit-for-learning and work-based learning programs available to Iowans, as well as improvements in equitable access to jobs through grants, adult education and broadband upgrades. The nonprofit advocates for the health and well-being of Iowans with a focus on children’s mental health, oral health and addressing adverse experiences. 

“From housing to child care to food security, our advocacy agenda reflects a holistic approach to addressing systemic challenges,” said Mary Sellers, president of United Way of Central Iowa. “By collaborating with policymakers, partners and community leaders, we are creating a stronger, more equitable Iowa where everyone has the opportunity to thrive.”