Iowa lawmakers moved to curtail the governor’s emergency powers ahead of a competitive open-seat race to elect a new executive.
House File 2694 limits the governor’s emergency powers, including those used to regulate churches, vaccine requirements and whether private businesses can stay open under a state disaster emergency declaration.
But the House torpedoed a controversial Senate-backed provision that would have allowed government funding to continue into the next fiscal year if a governor failed to sign a budget into law.
Rep. John Wills, R-Spirit Lake, said “we really don’t like that portion of the bill” before lawmakers rejected the amendment by voice vote.
As debate dragged into the weekend during the final push to end the 2026 legislative session, Rep. Beth Wessel-Kroeschell, D-Ames, said she appreciated that lawmakers were working through their differences to come up with the budget.
“It certainly is in code that this is the only thing we’re responsible for doing every year as a legislature,” she said of the budget. “And if we give that up, we’re giving up so much of what makes this state great about being able to address our issues.”
During debate overnight on Sunday, May 3, the Senate voted to “recede” from its continuing budget amendment and voted 31-14 to pass the bill with the House’s original language.
If Gov. Kim Reynolds signs the measure, as she is expected to, she will be limiting the powers of her successors in the office. Reynolds is not seeking reelection.
Republicans championed the measure to address concerns stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic when Reynolds temporarily ordered churches closed to curb the virus’ spread.
Democratic lawmakers called proposal a ‘power grab’
Democrats lambasted the bill as a “blatant power grab” by the GOP majority ahead of a competitive governor’s race.
Nonpartisan elections analysts with the Cook Political Report consider Iowa’s governor race a “toss-up,” its most competitive category.
Democratic state Auditor Rob Sand, who has a sizable fundraising lead, is the lone Democrat in the race. He will face the winner of a five-person Republican primary contest.
The Senate had advanced the House bill but tacked on its own proposal to allow state government funding to continue into a new fiscal year if lawmakers fail to strike a budget deal before the next fiscal year begins on July 1.
Sen. Ken Rozenboom, R-Pella, who chairs the Senate State Government Committee, said the continuing funding language would avert government shutdowns like the ones that have happened at the federal level over various policy disputes.
Senators passed the bill in a 30-15 vote on April 29, with Sen. Cherielynn Westrich, R-Ottumwa, opposing it.
The continuing funding language divided some Republicans. It would have thwarted lawmakers’ attempts to use the state budget as a bargaining chip to push for certain policies, as some Republican senators — including Westrich — did in 2025 to force a vote on eminent domain legislation.
The issue has been a major wedge between the Senate and House, which has championed legislation curbing eminent domain use for private property for years while the Senate has largely declined to take it up.
Senators advanced the bill with an amendment specifying that the continuing funding will only take effect if the budget the Legislature passed and presented to the governor has not been enacted.
Democrats had said the bill in its original form would incentivize lawmakers to shirk their chief responsibility of negotiating a budget and were pleased to see the amendment blocked.
Sen. Molly Donahue, D-Cedar Rapids, said the bill would tie the hands of Iowa’s new governor before voters have their say.
“This is a power grab,” Donahue said. “By curbing the power of the possible — possible — Democrat governor, you’re short-changing Iowa voters. Instead of preparing to work with whoever the people of Iowa choose next year, this proposal assumes the outcome and then moves to limit that office’s ability to govern effectively.”
Des Moines Register Capitol Bureau Chief Stephen Gruber-Miller contributed to this article.
Marissa Payne covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. Reach her by email at mjpayne@registermedia.com. Follow her on X at @marissajpayne.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa lawmakers limit governor’s power ahead of ‘toss-up’ 2026 election
Reporting by Marissa Payne, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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