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2019 Iowa legislative session

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Iowa General Assembly

Seal of Iowa.jpg
General information
Type:   State legislature
Term limits:   None
Session start:   January 14, 2019
Session end:   April 27, 2019
Website:   Official Legislature Page
Leadership
Senate President:   Charles Schneider (R)
House Speaker:  Linda Upmeyer (R)
Majority Leader:   Senate: Jack Whitver (R)
House: Chris Hagenow (R)
Minority Leader:   Senate: Janet Petersen (D)
House: Todd Prichard (D)
Structure
Members:  50 (Senate), 100 (House)
Length of term:   4 years (Senate), 2 years (House)
Authority:   Legislative Department, Iowa Constitution, Sec 3
Salary:   $25,000/year + per diem
Elections
Last election:  November 6, 2018
Senate
House
Next election:  November 3, 2020
Senate
House
Redistricting:  Iowa Board of Apportionment

Iowa convened its legislative session on January 14, 2019, and legislators remained in session until April 27, 2019. Neither party had a veto-proof supermajority this legislative session. Following the 2018 election, Republicans had a 32-18 majority in the Senate and a 54-46 majority in the House. The party also controlled the governorship, creating a Republican state government trifecta.

At the beginning of the 2019 legislative session:
  • Neither party held a veto-proof supermajority in the legislature.
  • Iowa was one of 22 Republican state government trifectas.
  • Iowa's governor was Republican Kim Reynolds.

    • Black.png Click the links to read more about the 2020 state Senate and state House elections.
    Black.png Click the links to read more about the 2018 state Senate and state House elections.

    Partisan control in 2019

    See also: State government trifectas

    Iowa was one of 22 Republican state government trifectas at the start of 2019 legislative sessions. A state government trifecta occurs when one political party holds the governor's office, a majority in the state Senate, and a majority in the state House. For more information about state government trifectas, click here.

    Iowa was also one of 28 state legislatures where neither party had a veto-proof supermajority in both chambers. Veto overrides occur when a legislature votes to reverse a veto issued by an executive such as a governor or the president. If one party has a majority in a state legislature that is large enough to override a gubernatorial veto without any votes from members of the minority party, it is called a veto-proof majority or, sometimes, a supermajority. To read more about veto-proof supermajorities in state legislatures, click here.

    The following tables show the partisan breakdown of the Iowa General Assembly in the 2019 legislative session.

    Iowa State Senate

    Party As of January 2019
         Democratic Party 18
         Republican Party 32
    Total 50

    From 1992 to 2018, the Iowa State Senate was competitive between the two parties. During the 26-year period, partisan control changed three times and the chamber was split evenly between the parties once. By 2018, the Republican Party had taken control with a 31-18 majority. The table below shows the partisan history of the Iowa State Senate following every general election from 1992 to 2018. All data from 2006 or earlier comes from Michael Dubin's Party Affiliations in the State Legislatures (McFarland Press, 2007). Data after 2006 was compiled by Ballotpedia staff.

    Iowa State Senate election results: 1992-2018

    Year '92 '94 '96 '98 '00 '02 '04 '06 '08 '10 '12 '14 '16 '18
    Democrats 26 27 21 20 20 21 25* 30 32 27 26 26 20 18
    Republicans 24 23 29 30 30 29 25* 20 18 23 23 24 29 31
    *The parties entered into a power-sharing agreement to accommodate the evenly-divided chamber.

    The Iowa State Senate was somewhat competitive from 1900 to 2018, switching partisan control 10 times during that period. Of the 10 times partisan control changed, eight occurred between 1964 and 2018. Three of the changes in partisan control occurred from 1992 to 2018. In 1992, Democrats took a slim 26-24 majority in the chamber. They had been in control since 1982. Their majority increased during the 1994 election to 27-23, but then Republicans won control of the chamber in 1996. The Republican majority persisted until the 2004 elections, with the GOP usually having either 29 or 30 members. They lost their majority in 2004 when Democrats gained four seats and the chamber split 25-25. To accommodate the tied chamber, the two parties entered into a power-sharing agreement.[1]

    Democrats gained an outright majority in the 2006 elections and then bolstered their numbers to 32 seats in 2008. The Democratic majority persisted in the next three election cycles, despite national Republican gains in 2010 and 2014. Although they stayed in the majority, Democrats lost five seats in 2010 and one seat in 2012. They held onto their 26-24 majority in the 2014 elections, but they lost it in 2016 as Republicans retook the chamber for the first time since 2002 with a 29-20 advantage and one independent member. The chamber's Republican gains from 2010 to 2016 were in line with a national trend toward Republican state legislatures during the presidency of Barack Obama (D). From 2009 to 2017, Democrats experienced losses in state legislative elections, totaling 968 seats altogether.

    Iowa House of Representatives

    Party As of January 2019
         Democratic Party 46
         Republican Party 54
    Total 100

    From 1992 to 2018, the Iowa House of Representatives was mostly in Republican hands, although it did switch to Democratic control during the 2006 and 2008 elections. Starting in 2010, Republicans regained their advantage and held it through the 2018 elections. The table below shows the partisan history of the Iowa House of Representatives following every general election from 1992 to 2018. All data from 2006 or earlier comes from Michael Dubin's Party Affiliations in the State Legislatures (McFarland Press, 2007). Data after 2006 was compiled by Ballotpedia staff.

    Iowa House of Representatives election results: 1992-2018

    Year '92 '94 '96 '98 '00 '02 '04 '06 '08 '10 '12 '14 '16 '18
    Democrats 49 36 46 44 44 46 49 54 56 42 47 43 41 46
    Republicans 51 64 54 56 56 54 51 46 44 58 53 57 59 54

    The Iowa House of Representatives was somewhat competitive from 1900 to 2018, switching partisan control 10 times during that period. Of the 10 times partisan control changed, eight occurred between 1964 and 2010. Three of the changes in partisan control occurred from 1992 to 2010. In 1992, Republicans took a slim 51-49 majority in the chamber, winning control for the first time since 1980. Their majority was bolstered by the 1994 election, rising to 64-36. After that election, Republicans stayed in control until 2006. However, their majority fell in some elections as they lost 10 seats in 1996, two seats in 2002, and three seats in 2004.

    Democrats gained a 54-46 majority in 2006 and then added two members for a 56-44 advantage after the 2008 elections. Republicans retook the chamber in 2010. They gained 14 seats and held a 58-42 majority. After the 2018 elections, they held a 54-46 majority. The chamber's Republican gains from 2010 to 2016 were in line with a national trend toward Republican state legislatures during the presidency of Barack Obama (D). From 2009 to 2017, Democrats experienced losses in state legislative elections, totaling 968 seats altogether.

    Leadership in 2019

    Iowa State Senate

    Iowa House of Representatives

    Regular session

    The following widget shows up to 25 pieces of legislation in the 2019 legislative session that most recently passed both chambers of the legislature, were signed by the governor, or were approved by the legislature in a veto override. If no bills are displayed below, no legislation met these criteria yet in 2019. This information is provided by BillTrack50.

    Standing legislative committees

    See also: Standing committee and List of committees in Iowa state government


    A standing committee of a state legislature is a committee that exists on a more-or-less permanent basis, from legislative session to session, that considers and refines legislative bills that fall under the committee's subject matter.

    At the beginning of the 2019 legislative session, there were 37 standing committees in Iowa's state government, including one joint legislative committee, 17 state Senate committees, and 19 state House committees.

    Joint legislative committees

    Senate committees


    House committees


    Legislatively referred constitutional amendments

    In every state but Delaware, voter approval is required to enact a constitutional amendment. In each state, the legislature has a process for referring constitutional amendments before voters. In 18 states, initiated constitutional amendments can be put on the ballot through a signature petition drive. There are also many other types of statewide measures.

    The methods by which the Iowa Constitution can be amended:

    See also: Article X of the Iowa Constitution and Laws governing ballot measures in Iowa

    The Iowa Constitution provides two mechanisms for amending the state's constitution— a legislative process and a state constitutional convention. Iowa requires a simple majority vote (50% plus 1) for voters to approve constitutional amendments.

    Legislature

    See also: Legislatively referred constitutional amendment

    A simple majority vote is required during two successive legislative sessions with an election for state legislators in between for the Iowa State Legislature to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot. That amounts to a minimum of 51 votes in the Iowa House of Representatives and 26 votes in the Iowa State Senate, assuming no vacancies. Amendments do not require the governor's signature to be referred to the ballot.

    Convention

    See also: Convention-referred constitutional amendment

    According to Section 3 of Article X of the Iowa Constitution, a question about whether to hold a state constitutional convention is to automatically appear on the state's ballot every 10 years starting in 1970. Iowa is one of 14 states that provides for an automatic constitutional convention question.

    The table below shows the last and next constitutional convention question election years:

    State Interval Last question on the ballot Next question on the ballot
    Iowa 10 years 2020 2030



    Historical context:

    • Between 1996 and 2018, an average of less than one measure appeared annually on the ballot in Iowa.
    • Between 1996 and 2018, there were only six years (1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2008, and 2010) in which there was at least one measure on Iowa's statewide ballot.
    • The number of measures on a statewide ballot from 1996 through 2018 ranged from zero to two.
    • Between 1996 and 2018, five of nine, or 56 percent, of Iowa ballot measures were approved by voters.
    • Conversely, four of nine, or 44 percent, of measures were defeated.


    Historical partisan control

    The table below depicts the historical trifecta status of Iowa.

    Iowa Party Control: 1992-2025
    Four years of Democratic trifectas  •  Eleven years of Republican trifectas
    Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

    Year 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
    Governor R R R R R R R D D D D D D D D D D D D R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R
    Senate D D D D D R R R R R R R R S S D D D D D D D D D D R R R R R R R R R
    House D R R R R R R R R R R R R R R D D D D R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R

    See also

    Elections Iowa State Government State Legislatures State Politics
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    Iowa State Flag-Close Up.jpg
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    State Courts-Tile image.png

    External links

    Footnotes

    1. ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "In Case of a Tie......," accessed October 23, 2017
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