The second legislative funnel at the Iowa statehouse came and went on April 4. That process winnowed down bills that are eligible for consideration so lawmakers can focus on legislation that has traction in both chambers in addition to spending bills.

Of course, property tax reform will likely dominate conversations and headlines in the coming weeks. I’m sure none of us are ever excited to see our property tax bill increase when we open the mail. But we sure are thankful for our public schools, firefighters and police officers, libraries, maintenance of our roads and other services funded through property taxes.

Given what’s come out of our state legislature in recent years, I don’t trust our current crop of lawmakers to get property tax reform done in a way so our communities can thrive. Cities across the state are already facing budget cuts and tightening their belts from property tax reform the legislature passed in 2023. What makes us think they’ll get it right this time?

Let’s just look at a few bills that survived the funnel and are still eligible for consideration to give us guidance. One bill that I was initially excited for would add $1 million to the Double Up Food Bucks program, allowing SNAP users to double their purchasing power for produce. But then I learned that House File 970 would only allow that to happen if the state is granted a waiver from the federal government to severely restrict what can be purchased by all SNAP users. I bet our rural grocery and convenience stores would have a thing or two to say about that.

What about the CO2 pipeline? South Dakota passed legislation banning the use of eminent domain sought by Bruce Rastetter’s pipeline. Here in Iowa, the House passed several bills to address this issue. Many of them failed to pass out of Senator Mike Bousselot’s Commerce Committee. But Sen. Bousselot (who used to work for Bruce Rastetter’s company) did take up House File 639 – and amended it heavily. Among other things, it would force the Iowa Utilities Commission to make a final decision within one year of receiving an application. It allows Summit to seek easements outside the notification corridor. Besides that, the amendment expands the bill to impact all kinds of utilities and projects, not just CO2 pipelines. This last point likely makes it a poison pill that won’t pass the full Senate.

On the bright side, Bayer’s Cancer Gag Act that CCI Action members and so many others fought against failed to survive the legislative funnel. It narrowly passed the Senate and failed to move in the House before the deadline. And yet I heard at a recent legislative forum that some folks believe they’ll try and sneak it into another bill in the House before the session ends.

This session could’ve just ended the moment they gaveled in on January 13. We might be the better off for it at this point. My Senator, Amy Sinclair, recently said everything the Senate is doing has the goal of making Iowa a destination state. That doesn’t make a lick of sense to me. Maybe she meant a destination where corporations can flourish — by polluting our water, taking our land, and quite possibly giving us cancer.

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Barb Kalbach is a 4th generation family farmer, retired registered nurse, and board member of Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement. Barb can be reached at

barbnealkalbach@gmail.com.