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Last Tuesday Iowa welcomed President Trump to the Horizon Events Center. During the event, President Trump highlighted federal efforts to advance legislation authorizing year-round, nationwide sales of the E15 ethanol blend. Furthermore, Trump’s visit to The Machine Shed in Urbandale gave a platform to small business owners who emphasized the economic importance of eliminating taxes on tips.
One of the things President Trump focused on was affordability, which has also been a big issue for Iowa Senate Republicans. We have passed several bills throughout the years to help make living in Iowa more affordable for families and make our state the best to live in. This includes a series of major tax cuts, including eliminating the inheritance tax, eliminating taxes on retirement income and implementing a 3.8% flat income tax. We’ve also passed a series of property tax relief bills to help address the rising cost of government at the local level.
Property tax relief is again a focus this year, with proposals coming from the Senate, Governor, and House. Senate Study Bill 3001 prioritizes Iowa taxpayers and aims to make homeownership in Iowa more affordable and achievable, so every Iowan has the opportunity to build their wealth and build their lives in our state. Republicans, both across this state and nationwide, are working hard to address affordability this year.
Visitors to the rotunda
The Capitol rotunda saw a lot of activity this week. Wednesday featured the Iowa Automatic Merchandising Association Day on the Hill, followed by the Iowa Firefighters Association’s annual chili cook-off on Thursday, as well as Nurse Practitioner students from Des Moines University.
Senate eminent domain legislation moves forward
This week the Senate’s proposal on creating a voluntary easement corridor and protecting the private property rights of every Iowan moved forward in the Iowa Senate. Under consideration was House File 2104, a bill from the Iowa House that would function as a ban on the use of eminent domain for carbon oxide pipelines in Iowa. This bill was amended in committee.
The bill, as amended in the Senate Commerce Committee, creates a voluntary easement corridor to allow a hazardous liquid pipeline company to find alternative routes with landowners who want to work with them. It also requires the company to diligently exhaust those alternatives in efforts to all but eliminate the use of eminent domain. It would add additional regulations for hazardous liquid pipeline companies when talking to landowners, provide more transparency measures, and ensure proper communication with landowners who may be interested in participating. It also provides options for landowners who are uninterested in participating to opt out of further communication with that company.
The proposal allows a company, any time after the mandatory county informational meeting, to contact a landowner within a voluntary easement corridor for the purpose of proposing voluntary purchase of easements. The voluntary corridor is the county where the meeting was held or five miles on either side of the notice corridor. A company must provide a landowner all the information presented at the informational meeting and provide landowners with a right to opt out of any further contact from the company except for mail. The proposal also adds additional transparency for landowners by requiring the company to inform a landowner about the easement it seeks, to request permission to conduct a civil survey, and requires a company to present, at a county informational meeting, a template easement and an easement valuation methodology. Additionally, the proposal allows a pipeline company to hold a separate general informational meeting, without proposing specific easement terms, to facilitate healthy communication between the company and any interested landowner.
What the amendment fails to do is eliminate the use of eminent domain for economic development projects, such as the proposed carbon capture pipeline. The U. S. Constitution and the Iowa Constitution both clearly state that private property can only be taken, by the government, for public use. Eminent domain cannot be used to take property from one private party solely for the benefit of another.
Item 6 in the Property section of the 2024 Iowa State Republican Party Platform states: “We oppose government using eminent domain to take private property away from the owner for the use of another private party, or for-profit entity.”
The Republican Party of Iowa State Central Committee passed a resolution on May 21, 2025 urging our elected officials to be mindful of the Constitutional requirements for eminent domain and the property provision of the Platform as they carry out their legislative duties.
Email: lynn.evans@legis.iowa.gov
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