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SF 2186 Iowa Senate · 2025-2026 Regular Session

A bill for an act relating to child custody and visitation for parents subject to deployments.

This Iowa bill helps military parents who are deployed for short-term assignments (under 30 days) maintain court-ordered time with their children. It allows a deploying parent to make up missed parenting time within 30 days before or after deployment, but not exceeding the total days missed (max 30 days). The bill requires the deploying parent to notify the other parent in writing within seven days of deployment notice and provide a plan for the makeup time. If court orders protect the other parent's contact information, notifications go to the court for confidential forwarding.
Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Feb 2026
Committee Review
Mar 2026
Senate Passage
Feb 2026
House Passage
Governor
Introduced Feb 4, 2026 Last action Mar 26, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduced → Reprinted · 4 edits
MODERATE
This bill was reprinted and amended to update references to the Iowa Code, adding the space force to the list of military branches and incorporating amendments to an existing code section. The substantive policy regarding child custody during short-term military deployments remains largely the same, though the bill now references updated code sections and includes a new amendment to section 598C.102.
Scope change
The bill's scope remains focused on child custody and visitation rights for parents on short-term military deployments, but it now includes an amendment to an existing code section that expands the definition of uniformed service members to include the space force.
DEFINITION

Added 'space force' to the list of military branches included in the definition of 'uniformed service member' in section 598C.102.

TECHNICAL

Updated code section references from 598D.1 to 598C.102 and changed the bill title from 'short-term deployments' to 'deployments' in the explanatory text.

Added a new amendment to section 598C.102, subsection 19, paragraph a that expands the definition of uniformed service members to include the space force.

Changed the bill's explanatory text to remove 'short-term' from the description of deployments, simplifying the language while maintaining the same policy intent.

Floor votes · Senate Feb 23, 2026

How they voted

46–0
Passed · 3 other
Total votes 49
Feb 23, 2026
D Democratic15
15 Yea
100% Yea
R Republican34
31 Yea 3
91% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
15
Key actions
7
Committee
6
Amendments
2
Mar 19, 2026
Introduced
Committee amendment H-8235 filed.
lower
Mar 18, 2026
Lower · Passed
Committee vote: Yeas, 14. Nays, 0. Excused, 3.
lower
Mar 18, 2026
Lower · Passed
Committee report, recommending amendment and passage.
lower
Mar 9, 2026
Legislature · Passed
Subcommittee recommends passage.
legislature
Mar 5, 2026
Legislature · Passed
Subcommittee Meeting: 03/09/2026 12:30PM House Lounge.
legislature
Mar 3, 2026
Lower · Passed
Subcommittee: Hayes, Blom and Ramirez.
lower
Feb 23, 2026
Upper · Passed
Passed Senate, yeas 47, nays 0.
upper
Feb 23, 2026
Introduced
Amendment S-5020 filed, adopted.
upper
Feb 4, 2026
Upper · Passed
Committee report, approving bill.
upper
Feb 4, 2026
Introduced
Introduced, placed on calendar.
upper
0 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

No sponsor information available.