SF 2453 Iowa Senate · 2025-2026 Regular Session

A bill for an act providing for investment by regents institutions in certified innovation funds and including effective date provisions.

This bill requires Iowa's three regents universities (University of Iowa, Iowa State University, and University of Northern Iowa) to invest at least 1% of their total endowment assets into state-certified innovation funds by July 1, 2027. The investment must be calculated using the average quarterly market value of endowment assets from the previous fiscal year, with institutions retaining discretion over which funds to support and how to structure investments. Annual reporting on investment amounts, fund names, and economic impact is required, while the state board of regents may grant one-year waivers for capacity or market reasons. Noncompliance could result in corrective action or withholding up to 0.5% of annual appropriations, all while maintaining fiduciary standards for endowment management.

Issues: ✓ Education

Bill status vetoed 4 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2026

Committee Review

Mar 2026

Senate Passage

May 2026

House Passage

Mar 2026

Vetoed

Jun 2026

Introduced Feb 23, 2026 Vetoed Jun 2, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 4 comparisons

What changed between versions

Reprinted Marked Up → Reprinted · 4 edits

MODERATE

The bill text was reformatted from a Governor's veto message to the official legislative text, removing the Governor's disapproval letter and adding standard formatting headers. The substantive policy content regarding the 1% investment requirement for university endowments remains unchanged, though the text was slightly cleaned up to remove formatting errors and clarify definitions.

Scope change

The scope of the document changed from a veto message explaining why the bill was rejected to the official enacted text of the bill itself.

TECHNICAL

Removed the Governor's veto message and letterhead, which previously stated disapproval of the bill due to concerns about fiduciary responsibilities.

Added standard legislative headers, committee information, and page numbering to format the document as official state law.

DEFINITION

Clarified the definition of 'Endowment assets' to explicitly exclude assets not treated as endowments under accounting standards and removed redundant phrasing.

REQUIREMENT

Corrected a phrasing error in the investment requirements section to ensure clarity on how the one percent allocation is calculated and applied.

Introduced → Enrolled · 6 edits · May 11, 2026

MODERATE

The bill was finalized and enrolled, transitioning from a draft introduction to an official state law. The most significant substantive change is the effective date, which was moved from immediate enactment to December 31, 2026, giving institutions time to prepare. Additionally, the language regarding who must invest was refined to specify that 'foundations affiliated with institutions' are responsible for the investments, and new requirements were added for waiver requests to include written explanations and compliance plans.

Scope change

The scope of applicability was clarified by specifying that 'foundations affiliated with institutions' are the entities responsible for making investments and managing waivers, rather than the institutions themselves directly.

TIMELINE

The effective date was changed from immediate enactment to December 31, 2026, delaying the requirement for institutions to begin investing by nearly two years.

ELIGIBILITY

The text was updated to specify that 'foundations affiliated with institutions' are responsible for ensuring investment allocations and managing waivers, clarifying the specific legal entity accountable for compliance.

REQUIREMENT

New requirements were added for waiver requests, mandating that foundations submit a written explanation and a compliance plan to the state board of regents before receiving a waiver.

A new rule was added stating that if a foundation receives two consecutive waivers, it must notify the state board, which must then report this to the general assembly.

The requirement for institutions to invest was modified to include a clause ensuring that if the percentage falls below the required one percent after the deadline, the foundation must increase investments to meet the requirement.

DEFINITION

The definition of 'Endowment assets' was expanded to explicitly include 'unrestricted pooled, long-term investment assets' and clarify what is excluded under accounting standards.

Floor votes · Senate Mar 10, 2026

How they voted

44–0

Passed · 5 other

Total votes 49

Mar 10, 2026

D Democratic15

14 Yea 1

93% Yea

R Republican34

30 Yea 4

88% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

Jun 2, 2026

Vetoed

Vetoed by Governor.

upper

May 3, 2026

Upper · Passed

Passed Senate, yeas 39, nays 5.

upper

May 3, 2026

Upper · Passed

Senate concurred with S-5149.

upper

Mar 31, 2026

Introduced

Message from House, with amendment S-5149.

upper

Mar 31, 2026

Lower · Passed

Passed House, yeas 55, nays 37.

lower

Mar 31, 2026

Lower · Passed

Amendment H-8232 adopted, as amended.

lower

Mar 31, 2026

Lower · Passed

Amendment H-8270 to amendment H-8232 adopted.

lower

Mar 30, 2026

Introduced

Amendment H-8270 filed.

lower

Mar 18, 2026

Introduced

Amendment H-8232 filed.

lower

Mar 18, 2026

Lower · Passed

Committee vote: Yeas, 7. Nays, 4.

lower

Mar 18, 2026

Lower · Passed

Committee report, recommending passage.

lower

Mar 10, 2026

Upper · Passed

Passed Senate, yeas 45, nays 0.

upper

Mar 10, 2026

Introduced

Amendment S-5091 filed, adopted.

upper

Mar 9, 2026

Introduced

Amendment S-5082 filed.

upper

Feb 23, 2026

Upper · Passed

Committee report, approving bill.

upper

Feb 23, 2026

Introduced

Introduced, placed on calendar.

upper

0 primary · 0 co-sponsors

What changed between versions

How they voted

Actions timeline

Sponsors