HF 2280 expands Iowa's $250 individual income tax credit for emergency medical services personnel to include non-certified first responders who meet specific qualifications. The bill requires the Department of Revenue to establish rules defining these qualifications under Chapter 17A. It also applies the credit retroactively to tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2026, covering past tax filings. This change directly affects emergency medical personnel who currently lack certification but perform first responder duties.
HF 2007 creates a program providing state grants to small rural police departments (serving ≤10,000 people) and volunteer fire departments to cover costs for emergency medical technician (EMT) training for their personnel. Departments must demonstrate a need for EMT services in their area and commit to deploying trained staff, with grants covering tuition, equipment, and certification fees. The state appropriates up to $100,000 annually (2026-2030) from the general fund to fund these grants, administered by the Department of Health and Human Services. Grantees must submit annual reports on personnel trained and program impact, with a final evaluation due to the legislature by December 2029. The program expires on July 1, 2030.
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State Budget
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Emergency Management
Public Safety
This bill expands Iowa's ability to recover benefits improperly received from the Homeland Security and Emergency Management (HSEM) department. It creates a lien on a person's property for benefits obtained through false, misleading, or inaccurate information (excluding cases of department error), allowing the state to collect the debt plus interest. The Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing (DIAL) will now collect these debts, using methods like wage garnishment or tax refund seizures after fraud is confirmed. County recorders must maintain an index of these liens for HSEM programs, aligning collection procedures with existing health services debt recovery.
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Emergency Management
This bill establishes dedicated funding mechanisms for Iowa's disaster response programs. It creates a separate "natural hazard mitigation revolving loan fund" managed by the Department of Homeland Security, which cannot be used for general state purposes. The bill allows the state to issue special bonds to finance disaster recovery housing programs and adjuster/appraiser licensing, with repayment secured by project income rather than state general funds. These provisions directly affect Iowans seeking disaster housing assistance, insurance professionals, and the state's budget management of emergency funds.
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Emergency Management
This bill (SF 596) changes how Iowa counties fund local emergency management agencies. It requires these agencies to be fully funded through a per capita allocation from city general funds or the rural county services levy, rather than other options like countywide special levies. The bill also sets a new February 1 deadline for counties to adopt and certify emergency management budgets, limits future levy amounts for 2025-2026 to the previous year's level, and redirects funds previously allowed for emergency management to support joint 911 service boards instead. These changes directly affect county emergency management commissions and agencies, as well as local governments managing these budgets.
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Emergency Management
This bill clarifies how local emergency management agencies in Iowa budget for funding. It requires the local emergency management commission (now defined as a municipality) to formally adopt and certify an annual budget by February 28 each year, submit it to funding entities, and clearly identify emergency management tax costs on county tax statements. The changes apply to property tax budgets for fiscal years beginning July 1, 2026. The bill streamlines budget certification and tax transparency but does not alter funding sources or amounts.
SF 64 allows Iowa school districts impacted by federally or state-declared natural disasters to receive an additional budget adjustment. If a disaster occurred in the base year or the year before, the district qualifies for an extra adjustment equal to the amount they received in their base year. This extends an existing budget adjustment policy (which normally covers a 1% cost difference) to include disaster recovery needs. The bill directly affects school districts in Iowa that meet the disaster declaration criteria, providing them with an additional year of funding to cover unexpected costs.
This bill changes how local emergency management agencies in Iowa fund their operations. It requires their budgets to be fully covered by specific local funding sources (like property taxes) and mandates that the local commission (defined as a municipality) certifies these budgets annually by February 28. The bill prohibits any other entity from amending these certified budgets after approval. These rules apply to property tax budgets for fiscal years starting July 1, 2026, directly affecting local emergency management agencies and their governing commissions.
