State: IA

Contact: Kent Keene, Senior Coordinator, Lower Midwestern States and Agriculture Policy On February 23, Iowa’s Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Environment introduced Senate Study Bill 1218 (SSB 1218). This bill follows the January introduction of House Joint Resolution 8 (HJR 8) by Iowa Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus Member Representative Dean Fisher. Running dual tracks in each…

Contact: Kent Keene, Lower Midwestern States Coordinator Following the passage of House File 2455 (HF 2455) at the end of the 2020 legislative session, Iowa State Representative Steven Holt introduced House File 23 (HF 23), which would amend the laws surrounding the use of leashed dogs to assist in the recovery of wounded deer. The…

Contacts: Nick Buggia, Upper Midwestern States Manager, and Kent Keene, Lower Midwestern States Coordinator Upland bird hunters in parts of the Midwest are looking forward to what is predicted to be a great pheasant hunting season in 2020. Recent population survey data released in Iowa, Minnesota, and North Dakota suggest that pheasant populations are on…

Contact: Kent Keene, Lower Midwestern States Coordinator Though the Iowa State Legislature was suspended for eleven weeks in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, legislators wasted little time upon their return to the state capital on June 3. During their first week back in session, several pieces of sportsman-related legislation were passed by the Iowa Senate…

Contacts: Nick Buggia, Upper Midwestern States Manager; Kent Keene, Lower Midwestern States Coordinator Since many Midwestern states have either wrapped up their 2020 legislative sessions or remain suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic, members of the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation’s States Program Team will be providing brief regional legislative updates over the next few weeks. Below…

Contact: Kent Keene, Lower Midwestern States Coordinator On April 28, the Iowa Natural Resource Commission held a meeting to discuss proposed changes to the Iowa Administrative Code. Among the proposed amendments were updates to the state’s furbearer harvest opportunities, including an increase to the annual river otter bag limit and the addition of two counties…

Contact: Kent Keene, Lower Midwestern States Coordinator On March 9, the Iowa Senate Committee on Judiciary passed House File 2502 (HF 2502), making it eligible for further consideration in the full Senate. Originally introduced on February 24, HF 2502 includes provisions related to Iowa’s state firearm preemption and protections for shooting ranges.  Shooting ranges serve a wide variety…

Contact: Kent Keene, Lower Midwestern States Coordinator On March 5, the Iowa House of Representatives voted to pass Senate File 280 (SF 280). This bill would expand resident status for hunting and fishing licenses to include active duty members of the armed forces and their spouses stationed at a military installation contiguous to an Iowa county and…

Contact: Kent Keene, Lower Midwestern States Coordinator On March 10, the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation’s (CSF) Lower Midwestern States Coordinator, Kent Keene, submitted a letter to members of the Iowa Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus in support of Iowa House File 2240 (HF 2240). Introduced by Iowa Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus Co-Chair Representative Terry Baxter, HF 2240 would specifically…

Contact: Kent Keene, Lower Midwestern States Coordinator On February 5, the Iowa Senate Ways and Means Committee, in association with Governors Sportsmen’s Caucus Member Governor Kim Reynolds, introduced Senate Study Bill (SSB) 3116, commonly referred to as the “Invest in Iowa” Act. Though the entire bill is part of Gov. Reynolds’ vision for tax reform…

By Joel Hodgdon, Central Midwestern States Coordinator On April 16, Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) Central Midwestern States Coordinator Joel Hodgdon joined the Iowa Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus and members of the state’s sportsmen’s community at the Butch Olofson Shooting Range. Newly renovated by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Iowa DNR staff guided both new…

On February 13, members of the Iowa Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus hosted a sportsmen’s breakfast in the Capitol. Representatives from the Iowa hunting and angling community, representatives from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, allied industry members, Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) Central Midwestern States Coordinator Joel Hodgdon, and Governors Sportsmen’s Caucus Member Governor Kim Reynolds were…