A wave of new Iowa laws from the 2024 and 2025 legislative sessions is reshaping what residents pay in taxes, how they drive, what students can do in class, and which civil rights protections state law recognizes. Most measures take effect on July 1 to match the state’s fiscal year, but the dates are staggered: some are already live, some began on July 1, 2025, and several roll out through mid-2026.
Flat Income Tax at 3.8 Percent
Starting with the 2025 tax year, every Iowan pays the same income tax rate: a flat 3.8 percent on all taxable individual income.1Iowa Department of Revenue. IDR Announces 2025 Individual Income Tax Brackets and Interest Rates Senate File 2442, signed in the 2024 session, threw out the multi-year phase-in that would have gradually stepped the rate down to 3.9 percent by 2026 and moved to 3.8 percent a year early.2Iowa Legislature. Bill History for Senate File 2442 The tiered bracket system is gone. If you receive a W-2, the change already shows up as lower withholding on your paychecks.
Property Tax Growth Limits
SF 2442 also rewrote how local governments handle property tax levies, tying allowable levy growth to changes in taxable valuation and requiring updated budget statements sent to property owners every year.3Iowa Legislature. Property Taxes, Local Government Budgets, and Credits – Fiscal Note The point was to stop the pattern of rising assessments quietly inflating tax bills while the printed levy rate stayed the same.
The 2025 session went further. Senate File 2472 adds a hard 2 percent annual cap on growth in city and county property tax collections. Between the two laws, local governments can no longer ride climbing property values into significantly larger budgets without additional public justification.
Hands-Free Driving Takes Effect
Senate File 22, passed in 2025, bans handheld use of cellphones and other electronic devices behind the wheel.4Iowa Legislature. Bills Signed By Governor Voice-activated and hands-free modes are still allowed, so a mounted phone used through voice commands is fine.
Officers began issuing warnings on July 1, 2025. Actual citations start January 1, 2026. After that date, holding a phone while driving means a ticket.
Speed Camera Rules Rewritten
House File 2681 ended the practice of cities installing automated speed cameras wherever they wanted. Any local government that operates an automated traffic enforcement system must now hold a permit from the Iowa Department of Transportation. The DOT reviews each application against crash data and approves a camera location only if the system is “appropriate and necessary and the least restrictive means to address the critical traffic safety issues” at that spot.5Iowa Legislature. House File 2681 – Automated Traffic Systems Existing cameras that can’t clear that bar face removal.
Fines now follow a tiered structure based on how far over the limit a driver is going:
- 11 to 20 mph over: up to $75
- 21 to 25 mph over: up to $100
- 26 to 30 mph over: up to $250
- More than 30 mph over: up to $500
Every amount doubles in active work zones. Revenue can no longer flow into a city’s general fund. After the costs of running the system are covered, remaining money must go to transportation infrastructure or to police and fire department operations.6Iowa Legislature. House File 2681 – Fiscal Note
Cellphones Banned During Class
House File 782 requires every public school district in Iowa to adopt a policy that, at a minimum, bans student cellphone use during instructional time beginning with the 2025-2026 school year.7Iowa Legislature. 91st General Assembly Enrolled Bills Districts can go stricter than that floor if they choose. Students with an Individualized Education Program, a 504 plan, or a documented health-related need are exempt, and individual districts may write in further exceptions.
Teacher Minimum Pay and Education Agency Changes
House File 2612, one of the largest bills from 2024, restructured how Iowa’s Area Education Agencies are overseen and set statewide minimum teacher salaries. The Department of Education now directly oversees AEA operations and budgets, particularly around special education compliance. Starting July 1, 2025, districts must still route at least 90 percent of their special education dollars through AEA contracts, but AEAs can subcontract with private agencies to actually deliver those services.8Iowa Legislature. House File 2612 – Enrolled
The salary provisions land on a two-year schedule:
- FY 2025: $47,500 minimum for teachers with fewer than 12 years of experience; $60,000 for those with 12 or more years.
- FY 2026 and beyond: $50,000 minimum for teachers with fewer than 12 years; $62,000 for those with 12 or more years.8Iowa Legislature. House File 2612 – Enrolled
By the 2026-2027 school year, every Iowa teacher with a dozen years in the classroom should be earning at least $62,000. The impact is largest in districts where starting pay had been trailing.
Gender Identity Removed from Civil Rights Act
Senate File 418, signed in the 2025 session, removes gender identity as a protected class under the Iowa Civil Rights Act.4Iowa Legislature. Bills Signed By Governor Before this change, Iowa law prohibited discrimination based on gender identity in employment, housing, public accommodations, and education. Those protections are gone.
The law also blocks Iowans from changing the sex designation on a birth certificate after receiving gender-affirming medical treatment, redefines “sex” and “gender” in state law, and modifies existing restrictions on gender-identity-related classroom material for K-6 students. The reach affects employment policies, housing applications, and school practices statewide.
Iowa Religious Freedom Restoration Act
Senate File 2095 sets a legal standard state and local government must meet before restricting religious practice. Government action cannot substantially burden a person’s exercise of religion unless it serves a “compelling governmental interest” of the highest order and uses the least restrictive means available.9Iowa Legislature. Senate File 2095 – Religious Freedom Restoration Act
“Person” is defined broadly. It covers individuals, partnerships, corporations, churches, religious institutions, trusts, and other legal entities, so a sole proprietor, a nonprofit, or a congregation can each bring a claim.9Iowa Legislature. Senate File 2095 – Religious Freedom Restoration Act The statute mirrors the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act but creates a state-level cause of action against state and local government in Iowa.
Foreign Ownership of Farmland
Senate File 2204 tightened rules on foreign ownership of Iowa agricultural land. Foreign persons, businesses, and governments with an interest in Iowa farmland must register those holdings with the Secretary of State within 60 days of acquiring the land, disclosing identity, nationality, business purpose, and any parent or subsidiary entities.
Missing the registration deadline carries a civil penalty of up to 25 percent of the county’s assessed value of the land for the prior year. Filing a false report or skipping required ongoing disclosures brings a separate penalty of up to $10,000 per violation. The Attorney General has expanded subpoena authority to investigate suspected violations.
These state rules sit on top of the federal Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act, which independently requires foreign persons to report transactions involving U.S. agricultural land to the USDA within 90 days.10Federal Register. Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act – Revisions to Reporting Requirements Foreign landowners have to hit both deadlines; one filing does not cover the other.
Illegal Reentry Law Blocked in Court
Senate File 2340 created a state crime of “illegal reentry” for anyone who enters Iowa after being deported, excluded, or removed from the United States, or who is found in the state while an outstanding removal order exists.11Iowa Legislature. Senate File 2340 – Illegal Reentry The base offense is an aggravated misdemeanor, with escalations to Class D and Class C felony levels tied to prior drug, violent, or felony convictions preceding removal.12Iowa Legislature. Iowa Code 903.1 – Maximum Sentence for Misdemeanants
The law is not being enforced. The U.S. Department of Justice sued, arguing immigration enforcement is a federal power and that SF 2340 conflicts with federal immigration statutes. A federal district court issued a preliminary injunction blocking the entire law. In January 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit upheld that injunction. Until a court lifts the block or the litigation resolves, no one in Iowa can be charged under SF 2340.
Other 2025 Laws Worth Knowing
Several smaller measures from the 2025 session take effect between mid-2025 and early 2026:
- HF 181 extends Iowa’s ban on open alcohol containers in vehicles to beverages containing THC.
- HF 309 lets nursing homes provide additional context and evidence before the Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing finalizes a citation for substandard care.
- HF 295 bars national accrediting agencies from retaliating against Iowa’s public universities for complying with state law, and lets universities sue accreditors who do, with the attorney general’s authorization.
- SF 603 prevents state and local governments from imposing apprenticeship training requirements on contractors beyond what existing law requires.4Iowa Legislature. Bills Signed By Governor
The full list of enrolled bills from the 91st General Assembly, with effective dates for each, is posted on the Iowa Legislature’s website.7Iowa Legislature. 91st General Assembly Enrolled Bills Most 2025 laws carry a July 1, 2026 effective date, so another round of changes will land at the start of the next fiscal year.