The Republican governor, in her annual address to a joint session of the state's House and Senate, also outlined plans to seek work requirements for Iowans receiving state-funded Medicaid coverage, lower the tax rates businesses pay to fund benefits for unemployed workers and address gaps in math and civics education.
Reynolds said there "is so much to proud of" from policies Iowa Republicans have enacted in the past several years — from raising teacher pay to reducing taxes to consolidating and reshaping state agencies, eliminating dozens of boards and commissions and cutting regulations to make government smaller and more efficient.
The governor's office asserts those efforts have saved Iowa taxpayers $217 million in the last 18 months.
"We've transformed the way the state interacts with our citizens, businesses and entrepreneurs — shrinking and aligning government so that our tax cuts are sustainable," the governor said.
And she's not done, announcing the creation of an Iowa task force on government efficiency — similar to the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, planned by President-elect Donald Trump.
The Iowa DOGE task force will be headed by Emily Schmitt, chief administrative officer and general counsel of Sukup Manufacturing.
Schmitt has worked with Reynolds' administration on multiple occasions, having served on a pair of state task forces.
"I like to say that we were doing DOGE before DOGE was a thing," Reynolds said. The new task force will work to support DOGE's efforts at the federal level "to find even greater savings and efficiencies in both state and local government."
"Because, to pass meaningful property tax reform, we also need to be lean at the local level," the governor said.
Reynolds did not propose a plan for lowering property taxes, listed as a top priority by House and Senate Republicans, who have expanded supermajorities in the Iowa Legislature following the November election.
Republican House Speaker Pat Grassley said lawmakers intend to work with the governor's office as they craft proposals.
"I'm not surprised that it wasn't in the speech," Grassley told reporters afterward. "I don't think that means the governor's not supportive. It's just we know there's not just one bill sitting out there that's the right solution at this point."
House and Senate Democratic leaders said some ideas in the governor's speech are promising, but it failed to address immediate financial crises facing Iowans, from housing to workforce issues.
"People have immediate financial crunch, and we heard nothing that's going to make that better," said House Minority Leader Jennifer Jennifer Konfrst, D-Windsor Heights. "We heard nothing about housing. We heard nothing about workforce. We really heard a lot about long-term plans, nothing that's going to make bills lower by July."
Cellphones in schools
Citing concerns over distractions in classrooms, Reynolds proposed a policy requiring school districts to restrict cellphone use for K-12 students. At a minimum, schools would be required to ban cellphone usage during instructional time.
"Let's make sure the classroom is a place for learning, growth and connection," Reynolds said. "Let's pass this bill and give students their best possible chance at success."
Multiple Iowa schools, including the Ottumwa Community School District, have implemented some restrictions on cellphone use.
The state Department of Education would provide sample policies for the floor-level requirements as well as "bell to bell" restrictions on personal electronic devices. The policy also would require "effects of social media" training for all sixth- through eighth-grade students, which would be through Google's "Be Internet Awesome" program.
Sen. Amy Sinclair, the Republican Iowa Senate president from Allerton, said she wants school districts to have some flexibility to implement a policy that best fits their schools.
"What it sounded like to me was a ban on cellphones being accessible, except for emergencies, during instructional time. And I think most districts can get on board with that," Sinclair told reporters after Reynolds' speech. "I like the idea of giving them some ownership so that they can come in and make those local decisions that make the most sense for implementation: for their districts, for their parents, for their kids."
Grassley said he agrees with Reynolds that there needs to be a minimum standard for cellphone restrictions in schools.
"Having that minimum standard, I agree with her that that is the route that we should go, and I think that's something that we'll be able to see support for in the house," Grassley told reporters.
Reynolds also said she is aiming to set new standards for math and civics education, including addressing gaps in math education and requiring high school graduates to pass the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Naturalization test.
Child care
In an effort to continue stabilizing Iowa's child care workforce, Reynolds proposed a fund that allows individuals and businesses to make donations to help raise wages for child care workers.
It's meant to build upon a state pilot program in 10 communities, funded with donations and government matching grants. The state pilot program, which sought to attract and retain child care workers by increasing wages and improving benefits, created 275 new child care slots in those communities, a study released last year found.
The short-term funding program required matching funds from business partners in the local community up to $2 for every $1 pledged, and used nearly $3 million in federal pandemic dollars.
Reynolds also proposed codifying a child care assistance pilot program that provides free child care to child care workers. More than 1,600 families have been served by the pilot program, which has no family income limit that applies to other Iowa families. Individuals must be employed in a direct care position at the child care program and meet all other child care assistance eligibility requirements.
According to the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services, 88 percent of those who responded to a survey already were employed in child care when they applied for assistance. Forty-four percent previously applied but were denied assistance for being over the income threshold; 49 percent said they were likely to leave their child care job if assistance was no longer available; and 12 percent said they began working in child care because of the pilot program.
Reynolds said she also plans to reintroduce legislation to provide paid parental leave to state employees. The governor's proposal would provide four weeks of paid leave for state employees who give birth or adopt a child, and one week paid leave for employees who did not give birth to welcome a new child.
Konfrst and Senate Democratic Leader Janice Weiner, of Iowa City, said the state needs to focus on affordability in addition to accessibility.
"We've been talking about child care for a long time, and have yet to see costs go down," Konfrst said.
Preschool grants
Reynolds announced the launch of a new $16 million grant program to provide three-year grants of up to $100,000 to preschool providers — typically school districts — and child care providers to provide wraparound services for working families.
Reynolds gave the example of Center Point Urbana Community School District, which partners with a private child care center that operates in the building.
In 2022-23, Iowa served 67 percent of its 4-year-olds in state-funded preschool, ranking near the top of the nation for access. While preschool is widely available, some working parents cannot participate if it covers only a portion of the day and requires them to leave work.
"Parents need a solution that meets the demands of their busy lives — one that allows their children to benefit from our successful preschool program and have access to child care," Reynolds said. "It's about more than convenience; it's about offering our children the educational foundation they need while giving parents peace of mind that their children are cared for throughout the work day."
Funds could be used to defray the cost of transportation to bring children from school to child care, or vice versa. They could also pay for a preschool teacher at a local child care center, or for child care staff at a preschool.
© 2025 The Gazette (Cedar Rapids, Iowa). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
