Washington, D.C. – The Club for Growth Foundation released its 2025 Iowa State Economic Scorecard, outlining for every citizen in the Hawkeye State how each lawmaker in Des Moines voted on limited-government policy.
The Scorecard analyzes policies and votes to assign an Economic Growth Score from 0 to 100, with 100 representing the highest support for pro-growth policies. In 2025, the Foundation’s study examined more than 650 floor votes and ultimately included 15 Iowa House and 16 Iowa Senate votes.
“The 2025 legislative session in Iowa was, in many respects, a tale of two legislatures,” said Club for Growth Foundation President David McIntosh. “On the positive side, lawmakers continued to advance important conservative policy reforms on big-issue items, including work requirements in the out-of-control Medicaid program and long-overdue changes to taxpayer-backed unemployment insurance. Meanwhile, the state budget grew by nearly $480 million, with especially large increases in welfare programs and agency baselines, and lawmakers left property tax reform unfinished. Iowa’s long-term growth depends on lawmakers cutting year-over-year spending and shrinking the state bureaucracy, and taxpayers should expect nothing less from the next General Assembly.”
Click here to read the full 2025 Iowa State Economic Scorecard from the Club for Growth Foundation.
Key Highlights from the 2025 Iowa Scorecard:
Iowa House:
- Average Republican Score: 64%
- Average Democrat Score: 36%
- Highest-Rated Republican: Rep. Michael Sexton (HD-7): 90%
- Highest-Rated Democrat: Rep. Dave Jacoby (HD-86): 55%
- Lowest-Rated Republican: Rep. Travis Sitzmann (HD-13): 46%
- Lowest-Rated Democrat: Rep. Aime Wichtendahl (HD-80): 25%
Iowa Senate:
- Average Republican Score: 69%
- Average Democrat Score: 31%
- Highest-Rated Republican: Sen. Jason Schultz (SD-6): 86%
- Highest-Rated Democrat: Sen. Zach Wahls (SD-43): 49%
- Lowest-Rated Republican: Sen. Jeff Taylor (SD-2): 61%
- Lowest-Rated Democrat: Sen. Tony Bisignano (SD-15): 22%
Notable Pro-Growth Policies:
HF 860 – PREEMPTING GREEN ENERGY MANDATES
- Prohibits political subdivisions and state agencies from restricting the purchase or use of any equipment based on its fuel source and repeals any existing municipal green-fuel mandates in Iowa.
SF 607 – STRUCTURAL UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE REFORMS
- Cuts the unemployment tax wage base in half, from two-thirds to one-third of Iowa’s average annual wage, and lowers the maximum unemployment tax rate from 9 percent to 5.4 percent.
- Estimated tax savings for Iowa businesses and employers total nearly $1 billion over five years.
SF 615 – SIGNIFICANT MEDICAID REFORMS
- Requires able-bodied recipients aged 19–64 to work at least 80 hours per month to maintain eligibility.
- Creates a trigger that would repeal the Medicaid expansion if federal statutes or regulations prohibit state-based work requirements.
SJR 11 – PROTECTING TAXPAYERS FROM INCOME TAX HIKES
- Proposes a constitutional amendment requiring a two-thirds supermajority in both chambers to raise individual or corporate income taxes or impose any new income tax.
- Passed the Iowa Senate, 32–15; the Iowa House did not take it up.
Notable Anti-Growth Policies:
HF 889 – NEW GOVERNMENT PAID LEAVE MANDATE
- Expands an existing taxpayer-funded program by providing an additional four weeks of paid leave for government employees who give birth or adopt a child.
HF 1044 – INCREASED GOVERNMENT APPROPRIATIONS PACKAGE
- Appropriates $73.7 million in General Fund spending for state government operations in FY2026, a 3 percent increase over FY2025.
- Adds $62 million in non-General Fund spending above FY2025 levels and creates 117 new full-time government positions.
HF 1049 – BIG SPENDING MEDICAID APPROPRIATIONS
- Appropriates $2.5 billion for FY2026, an increase of 13.7 percent, or $256 million, over FY2025 spending.
- Sends $211 million to address the Medicaid shortfall driven by Iowa’s Obamacare expansion to healthy adults.
- Sends $20 million in Medicaid reimbursement increases for home and community-based care.
- Increases spending on the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) welfare program by 10.4 percent year over year.
SF 647 – MISSED OPPORTUNITY HIGHER EDUCATION APPROPRIATIONS
- Appropriates $1.033 billion for higher education, workforce development initiatives, and various grant programs.
- Adds an $8.5 million increase to the Department of Education.
- Includes a new Health Care Professional Incentive program and increased tuition subsidies.
- Provides a $5.5 million year-over-year increase in spending for the state Board of Regents.
Note: This Scorecard is based on selected votes and does not reflect a legislator’s entire voting record. The Club for Growth Foundation does not endorse or oppose any legislator for public office.