This week the Senate passed several common sense proposals aimed at addressing illegal immigration.

One of the first bills we passed was Senate File 2203, which requires the secretary of state to verify that those on voter registration lists are United States citizens. Last year, the secretary of state’s audit of the voter registration list found 277 non-citizens were registered to vote and 35 non-citizens had successfully voted in the 2024 general election. This bill is one more way we can help secure Iowa’s elections and ensure Iowans can have confidence in them. The bill passed with a bipartisan vote of 34-13.

We also passed Senate File 2218, which requires the Board of Educational Examiners to require all applicants for licensure and all renewals of licensure to provide proof of legal authorization to work in the United States. This bill was necessary after the Des Moines Public Schools hired a superintendent who lied about his qualifications and experience for the job and also lied about his citizenship in the United States. It passed the Senate unanimously.

Senate File 2412 requires the verification of United States citizenship and immigration status of newly hired public employees and individuals seeking a professional license. It requires use of either E-Verify or the federal SAVE program for verification and provides additional safeguards for schools, counties and cities throughout the hiring process. This bill also passed the Senate unanimously, 47-0.

Lastly, the senate passed Senate File 2422 to prevent taxpayer-funded public assistance programs from going to people in the country illegally. Senate 2422 requires the use of federal citizenship data to verify only U.S. citizens are eligible to receive public assistance using taxpayer dollars. This bill would align Iowa with federal law by requiring Iowa Health and Human Services to use the SAVE database to verify eligibility of people receiving public assistance.

This week was a huge win for Iowa taxpayers, and I was proud to support these common sense solutions in the Senate. All these bills now go to the Iowa House for consideration.

This week, the Senate held a subcommittee on the governor’s proposal on property tax relief. There are three different Republican proposals in the legislature to address property tax relief and the subcommittee on Wednesday stated comparing some of the different ideas in the proposals. The Senate’s proposal, Senate Study Bill 3001, is proposing the biggest overhaul in decades that ensures Iowans are the focus – bringing real relief to Iowa families, dedicating additional funding to roads and bridges and allowing Iowans the ability to truly own their home.

The Senate proposal is the only bill that takes the step to eliminate property taxes for qualified Iowans. Under Senate Study Bill 3001, if you are over the age of 60 and have paid off your mortgage, you truly get to own your home and are done paying involuntary property taxes.

We have also taken into account all the feedback we have heard from our small towns, rural counties and other local government officials. That is why we allow local governments to increase the local option sales tax from 1 cent to 1.5 cents should they choose with voter approval. It also implements a gas tax index to help address important infrastructure needs, like repairing roads and bridges.

We are looking forward to having continued conversations with Iowans and with our colleagues on how we can achieve structural property tax relief and reform this year.

State Sen. Tim Kraayenbrink, R-Fort Dodge, represents Calhoun, Pocahontas, Sac and Webster counties.