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Iowa Senate

{{Short description|Upper house of the Iowa General Assembly}}

{{coord|41.591|-93.604|region:US_type:landmark|display=title}}

{{Infobox legislature

| background_color = {{party color|Republican Party (US)}}

| name = Iowa Senate

| legislature = Iowa General Assembly

| coa_pic = Iowa-StateSeal.svg

| session_room = Iowa Senate.JPG

| house_type = Upper house

| term_limits = None

| new_session = January 13, 2023

| leader1_type = President

| leader1 = Amy Sinclair (R)

| election1 = January 4, 2023

| leader2_type = President pro tempore

| leader2 = Ken Rozenboom (R)

| election2 = January 8, 2025

| leader3_type = Majority Leader

| leader3 = Jack Whitver (R)

| election3 = March 14, 2018

| leader4_type = Minority Leader

| leader4 = Janice Weiner (D)

| election4 = January 8, 2025

| members1 = 50

| structure1 = Iowa Senate 2022.svg

| structure1_res = 250px

| political_groups1 =

Majority

Minority

| last_election1 = November 5, 2024
(25 seats)

| next_election1 = November 3, 2026
(25 seats)

| term_length = 4 years

| authority = Legislative Department, Section 3, Iowa Constitution

| salary = $25,000/year + per diem

| redistricting = Legislative Service Agency with legislative approval

| meeting_place = State Senate Chamber
Iowa State Capitol
Des Moines, Iowa

| website = [http://www.legis.iowa.gov/ Iowa General Assembly]

|rules=[https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/publications/SR/1367804.pdf 90th General Assembly Senate Rules]}}

The Iowa Senate is the upper house of the Iowa General Assembly. There are 50 seats in the Iowa Senate, representing 50 single-member districts across the state of Iowa with populations of approximately 60,927 per constituency, {{as of|2010|alt=as of the 2010 United States census}}.{{cite web|url=https://www.legis.iowa.gov/DOCS/Resources/Redist/2011/2011-03-31/Plan1_Report.pdf|title=First Redistricting Plan|page=3|author=Iowa Legislative Services Agency|date=2011-03-31|access-date=2012-11-17}} Each Senate district is composed of two House districts. The Senate meets at the Iowa State Capitol in Des Moines.

Unlike the lower house, the Iowa House of Representatives, senators serve four-year terms, with no term limits. Terms are staggered so that half the Senate is up for reelection every two years.

Leadership

The President of the Senate presides over the body, whose powers include referring bills to committees, recognizing members during debate, and making procedural rulings. Unlike the more powerful Speaker of the Iowa House of Representatives, the Senate President cannot appoint committee chairmanships or shuffle committee memberships.{{cite web |url=http://www.legis.state.ia.us/Pubinfo/BranchesGov.html |title=The Three Branches of Government |publisher=Iowa General Assembly |access-date=2008-03-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051110234414/http://www2.legis.state.ia.us/Pubinfo/BranchesGov.html |archive-date=2005-11-10 |url-status=dead }} The lieutenant governor of Iowa was the presiding officer of the Senate until 1988, when an amendment to the Constitution of Iowa was passed in a referendum (effective from 1991).{{cite web |url=http://publications.iowa.gov/archive/00000135/01/history/7-6.html |title=The Drafting of Iowa's Constitution |publisher=Steven Cross, Iowa General Assembly|access-date=2008-03-10}} The other partisan Senate leadership positions, such as the Majority and Minority leaders, are elected by their respective party caucuses to head their parties in the chamber.

The President of the Senate is Republican Amy Sinclair of the 12th District. The Majority Leader is Republican Jack Whitver of the 23rd District. The Minority Leader is Democrat Pam Jochum of the 36th District.{{cite web | url=https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislators/leadership | title=Iowa Legislature - Leadership }}

Committee leadership

class=wikitable

! Committee !! Chair !! Vice chair !! Ranking member

Agriculture

|| Dan Zumbach || Annette Sweeney || Kevin Kinney

Appropriations

|Tim Kraayenbrink || Mark Lofgren || Joe Bolkcom

Commerce

|Jason Schultz || Carrie Koelker || Jim Lykam

Education

|Amy Sinclair || Jeff Taylor || Herman Quirmbach

Ethics

|Carrie Koelker || Jim Carlin || Pam Jochum

Government Oversight

|Jason Schultz || Craig Williams || Claire Celsi

Human Resources

|Jeff Edler || Mark Costello || Liz Mathis

Judiciary

|Brad Zaun || Julian Garrett || Kevin Kinney

Labor and Business Relations

|Zach Whiting || Jesse Green || Nate Boulton

Local Government

|Tom Shipley||Mike Klimesh||Jackie Smith

Natural Resources and Environment

|Annette Sweeney||Dawn Driscoll||Sarah Trone Garriott

Rules and Administration

|Jack Whitver||Jake Chapman||Zach Wahls

State Government

|Roby Smith||Chris Cournoyer||Tony Bisignano

Transportation

|Waylon Brown||Adrian Dickey||Eric Giddens

Veterans Affairs

|Jim Carlin||Jeff Reichman||Eric Giddens

Ways and Means

|Dan Dawson||Tim Goodwin||Pam Jochum

*All chairs and vice chairs are Republicans. All ranking members are Democrats.{{Cite web|url=https://www.legis.iowa.gov/committees|title=Committees|last=Agency|first=Iowa Legislative Services|website=www.legis.iowa.gov|language=en|access-date=2018-05-12}}

Current composition

{{stack|File:Iowa State Senate Districts, 2012-2022.svgFile:Iowa Senate makeup, 2025-2027.svg}}

class=wikitable style="text-align:center"
valign=bottom

!rowspan=3|Affiliation

!colspan=3|Party

(shading indicates majority caucus)

!rowspan=3|Total

!

style="height:5px"

| style="background-color:{{party color|Democratic Party (United States)}}" |

| style="background-color:{{party color|Republican Party (United States)}}" |

| style="background-color:{{party color|Independent}}" |

|style="background: black"|

Democratic

!Republican

!Ind

!Vacant

nowrap style="font-size:80%"|End 2012

|{{party shading/Democratic}}| 26

|23

|0

! 49

|1

colspan=5|
nowrap style="font-size:80%"|2013–2014

|{{party shading/Democratic}}|26

|24

|0

!50

|0

colspan=5|
nowrap style="font-size:80%"|Begin 2015

|{{party shading/Democratic}} rowspan=2|26

|24

|0

!rowspan=2|50

|rowspan=2|0

nowrap style="font-size:80%"|End 2016 sessionDavid Johnson (District 1) switched parties from Republican to "No Party" on June 7, 2016. [http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/2016/06/07/iowa-gop-lawmaker-dumps-party-protest-trump/85557768/]

|23

|1

colspan=5|
nowrap style="font-size:80%"|2017–2018

|20

|{{party shading/Republican}}|29

|1

!50

|0

colspan=5|
nowrap style="font-size:80%"|2019–2022

|18

|{{party shading/Republican}}|32

|0

!50

|0

colspan=5|
nowrap style="font-size:80%"|2023–2024

|16

|{{party shading/Republican}}|34

|0

!50

|0

colspan=5|
nowrap style="font-size:80%"|Begin 2025Republican Chris Cournoyer (District 49) resigned to become lieutenant governor of Iowa.[https://www.iowapublicradio.org/state-government-news/2024-12-16/kim-reynolds-chris-cournoyer-new-iowa-lieutenant-governor]

|15

|{{party shading/Republican}} rowspan=2|34

|rowspan=2|0

!49

|1

nowrap style="font-size:80%"|January 28, 2025Democrat Mike Zimmer elected to succeed Cournoyer.[https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/2025/01/29/mike-zimmer-iowa-senate-district-35-special-election-results/78019490007/]

|16

!50

|0

Latest voting share

!{{percentage|16|50|0}}

!{{party shading/Republican}}|{{percentage|34|50|0}}

!colspan=3|

=Past notable members=

File:SENATE CHAMBER seating chart detail, from- Redbook-1882 (19GA) (page 161 crop).jpg

Past composition of the Senate

{{main|Political party strength in Iowa}}

See also

References

{{reflist}}

External links

{{Commons category|Iowa Senate}}

{{Commons|Iowa State Senators of the 85th General Assembly}}

  • [http://www.legis.iowa.gov/ Iowa Legislature] official government website
  • {{Ballotpedia|Iowa_State_Senate}}
  • [http://www.senate.iowa.gov/democrats/ Iowa Senate Democrats]
  • [http://www.iowasenaterepublicans.com/ Iowa Senate Republicans]
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20130414125004/https://www.legis.iowa.gov/Legislators/senate.aspx Current Iowa Senators]

{{Iowa Senate|state=uncollapsed}}

{{United States legislatures}}

{{Iowa}}

{{Current Iowa statewide political officials}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:1846 establishments in Iowa

Category:State upper houses in the United States

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