JANESVILLE, Iowa — Residents pressed Iowa House Speaker Pat Grassley on taxes, mental health care and water quality during a town hall in Janesville, where he fielded questions about budgeting priorities and long-term policy decisions facing the state.
Property taxes were among the first topics discussed. House leaders said their property tax plan is built around two goals: certainty for taxpayers and simplicity. The plan includes a 2% revenue cap on local governments and a $25,000 residential property exemption.
“We went with $25,000 for all residential properties, we wanted to provide relief to everyone under that. But we feel that having that $25,000 exemption is a big deal for everyone, and then we weren’t picking and choosing who was going to be winners and losers,” Grassley said.
Grassley also addressed mental health care, saying Iowa has faced federal pressure to move away from institutional settings and toward more community-based treatment.
“The previous administration has cracked down on the amount of institutionalized beds that states can have, we were sued — it had to shut down some of our facilities because we’re trying to institutionalize people. There are certain people that should not just be out in general populationBut when states are getting sued by the federal government because we’re institutionalizing individuals and not having them in a home setting or a more community-based setting, that’s a problem,” Grassley said.
The conversation later shifted to environmental concerns, including how Iowa is handling water quality efforts across the state. Grassley said Iowa is outspending other states on water quality and pointed to monitoring efforts.
“We’re spending more money than any other state on water qualityThis is something that never gets discussed, but we have 60 state monitored water testing sites that are going on within the state. We are doing more than any other state is when it comes to water,” Grassley said.
While not every question had a clear answer, the discussion underscored ongoing debate over how the state balances cost, oversight and access.