For the first time, we are pleased to share our 2024 Iowa Humane Scorecard, which takes a look at the votes of the 2023-2024 legislative sessions. Here you can learn what actions your lawmakers took, and what issues they failed to support, in our fight to protect animals in Iowa.
This November, every State House seat and half of the State Senate seats are on the Iowa ballot. Every election has profound impacts on animal protection. It has never been more important to hold your legislators accountable, and to head to the ballot box fully equipped with the facts. Did your legislators stand up for animals? Humane Society Legislative Fund has the answers.
The following actions are scored in the 2024 Iowa Humane Scorecard:
Bestiality: A ✓ indicates a vote in favor of HF 2318 or SF 2018, which update Iowa’s bestiality code to include internet-based crimes, sales and distribution of bestiality pornographic material, and cases involving a minor. The legislation, filed by Sen. Dan Dawson and Rep. Bobby Kaufmann, passed both chambers and was signed by the Governor on April 10th, 2024.
Veterinary Tech Capabilities: A ✓ indicates a vote in favor of HF 670 or SF 541, which permit licensed veterinarian technicians to perform more duties in order to increase access to pet patient care. The legislation, filed by Sen. Dan Zumbach and Rep. Michael Sexton, passed both chambers and was signed by the Governor on June 1st, 2023.
Veterinarian Civil Immunity: A ✓ indicates a vote in favor of HF 472, which would provide civil lawsuit protections for veterinarians who assist law enforcement with animal cruelty crime investigations. The bill, filed by Rep. Jane Bloomingdale, passed the House. The Senate was scheduled to vote on a companion bill from Sen. Dan Dawson, but the legislation was pulled from the debate calendar, despite broad anticipated support from the Senate.
Breed-Specific Preemption: A ✓ indicates a vote in favor of HF 651, which would prevent local governments from adopting or enforcing breed specific legislation statewide. The bill passed the House. HF 651 was a combination of two bills–one introduced by Rep. Jacob Bossman, which dealt primarily with public safety issues and local dog breed prohibitions, and one introduced by Rep. Brian Lohse, to prevent insurance companies from considering a dog’s breed as the sole factor when drafting policies. In the Senate, legislation filed by Sen. Chris Cournoyer closely mirrored that from the House. The bill was poised for a Senate vote, but ultimately pulled from the debate list, though a strong Senate coalition of supporters exists. Reps. Tracy Ehlert, Elinor Levin, Brian Meyer, and Timi Brown-Powers also filed legislation to end breed bans, and we are grateful to them.
The 2023-2024 sessions featured great successes for animals—two new pro-animal bills were signed into law, two more made major by passing the House, and moreover, a bill from Sen. Charlie McClintock to expand lifesaving care for police K9s in the field passed a committee vote, though it was not ultimately brought to the Senate floor. Strong bills were also filed by Sen. Molly Donahue, to ban the painful, non-therapeutic declawing of cats, and by Sen. Chris Cournoyer, to produce a license plate that would financially support the Iowa Department of Agriculture & Land Stewardship’s companion animal inspection programs.
These victories are all the more meaningful when we consider that the 2023-2024 sessions also brought serious attacks on animals, including an additional action scored in the 2024 Iowa Humane Scorecard:
Black Bear Hunting and Trapping: As it stands today, black bears have no legal protections in Iowa. Because the species is not included in Iowa’s wildlife codes, black bears are often shot or otherwise killed without penalty when they are seen in the state, and at an increasing rate. HF 175, filed by Rep. Dave Jacoby, would have provided some protections for black bears in Iowa, but the legislation was amended to allow for future black bear hunting and trapping seasons. We opposed the bill for that reason, and while it passed the Iowa House, its momentum ended in the State Senate. As such, a ✓ indicates a vote against HF 175.
In 2024, Rep. Dean Fisher introduced legislation which would have created a taxpayer-funded bounty on raccoons in the state. You read that right. As written, this bill would have required the Department of Natural Resources to hold regular raccoon tail collection events in all 99 counties, and the DNR would pay $5 for each tail turned in. The total price tag for this program, according to the Iowa Legislative Services Agency, was 860,000 taxpayer dollars a year. We opposed this legislation from the start, and though the bill advanced through a subcommittee and received two full committee hearings, it never reached the Iowa House floor.
Additionally, both the Iowa House and Senate considered amending Iowa’s constitution to “protect the right to hunt.” The proposed language would have codified hunting as a preferred method of animal management in the state, and preserved “traditional methods” of hunting and trapping, including those which cause the most suffering and result in the greatest public outrage. We are thankful that neither chamber moved these proposals forward.
HSLF acknowledges the limitations of judging legislators based on a few votes on animal issues, however important those issues may be. In some cases, legislators must miss votes for unavoidable reasons, such as a death in the family, serious illness, birth of a child or emergency in their district. In assessing the record of your state-level representatives, and your strategy for engaging them in the future, do consider unrecorded matters such as committee participation and performance, House or Senate leadership posts, constituent service and responsiveness, and the other animal protection bills not included in this scorecard.
The importance of this ongoing work cannot be overstated. As we fight to secure these policy wins, we are rapidly increasing the number of people who care about protecting animals throughout the state of Iowa and in the statehouse—and our state’s leaders have taken notice. This past January, Governor Kim Reynolds kicked off the 2024 legislative session by signing a proclamation encouraging Iowans to adopt from our state’s shelters and rescues.
Iowa’s animal advocates and our state leaders have never been better positioned to protect animals through public policy. There is much work to be done. But with your support, there is so much we can accomplish. By holding our lawmakers accountable for their votes—as you cast your own votes at the ballot box, and year-round—we can build on our victories, and make greater progress in 2025 for the animals.
The full 2024 Iowa Humane Scorecard can be found online at hslf.org/state-scorecards. Please share this scorecard with family, friends, and fellow advocates to help spread the word! Remember—animals only win when humane candidates do.