FIFTH WEEK OF LEGISLATIVE SESSION
The week before Funnel Week is typically chaotic, as legislators rush to hold subcommittees on bills they want to advance out of committee before next week’s deadline. This week alone, the House and Senate held more than 200 subcommittees combined. Several committees worked late into the evening this week to clear bills off their agenda in preparation for long working days next
week.
If a bill does not pass out of committee by next week, it will no longer be eligible for consideration this session. However, appropriations and tax bills are exempt from the Funnel Week deadline.
LEGISLATIVE ISSUES
Several natural resources bills — including multiple ISC-tracked bills — saw significant movement this week. These include proposals on:
• Allowing the use of drones to recover deer
• Addressing nonresidents claiming resident status to obtain buck tags
• Expanding permitted uses for deer depredation tags
• Nonresident doe tag requirements
• A study on merging the DNR and the Department of Agriculture
• Hunter education requirements
Next week, the House will hold a meeting on ISC-sponsored legislation to eliminate the celebrity deer tag.
BILL TRACKER
** New Information highlighted in yellow**
**Bills ISC supports are in green**
**Bills ISC opposes are in red**
**Bills ISC is monitoring are in blue**
MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD
Your Voice Is Critical This Week – First Legislative Funnel
This week marks the first legislative funnel. For a bill to stay alive, it must pass out of committee. That means your outreach right now truly makes a difference.
Below are key ISC-supported bills that need your help to advance:
HF 2112 – Deer Drone Recovery
The use of drones for deer recovery is becoming a major issue across the state. HF 2112 establishes clear guardrails for enforcement, benefiting both hunters, land owners, law enforcement.
Please support HF 2112 and the ISC amendment to strengthen the bill.
HSB 275 – Eliminate the Celebrity Deer Tag
Iowa needs less hunting pressure, not more. The celebrity deer tag encourages high-profile hunts that are promoted on social media and television. This increases demand and fuels complaints from nonresidents who already face long wait times—sometimes up to five years—to hunt in Iowa.
Eliminating the celebrity tag would reduce pressure and reallocate those tags to Iowa conservation groups and the Governor. It’s a bipartisan, common-sense solution.
A companion bill, HF 424, also eliminates the celebrity deer tag and needs to advance in the Senate.
Take Action
• Contact members of the House Natural Resources Committee and ask them to support HF 2112; and HSB 275 in sub committee (Reps. Gearhart, Mommsen, and Scholten) and then in committee.
• Contact your Senators on the Natural Resources Committee and urge them to move HF 424 forward next week.
I know we often say “your voice matters,” but it truly does. Legislators have told us that hunters and anglers have flooded their inboxes on recent bills—and it makes an impact.
Be respectful and civil, but be clear about what you want them to do.
Now is the time to speak up.
House Natural Resources Committee
Senate Natural Resources Committee
DNR Townhalls on 2025 Hunting Season
The DNR is hosting a series of town hall-style meetings where local staff will provide updates on recently completed hunting and trapping seasons, discuss possible changes to hunting and trapping rules and regulations, and address other topics.
Meeting dates, times, and locations:
• Waverly, March 2, 6 p.m., Waverly Public Library, 1500 W. Bremer Avenue
• Bloomfield, March 3, 6 p.m., Pioneer Ridge Nature Center, 1339 Hwy. 63
• Boone, March 3, 6 p.m., Wildlife Research Station, 1436 255th Street
• Burlington, March 3, 6 p.m., Burlington Public Library, 210 Court St.
• Chariton, March 3, 6 p.m., Pin Oak Lodge, 45996 State Hwy. 14
• Creston, March 3, 6 p.m., Performing Arts Building multi-purpose room (124), 1201 West Townline Street
• Decorah, March 3, 7 p.m., Franklin W. Olin Building, Room 102, Luther College, 700 College Drive, next to the Prues Library
• Des Moines, March 3, 6:45 p.m., Des Moines Izaak Walton, 4343 George Flagg Parkway
• Maquoketa, March 3, 7 p.m., Hurstville Interpretive Center, 18670 63rd Street
• Spencer, March 3, 6:30 p.m., Iowa Lakes Community College, 1900 Grand Ave. Suite B1, Entrance #1-West side of the North Mall
• Iowa City, March 4, 5:30 p.m., Johnson County Extension Office, 3109 Old Hwy 218 South
• Charles City, March 4, 6:30 p.m., Public Library Zastrow Room, 910 Clark Street
• Okoboji, March 4, 6 p.m., Maser Monarch Lodge, 22785 Nature Center Road
• Perry, March 4, 6 p.m., Dallas County Conservation Board, Forest Park Museum administration building, 14581 K Avenue
• Algona, March 5, 7 p.m., Tietz Entrepreneurial Center at the Algona campus of Iowa Lakes Community College, 2111 Hwy 169 North
• Council Bluffs, March 5, 5:30 p.m., Bass Pro Shops, 2901 Bass Pro Drive
• Hinton, March 5, 5 p.m., Dennis L. Sohl Center for Outdoor Learning, Hillview Recreation Area, 25601 C60
• Lake View, March 5, 6:30 p.m., Speaker Park Shelter House, 418 North Blossom Street
• Toledo, March 5, 5:30 p.m., Tama County Nature Center at Otter Creek Lake Park, 2283 Park Road
• Ventura, March 5, 6 p.m., Clear Lake Wildlife Unit Office, 15326 Balsam Ave.
PLEASE DON’T HESITATE TO CONTACT ME!
Phil Jeneary
