2012 Session Schedule
January 9 - First day of session
January 10 - Governor's Condition of the State Address & Budget Released
January 13 - Chief Justice of the Iowa Supreme Court's Condition of the Judiciary Address
January 20 - Last day for legislators to request & sponsor bills (committee chairs and leaders can still make requests). This deadline is subject to change if legislators shorten the session to save money.
REVISED! February 24 - First Funnel Deadline - Bills have to be voted out of a House or Senate Committee to remain eligible for debate, unless they spend money or propose a tax or are sponsored by legislative leaders. Bills that do not are considered "dead" and can no longer be acted upon. This deadline was moved up a week to February 24 to speed up the legislative session.
REVISED! March 16 - Second Funnel Deadline - Bills have to be passed out of either the House or the Senate, and out of committee in the opposite chamber to remain eligible for debate, unless they spend money or propose a tax or are sponsored by legislative leaders. Bills that do not are considered "dead" and can no longer be acted upon. This deadline was moved up a week to March 16 to speed up the legislative session.
April 17 - 100th Day of Session - Typically, the second session of a two-year legislative cycle (which 2012 is) lasts 100 days. This is the "last day" of the legislative session, but legislators can and do often go past this deadline. However, they will not get their "per diem" expense checks after this time, so they'll be in Des Moines on their own dime after this date. Legislators could shorten the session to 90 days in order to save money and work faster as they've done in the past, which would move this date up to April 7. We won't know if they do this until session starts.
There is no ID Action Advocating Change Day in 2012 - the next one will be in 2013.
We encourage local groups to host local events in their areas during 2012, which is an election year. Think about hosting a public forum on the issues you care about locally, or a debate during the summer with people running for public office in your area. For these and more ideas, contact ID Action.