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HJR5 • 2026

A joint resolution proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the State of Iowa relating to citizen initiatives to amend the Constitution of the State of Iowa and the Iowa Code and referendums to approve certain bills passed by the general assembly.

A joint resolution proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the State of Iowa relating to citizen initiatives to amend the Constitution of the State of Iowa and the Iowa Code and referendums to approve certain bills passed by the general assembly.

Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor
WESSEL-KROESCHELL, OLSON, B. MEYER, WILBURN, KURTH, BROWN-POWERS, ZABNER, SRINIVAS, McBURNEY, LEVIN, EHLERT, TUREK, WICHTENDAHL, KRESSIG, AMOS JR., COOLING, MATSON, JAMES, KONFRST, BAGNIEWSKI, CROKEN, MADISON, SCHEETZ, GOSA, R. JOHNSON and SCHOLTEN
Last action
2025-01-30
Official status
Introduced, referred to State Government. H.J. 149 .
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

A joint resolution proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the State of Iowa relating to citizen initiatives to amend the Constitution of the State of Iowa and the Iowa Code and referendums to approve certain bills passed by the general assembly.

A joint resolution proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the State of Iowa relating to citizen initiatives to amend the Constitution of the State of Iowa and the Iowa Code and referendums to approve certain bills passed by the general assembly.

What This Bill Does

  • A joint resolution proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the State of Iowa relating to citizen initiatives to amend the Constitution of the State of Iowa and the Iowa Code and referendums to approve certain bills passed by the general assembly.

Limits and Unknowns

  • This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Bill History

  1. 2025-01-30 Iowa Legislature

    Introduced, referred to State Government. H.J. 149 .

Official Summary Text

A joint resolution proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the State of Iowa relating to citizen initiatives to amend the Constitution of the State of Iowa and the Iowa Code and referendums to approve certain bills passed by the general assembly.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text
House

Joint

Resolution

5

-

Introduced

HOUSE

JOINT

RESOLUTION

5

BY

WESSEL-KROESCHELL

,

OLSON

,

B.

MEYER

,

WILBURN

,

KURTH

,

BROWN-POWERS

,

ZABNER

,

SRINIVAS

,

McBURNEY

,

LEVIN

,

EHLERT

,

TUREK

,

WICHTENDAHL

,

KRESSIG

,

AMOS

JR.

,

COOLING

,

MATSON

,

JAMES

,

KONFRST

,

BAGNIEWSKI

,

CROKEN

,

MADISON

,

SCHEETZ

,

GOSA

,

R.

JOHNSON

,

and

SCHOLTEN

HOUSE

JOINT

RESOLUTION

A

Joint

Resolution

proposing

an

amendment

to

the

Constitution

1

of

the

State

of

Iowa

relating

to

citizen

initiatives

to

2

amend

the

Constitution

of

the

State

of

Iowa

and

the

Iowa

3

Code

and

referendums

to

approve

certain

bills

passed

by

the

4

general

assembly.

5

BE

IT

RESOLVED

BY

THE

GENERAL

ASSEMBLY

OF

THE

STATE

OF

IOWA:

6

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Section

1.

The

following

amendment

to

the

Constitution

of

1

the

State

of

Iowa

is

proposed:

2

The

Constitution

of

the

State

of

Iowa

is

amended

by

adding

3

the

following

new

sections

to

a

new

article:

4

ARTICLE

___.

5

INITIATIVE

AND

REFERENDUM.

6

Section

1.

Reservation

of

power

to

enact

and

reject

7

laws.

The

people

reserve

the

power

to

propose

and

enact

or

8

reject

laws

and

amendments

to

this

Constitution

by

initiative,

9

independent

of

the

general

assembly,

and

also

reserve

the

power

10

to

approve

or

reject

by

referendum

any

Act

of

the

general

11

assembly,

except

as

otherwise

provided

in

this

article.

12

Sec.

2.

Initiative

petitions

——

signatures

required

——

form

13

and

procedure.

An

initiative

petition

proposing

an

amendment

14

to

this

Constitution

shall

be

signed

by

a

number

of

qualified

15

electors

in

each

of

at

least

three-fourths

of

the

congressional

16

districts

in

the

state

equal

to

eight

percent

of

the

total

17

votes

cast

in

the

district

for

governor

at

the

general

election

18

immediately

preceding

the

filing

of

the

petition

in

which

votes

19

were

cast

for

the

office

of

governor.

The

petition

shall

be

20

submitted

to

the

secretary

of

state

not

less

than

six

months

21

before

the

next

general

election.

An

initiative

petition

22

proposing

an

amendment

to

the

Constitution

shall

not

contain

23

more

than

one

amended

article

of

the

Constitution,

or

one

new

24

article

which

shall

not

contain

more

than

one

subject

and

25

matters

properly

related.

An

initiative

petition

proposing

26

an

amendment

to

the

Constitution

shall

include

the

resolving

27

clause

“Be

it

resolved

by

the

people

of

the

state

of

Iowa:”.

28

An

initiative

petition

proposing

a

law

shall

be

signed

by

a

29

number

of

qualified

electors

in

each

of

at

least

three-fourths

30

of

the

congressional

districts

in

the

state

equal

to

five

31

percent

of

the

total

votes

cast

in

the

district

for

governor

at

32

the

general

election

immediately

preceding

the

filing

of

the

33

petition

in

which

votes

were

cast

for

the

office

of

governor.

34

The

petition

shall

be

submitted

to

the

secretary

of

state

not

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5

less

than

six

months

before

the

next

general

election.

An

1

initiative

petition

proposing

a

law

shall

not

contain

more

than

2

one

subject

which

shall

be

clearly

expressed

in

the

title.

An

3

initiative

petition

proposing

a

law

shall

include

the

enacting

4

clause

“Be

it

enacted

by

the

people

of

the

state

of

Iowa:”.

5

Sec.

3.

Appropriations

by

initiative

——

effective

date

of

6

initiated

laws

——

conflicting

laws

concurrently

adopted.

An

7

initiative

shall

not

appropriate

any

moneys

other

than

new

8

revenues

created

and

provided

for

in

the

initiative.

Except

as

9

otherwise

provided

in

this

Constitution,

a

law

or

amendment

to

10

the

Constitution

proposed

by

an

initiative

takes

effect

when

11

approved

by

a

majority

of

the

votes

cast

thereon,

unless

a

12

later

date

is

specified

in

the

initiative.

When

conflicting

13

laws

or

amendments

to

the

Constitution

are

approved

at

the

same

14

election,

the

law

or

amendment

to

the

Constitution

receiving

15

the

largest

affirmative

vote

shall

prevail.

16

Sec.

4.

Referendum

——

exceptions

——

procedure.

A

referendum

17

to

approve

a

bill

passed

by

the

general

assembly,

other

than

18

laws

necessary

for

the

immediate

preservation

of

the

public

19

peace,

health,

or

safety

and

laws

making

appropriations

for

the

20

current

expenses

of

the

state

government,

for

the

maintenance

21

of

state

institutions,

or

for

the

support

of

public

schools,

22

may

be

ordered

by

a

petition

signed

by

a

number

of

qualified

23

electors

in

each

of

at

least

three-fourths

of

the

congressional

24

districts

in

the

state

equal

to

five

percent

of

the

total

votes

25

cast

in

the

district

for

governor

at

the

general

election

26

immediately

preceding

the

filing

of

the

petition

in

which

votes

27

were

cast

for

the

office

of

governor.

Referendum

petitions

28

shall

be

filed

with

the

secretary

of

state

not

more

than

29

ninety

days

after

the

final

adjournment

of

the

session

of

the

30

general

assembly

in

which

the

bill

that

is

the

subject

of

the

31

referendum

was

passed.

A

referendum

shall

be

presented

to

the

32

people

at

the

general

election

next

held

after

the

submission

33

of

the

petition

to

the

secretary

of

state.

34

A

bill

referred

to

the

people

is

not

subject

to

approval

or

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veto

by

the

governor

and

the

approval

or

veto

of

a

bill

later

1

referred

to

the

people

shall

be

void.

A

bill

referred

to

the

2

people

shall

take

effect

upon

the

approval

of

the

referendum

3

by

a

majority

of

qualified

electors

who

cast

votes

thereon,

4

regardless

of

any

effective

date

stated

in

the

bill.

5

Sec.

2.

REFERRAL

AND

PUBLICATION.

The

foregoing

proposed

6

amendment

to

the

Constitution

of

the

State

of

Iowa

is

referred

7

to

the

general

assembly

to

be

chosen

at

the

next

general

8

election

for

members

of

the

general

assembly,

and

shall

be

9

published

as

provided

by

law

for

three

months

previous

to

the

10

date

of

that

election.

11

EXPLANATION

12

The

inclusion

of

this

explanation

does

not

constitute

agreement

with

13

the

explanation’s

substance

by

the

members

of

the

general

assembly.

14

This

joint

resolution

proposes

an

amendment

to

the

15

Constitution

of

the

State

of

Iowa

relating

to

citizen

16

initiatives

and

referendums.

The

amendment

creates

a

process

17

to

allow

qualified

electors

to

submit

petitions

to

amend

the

18

Constitution

of

the

State

of

Iowa

and

the

Iowa

Code.

The

19

amendment

requires

a

petition

to

amend

the

Constitution

to

be

20

signed

by

a

number

of

qualified

electors

in

each

of

at

least

21

three-fourths

of

the

congressional

districts

in

the

state

22

equal

to

8

percent

of

the

total

votes

cast

in

the

district

23

for

governor

at

the

preceding

general

election

and

petitions

24

to

amend

the

Iowa

Code

to

be

signed

by

a

number

of

qualified

25

electors

in

each

of

at

least

three-fourths

of

the

congressional

26

districts

in

the

state

equal

to

5

percent

of

the

total

votes

27

cast

in

the

district

for

governor

at

the

preceding

general

28

election.

The

petition

must

be

submitted

to

the

secretary

29

of

state

not

less

than

six

months

before

the

next

general

30

election.

Initiatives

shall

not

appropriate

moneys

not

31

generated

by

the

initiative

and

take

effect

when

approved

by

32

a

majority

of

the

votes

cast

thereon

unless

a

later

date

is

33

provided

for

in

the

initiative.

If

conflicting

amendments

to

34

the

Constitution

or

laws

are

approved

at

the

same

election,

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the

measure

receiving

a

greater

number

of

affirmative

votes

1

prevails.

2

The

amendment

also

creates

a

process

for

the

referral

of

a

3

bill

passed

by

the

general

assembly

to

the

people

for

approval.

4

The

amendment

requires

a

petition

to

approve

a

bill

passed

5

by

the

general

assembly

to

include

signatures

from

a

number

6

of

qualified

electors

in

each

of

at

least

three-fourths

of

7

the

congressional

districts

in

the

state

equal

to

5

percent

8

of

the

total

votes

cast

in

the

district

for

governor

at

the

9

preceding

general

election.

The

petition

must

be

submitted

to

10

the

secretary

of

state

not

later

than

90

days

after

the

final

11

adjournment

of

the

session

during

which

the

general

assembly

12

approved

the

bill.

A

bill

referred

to

the

people

is

not

13

subject

to

approval

or

veto

by

the

governor.

The

initiative

14

excludes

certain

types

of

bills

from

the

referendum

process.

15

The

resolution,

if

adopted,

would

be

published

and

then

16

referred

to

the

next

general

assembly

(92nd)

for

adoption,

17

before

being

submitted

to

the

electorate

for

ratification.

18

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