Top Iowa House Dem says his party will focus on affordability

Brian Meyer says his caucus wants to propose legislation to make things cheaper for Iowans.

New Iowa House Minority Leader Brian Meyer has three focus areas leading up to the 2026 legislative session: Education, lowering the cost of living, and making the Hawkeye State the best place to live and raise a family.

Meyer, a Democrat from Des Moines, shared those insights with Starting Line as members of the Iowa Legislature prepare for the start of the new session on Jan. 12.

This will be Meyer’s first session as minority leader. Meyer has served in the legislature since 2013. In May, he replaced state Rep. Jennifer Konfrst of Windsor Heights, who is running for Congress in Iowa’s 3rd District.

“I took it on because I recognized the real challenge here in Iowa, which is affordability,” said Meyer when asked why he wanted to become leader. “When you are running for a leadership position, you have to make it clear to the caucus on what your plans are.

“I made it very clear last December when I became whip, that we need to focus—as Democrats—on affordability, and helping people just live their lives in ways that they can actually afford to do.”

House Democrats have a few legislative proposals in mind to help make Iowa more affordable. Spearheaded by state Rep. Dave Jacoby of Coralville, the caucus plans to unveil its plan to lower property taxes on Jan. 5.

Lowering property taxes is also a high priority for Iowa House Republicans, who maintain a 66-33 edge over Democrats in the chamber. That advantage will grow by one when Wendy Larson, who won a Dec. 9 special election for House District 7, is sworn in.

In addition to lower property tax rates, Meyer said the second part of Democrats’ plan is to retool the Iowa FirstHome Program, which provides first-time homebuyers with a $2,500 grant toward either their closing costs or their down payment.

Meyer would like to see the grant increased to $10,000, and he thinks the state should do a better job of advertising the program.

“We’re going to try and get more young people into their first home,” Meyer said. “I think one of the easiest ways into the middle class is to buy your first home.”

House Democrats also plan to introduce legislation to address worker misclassification. While Meyer did not provide specific examples, companies like Uber have long faced accusations of misclassifying their drivers as independent contractors rather than employees.

“We have a real problem in the state with people being misclassified as consultants when they’re really employees,” Meyer said. “One of the things we can do is crack down on that, increase fines, make it a criminal penalty.”

Another proposal that will be introduced later, as part of a package of bills aimed at helping working families, is to raise the minimum wage. Like the federal rate, Iowa’s minimum wage is just $7.25 an hour. A few years ago, when local governments voted to raise the minimum wage in their jurisdictions, Republican lawmakers passed a new law to make that illegal.

Besides lower taxes, Meyer is unsure of what Iowa House Republicans’ priorities will be this session, since they’ve seemingly passed every major culture war bill over the years—ranging from anti-diversity efforts and book bans to stripping trans Iowans of civil rights protections.

“It looks like, to me, that they are focused on a library book in Sioux County or Sioux Center,” Meyer said. “Look, we are laser-focused on the cost of living and affordability. I think they are going to go off on a tangent, again, on social issues that are completely absurd; we are going to focus on these things that actually matter to Iowans.”