Statewide Iowa (RI) — Iowa’s state and local governments, public and private schools, and public universities would have to check two federal databases to ensure all new employees are authorized to work in the United States under a bill on its way to the governor.
That part of the bill was drafted in response to last September’s arrest of the Des Moines superintendent, who has pleaded guilty to falsely claiming to be a U.S. citizen. The bill also makes it a crime to use someone else’s Social Security number to get a job, and an Iowa employer that hires a person they know is using someone else’s Social Security number could be fined $10,000.
Representative Brooke Boden, a Republican from Indianola, says those are important guardrails.
The bill requires Iowa’s Secretary of State to check the federal government’s SAVE system to verify that people who register to vote in Iowa are U.S. citizens.
Representative Heather Matson, a Democrat from Ankeny, says the SAVE database is not error-proof, and some eligible Iowa voters will be falsely flagged as non-citizens.
Representative Charley Thomson, a Republican from Clear Lake who’s a lawyer, says it’s clear there will be lawsuits filed to try to overturn parts of the legislation, so there’s a special clause in the bill.
The 2026 legislative session could be wrapping up soon. However, the House and Senate have produced vastly different property tax plans, and private negotiations have not yet yielded a final bill.
KIWA Staff Photo
