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Read. Follow. Verify.Iowa Senate File 553 restricts Department of Natural Resources from buying real property at public auction
Last action · June 16, 2025: Referred to Natural Resources and Environment. S.J. 1058 .
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What This Bill Would Do
Senate File 553 prohibits the Iowa Department of Natural Resources from acquiring real property at s or paying more than to nonprofits that bought property at auction. The measure requires the department to obtain real property exclusively from willing donors or sellers free from department compulsion.
Limits the methods and pricing by which state environmental agencies can expand public landholdings, shifting property acquisition entirely to voluntary private transactions.
- Senate File 553 originated as Senate Study Bill 1198 through the Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Environment in Iowa. context
Who It Would Affect
Groups the bill's text would affect if enacted, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
department
The department must alter its real estate acquisition methods by ending public auction purchases and restricting purchases to willing sellers at or below appraised value.
willing seller
Private property owners retain the right to voluntarily sell land to the department without departmental compulsion.
Key Facts
- The department is prohibited from acquiring real property available for sale at a public auction.
- Property acquisition is restricted exclusively to willing donors or willing sellers under no compulsion by the department.
- The department cannot pay more than the appraised value to a nonprofit corporation that directly purchased real property at a public auction.
- The definition of auction includes electronic auctions, sealed bid auctions, and conventional oral auctions.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can the department buy property at a public auction?
How is the department allowed to acquire real property?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
Currently passed chamber. The next step in the legislative lifecycle is Law.
Procedural history
12 actions- Jun 16, 2025SenateCommitteeReferred to Natural Resources and Environment. S.J. 1058 .
- Mar 6, 2025SenateCommittee report, approving bill. S.J. 439 .
- Mar 6, 2025SenateIntroducedIntroduced, placed on calendar. S.J. 431 .
- Mar 5, 2025Iowa LegislatureCommittee report approving bill, renumbered as SF 553 .
- Mar 4, 2025Iowa LegislatureSubcommittee recommends amendment and passage.
- Mar 4, 2025Iowa LegislatureSubcommittee recommends passage.
Show 6 earlier actions
- Mar 3, 2025Iowa LegislatureSubcommittee Meeting: Upon Adjournment Room 217 Conference Room.
- Mar 3, 2025Iowa LegislatureSubcommittee: Shipley, Staed, and Sweeney.
- Mar 3, 2025Iowa LegislatureIntroducedIntroduced, referred to Natural Resources and Environment.
- Mar 3, 2025HouseSubcommittee Meeting: 03/04/2025 8:45AM House Lounge 2.
- Mar 3, 2025HouseSubcommittee: Mommsen, Gjerde and Harris. H.J. 488 .
- Mar 3, 2025HouseIntroducedIntroduced, referred to Natural Resources. H.J. 484 .
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Elimination of Public Auction Purchases for State Conservation
The measure shifts state property acquisition policy away from competitive public bidding toward strictly voluntary transactions.
Connected Entities
Sources
www.legis.iowa.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance60How much this matters to a regular citizen
- Controversy45Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment5Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz25Current news / social attention level
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