Annual Day on the Hill

Welcome to the

IMHCA Day on the Hill 2025

Thursday, February 27th, 2025

Save the date for April 2, 2025 for the Mental Health Day on the Hill.

At our annual Day on the Hill, IMHCA strategically connects with legislators to promote our legislative agenda. We ask legislators for what we need in the field to do our best work and promote growth in the field. Please consider joining us to advocate, work as a grassroots organization, and build confidence in your ability to communicate with your legislators.

IMHCA decided to cancel the February 27th, 2025 scheduled day on the hill due to the monumental legislation being debated along with the size and scope of the anticipated protest by people opposing the legislation. HF 583 and SF 418 strips basic human rights from Iowa Code. The public hearing took place from 9:30 am – 11:00 am. It was disappointing to do cancel, but IMHCA was happy that there was a crowd to speak and protest against the changes proposed to Iowa Civil Rights. Thank you for showing up, contacting your legislators, and being a part of the law making process.

IMHCA had a presence to oppose this legislation today. We were able to introduce ourselves to some legislators, wave to some who knew us from afar, and collaborate with the NAACP on strategies to attract young people to our profession. The results of today’s House and Senate votes were in favor of passing the changes to Iowa Civil Rights Code, but we were together and played a vital role in the legislative process.

The Iowa Mental Health Counselors Association (IMHCA) is a membership organization which represents over 800 licensed mental health counselors all across the state.  IMHCA stands strongly against this legislation, and urges all legislators to oppose this bill. Removing gender identity from the civil rights code opens the door for an already marginalized group to face increased stigma and discrimination. The negative impact of politics on all youth, and especially LGBTQ+ youth is pronounced, and contributes to those youth and their families leaving states which are not LGBTQ+ friendly (The Trevor Project, 2025), and alarmingly, anti-transgender laws have been attributable to rises in suicide attempts of trans youth, by as much as 72% in some states (Lee et al., 2024).

Given that we are at a time of unprecedented mental health crises, removing basic civil rights protections is undoubtedly going to contribute to increased suffering for even more Iowans. Our membership will be directly impacted by trying to keep up with the ongoing and urgent increases in demand for mental health care as a result of this unnecessary attack on the basic civil rights of our fellow Americans. Please oppose this legislation and maintain civil rights protections for all Iowans.

Bill Tracker Updated 2/25/2025:

Please see our newsletter for legislation that we are watching and talking points for Thursday.

Advocacy Training

Prepare for the day by catching up on some of our advocacy trainings.

2025 IMHCA Legislative Tookit

Use this tool to help you plan for the day. Everything from a list of legislators to parking is included in this toolkit. You can create your own advocacy plan.