Months after Iowa Democrats lost their first-in-the-nation status in the presidential nominating process, Iowa House Republicans are now pushing for more changes.Republican lawmakers say they are fighting to stay first, but Democrats worry it will unravel their plans.The two major changes proposed by Iowa House Republicans in HSB 245 would require in-person caucus participation and voters to register with their party 70 days before the caucus.Iowa Democrats have proposed a vote-by-mail process instead of the traditional in-person structure.House Republicans say a mail-in caucus process is too similar to a primary. New Hampshire is required by law to hold the first in the nation primary. Iowa has to hold a caucus in order to stay first. Republicans argue that without this new bill, both parties are in jeopardy of losing first in the nation status."If we do nothing, and the current DNC proposal before them by the state of Iowa is adopted, we lose first-in-the-nation status period," Republican Rep. Bobby Kaufmann said.Iowa Democrats say the mail-in change is aimed at making the caucuses more inclusive and doesn't pose a threat."It is a party event and the parties have the right to decide who gets to show up. I think we have the right to decide how we run them," Democratic Party Rep. Nielsen said.Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart released the following statement Wednesday:"This legislation proposed by Republicans is a surprise move. It’s disappointing that Republicans proposed this bill with no input from Democrats and it is potentially damaging to the history of how Iowa’s parties have always worked together regarding the Iowa Caucuses. Iowa Democrats will do what’s best for Iowa and that means moving forward with an inclusive caucus process."In a release, Iowa Republican Party Chair Jeff Kauffman expressed support for the new House plan, writing in part, "Without commonsense intervention from the legislature, we risk losing our state's cherished, First-in-the-Nation Caucus status."New Hampshire's GOP Chair Chris Ager said in a tweet on Wednesday that if Iowa moves in the direction of primary balloting instead of a caucus, New Hampshire law would kick in.That would mean New Hampshire would try to go before Iowa for both parties.Ager screenshotted an email from the New Hampshire Secretary of State David Scanlan, saying any change for Iowa that moves toward a primary, like mail-in or absentee ballots, would trigger that law.In an email to KCCI sister station WMUR, Scanlan confirmed that the email was his. The bill passed out of subcommittee Wednesday. It still needs full House and Senate approval before it can be signed into law.