Articles Tagged: Iowa Legislature

Jack Whitver, the Iowa Senate Majority Leader who has been battling a brain tumor for more than a year, will not seek re-election and will step aside as leader, he announced Tuesday.

New public employees would be given the opportunity to opt out of the state retirement program, and teachers would receive financial bonuses for student achievement under recommendations being put forward by Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds’ citizen-run task force on government efficiency.

Catelin Drey, a northwestern Iowa Democrat who won an August special election and broke the Republican supermajority in the Iowa Senate, was sworn in at the Iowa Capitol Monday morning.

The Board of Regents’ pared-down funding ask comes after lawmakers rejected its $30.3 million request last session and instead offered a $4 million bump, largely supporting legislative priorities and ignoring university appeals.

Iowa students are beginning their second school year under a new Iowa law that defines chronic absenteeism as missing 10 percent of days in a grading period. During the first year of the law, the majority of charges for truancy were dismissed in Linn and Johnson counties as families made an effort to improve their child’s school attendance.

Republican legislative leaders said they will use money from the state’s $2 billion general fund surplus and $4 billion in the Taxpayer Relief Fund to cover the difference between how much revenue the state takes in and how much it’s budgeted to spend.

The campaign for Iowa Senate District 1 lasted two months and cost more than $100,000 in total campaign spending and involved tens of thousands of volunteers. And as of last Tuesday, the Democrat stands as the winner, breaking the GOP supermajority in the Iowa Senate and flipping the seat from R to D.

On the eve of a Board of Regents vote to change its academic freedom and class content policies to satisfy legislative concerns about “indoctrination,” the national Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression — or FIRE — reached out with a plea.

With the buzz surrounding plans in Texas and California to carve up state maps in a tit-for-tat redistricting battle, one curious Iowan asked The Gazette: Could the same happen in Iowa?

Iowa schools — particularly those in districts with fewer than 1,000 students — are the “lifeblood” of their communities. But student numbers are declining, and data shows that trend will only intensify in the coming years. Many school leaders are turning to modern facilities, career education and innovation to attract and retain students.

For the first time in two years, the three-person state panel that regulates Iowa’s public utilities held a general, public meeting — and Iowa landowners who are opposed to a hazardous liquid pipeline and have been critical of the panel’s approval of the project did not miss the opportunity.

Iowa state Rep. Lindsay James, a Democrat from Dubuque, launched a campaign to seek her party’s nomination to challenge Republican incumbent U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson for Northeast Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District seat.

Cities across Eastern Iowa are contemplating how best to promote transparency and community engagement in policing in light of a new state law outlawing most citizen review boards.

Given changes threatening higher education norms — and the University of Iowa’s “strong financial position today” — the campus on Thursday announced a new strategic initiative focused on increasing revenue and improving operational efficiency.

Republican House Speaker Pat Grassley and other statehouse leaders say they have no interest in pursuing changes to the state-run retirement program for public employees despite a proposal from a state government efficiency panel last week.