Erin Murphy

The push back from stakeholders was not as severe in this, the second attempt by Gov. Kim Reynolds to create a statewide ethanol requirement.

The line of succession plan for when an Iowa governor is no longer in office would be clarified under a proposed amendment to the state constitution.

Iowans’ income from retirement programs would no longer be taxed by the state under a legislative proposal from Iowa House Republicans.

To Alex Glenn, the director of human resources for Generation Next child development centers and preschools in Ventral Iowa, the best way to address what stakeholders have called a child care “crisis” is both simple and expensive. “I know this answer’s not going to appease a lot of people, but it’s money,” Glenn said.

The state public health department estimates that deaths in Iowa due to fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, rose from 31 percent of all overdoses in 2016 to 87 percent in 2021.

Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds’ campaign reported raising nearly $4.8 million in donations in 2021. Her highest profile Democratic challenger, Deidre DeJear, reported raising nearly $287,000.

Local governments or law enforcement officers who enforce federal gun regulations would be subject to $50,000 fines under a legislative proposal advanced Wednesday by Iowa Senate Republicans. The proposal, which Senate Republicans have titled the Second Amendment Preservation Act, would nullify any federal gun regulations that exceed Iowa state law.

Attempts in previous years to add requirements for Iowans who receive public benefits like Medicaid and food assistance failed to pass both chambers in the Iowa Legislature. A renewed effort is under way this year, with a new approach: Instead of pushing for just one or two big bills addressing public assistance programs, statehouse Republicans have broken the myriad proposals into a slew of bills running separately.

Iowa House Republican bills aim to tackle staffing, bed shortages

In four years, every Iowan’s income would be taxed at 4 percent under a new proposal from Gov. Kim Reynolds, who introduced her proposed flat tax during her annual condition of the state address to the Iowa Legislature this past week. Flat taxes have their fair share of both supporters and critics.

Educators in Iowa have been relaying their concerns with opening-day remarks made by Republican Iowa Senate President Jake Chapman, who accused teachers of having a “sinister agenda” regarding books in school libraries, Democratic legislative leaders said Thursday.

Iowans placed more than $2 billion in wagers on sporting events in 2021, according to recently published state figures. That number envelopes the $575 million that was bet on sports in 2020.

A four-year transition to a flat state income tax rate of 4 percent, shorting the time Iowans could claim jobless benefits and a new plan for devoting public K-12 for private school tuition are among the proposals introduced Tuesday night by Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds in her charge to state legislators.

During a event conducted over Zoom, individuals shouted and drew a racial epithet and posted an image of a monkey on the shared screen for all participants to see.

Judging by the opening-day remarks delivered Monday by leaders in the Iowa Legislature, Republicans and Democrats have decidedly different views about how to attract more workers and people to Iowa, whose population has been stagnant for a decade.