Government & Politics

Also in the Capitol Notebook: Black Caucus urges public to speak out over anti-DEI measures

A judge said Wednesday he won’t put a temporary hold on a state license for a Cedar Rapids casino, but said Linn County ballot language to allow gambling in the county may have “caused confusion in the mind of the voters.“

Iowa’s four most populous counties – Polk, Linn, Scott and Johnson – would no longer receive state economic development funding under a bill advanced by House lawmakers Wednesday.

Children should be allowed to testify in Iowa courts remotely, rather than being forced to face their alleged abusers — on that, Iowa lawmakers agree. But lawmakers disagree on how exactly to ensure that protection, which was erased by a recent Iowa Supreme Court decision.

Iowa House Republicans continued their efforts to reform higher education policies in the state by passing a series of bills Tuesday aiming to — among other things — further curtail diversity, equity and inclusion programming across not only Iowa’s public universities but its private campuses as well.

During a rally in the Iowa Capitol rotunda, landowners and pipeline opponents urged the Legislature to follow in the footsteps of South Dakota, where Republican Gov. Larry Rhoden recently signed a law banning the use of eminent domain in that state to gain easements for carbon dioxide pipelines.

Cellphones should not be allowed in students’ hands during class or in drivers’ hands while on the road, Iowa state lawmakers decreed Tuesday as they moved the proposals closer to becoming state law.

A federal judge ruled Tuesday that the dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development likely violated the Constitution and blocked billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency from further cuts to the agency.