Government & Politics

According to the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, 14 percent of Iowa’s 422 nursing facilities were cited for insufficient staffing in fiscal 2023.

The former college campus, located on Lower Muscatine Road, will be rezoned to general industrial, as requested by Procter & Gamble, which bought the property in February and is planning an expansion.

A bill requiring Iowa schools to adopt new social studies and civics education standards with a focus on Western civilization, U.S. and Iowa history is headed to Gov. Kim Reynolds to be signed into law.

Iowa’s majority Republican lawmakers are angling for a quick wrap-up to this year’s legislative session, as they look toward funding the state government and cutting taxes, along with the last remaining policy items on their agenda.

Johnson County officials have described the proposed budget for next fiscal year as one that includes minor changes, as spending for programs and services were adjusted, but not cut.

After cutting more than $1 million in proposed spending to keep up with the fiscal toll of state tax reform, the Linn County Board of Supervisors will adopt a fiscal 2025 budget that scales back community grant programs and other discretionary items but bumps elected official and staff pay.

Debi Durham, director of the Iowa Economic Development Authority, told The Gazette last year that the state missed out on luring a large solar energy manufacturer to the state because of a lack of the kind of incentives in the agency’s proposal.

Also, Iowa police chiefs raise concerns over new illegal immigration law