The Iowa DOGE Task Force also discussed possible education recommendations, including making portions of teacher pay merit-based, and consolidating rural school districts as populations in the least-populated areas of Iowa continue to decline.
Iowa City will nearly double the amount of money it provides to area nonprofits after the city council voted Tuesday to increase funding in the city’s Aid to Agencies fund by $350,000, to nearly $1.1 million.
Iowa Rep. Eddie Andrews is the third Republican to officially file to run in Iowa’s open-seat campaign for governor in 2026. At his campaign announcement Wednesday, he vowed to take on money in politics.
While the U.S. economy looks good underneath the surface, uncertainty around the impact of Trump’s tariffs and trade policy has kicked up a “bunch of question marks in the air, you know, dust in the air that makes the visibility low” for the Fed to consider lowering short-term borrowing costs, said Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Austan Goolsbee.
Iowa U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst is serving her second, six-year term representing Iowa in the U.S. Senate and is up for re-election in 2026. She has not formally launched a re-election campaign, but her announcement Wednesday of a campaign manager sends a clear signal that the Republican incumbent is building an operation to run for a third term.
The Iowa City Council is moving forward with plans to put a 1 percent local-option sales tax on the general election ballot this fall. If a majority of voters give their approval, the tax could raise as much as $8-10 million each year.
The water quality concerns in were highlighted during a roundtable held by Democratic Iowa State Auditor Rob Sand’s gubernatorial campaign Tuesday at the Exira Public Library, where he spoke to local residents and officials.
Iowa’s senior senator said the U.S. Senate hopes to send the president a bill by July 4
In other campaign news, Congressman and gubernatorial candidate Randy Feenstra said his campaign has raised more than $3.2 million.
In other Iowa Capitol news, the state’s new unemployment system went live Tuesday
Julie Stauch, of West Des Moines, is the third Democrat to formally announce her candidacy for governor, following state auditor Rob Sand. Stauch, a consultant with political campaign experience, publicly announced her campaign Tuesday.
District 1 is one of five Cedar Rapids City Council seats up for election this fall. The window for candidates to file to run for office opens Aug. 25 and closes Sept. 18.
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