Iowans who lose their jobs for refusing to comply with an employer's COVID-19 vaccination requirement would still be able to collect unemployment benefits under legislation passed Thursday and headed to Gov. Kim Reynolds for her expected signature.
The Iowa Legislature will convene Thursday for its second special session in a month to consider another plan for redrawing boundaries for the state’s legislative and congressional districts.
Lawmakers will consider a second round of proposed maps for the state’s decennial redistricting process.
Many potential candidates want see the new legislative maps and political make-up of districts before putting their names on the 2022 ballot.
“I think one of the problems is social media can be helpful but it's no substitute for what regular journalists do,” he said, adding that it concerns him that some people use social media to circumvent the news media,“ the Cedar Rapids Democrat said.
On Iowa Politics is a weekly news and analysis podcast that aims to re-create the kinds of conversations that happen when you get political reporters from across Iowa together after the day's deadlines have been met.
The plan by the nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency reconfigures the four congressional districts, splitting Linn and Johnson counties, and creating three districts with a nearly equal number of counties while reducing the number of counties in the west-northwest 4th District from 44 in the first plan to 39.
A state agency on Thursday will release a second set of maps revising Iowa’s four congressional districts and legislative boundaries as redistricting moves to the next phase of the process.
The state’s Revenue Estimating Conference during its regular meeting Friday at the Iowa Capitol projected continued growth of 1.5 percent for each of the next two fiscal years, growing a state budget that would surpass the $9 billion mark in the fiscal year that starts in June of 2023.
On Iowa Politics is a weekly news and analysis podcast that aims to re-create the kinds of conversations that happen when you get political reporters from across Iowa together after the day's deadlines have been met.
Iowa Senate Republicans all voted to reject the first set of proposed maps that would redraw statehouse and Congressional boundaries for the next 10 years. All Senate Democrats voted to approve the maps.
While senators are hearing concerns from their constituents over mask mandates and education-related topics, the Senate GOP leader said he expects this week’s special session will be confined to consideration of the proposed redistricting maps only and likely be completed in a day.
Lawmakers will convene Tuesday at the Capitol for a special session of the Iowa Legislature where they will consider the first round of proposed new election boundary maps for the redistricting process.
But legislative Democrats have pressed for more state investments in K-12 education, regent universities, water quality, pandemic recovery and other perceived needs rather than stockpiling money for more tax cuts.
Political considerations — such as whether current lawmakers would have to square off against each other in the next election — should not influence state lawmakers’ votes on proposed new political boundaries in Iowa, Iowa House Speaker Pat Grassley said Friday.
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