Articles Tagged: Iowa Legislature

A state commission will submit a report to the Iowa Legislature that indicates Iowans who offered an opinion support the first set of maps drawn by a nonpartisan state agency.

A strategic planning survey Iowa’s Board of Regents Office in June sent to more 230 Iowans — including every lawmaker, every member of the governor’s staff and every state department head — received 75 responses, including just 17 from the 200-plus lawmakers and state staffers who got it.

Iowa City would switch congressional districts from the 2nd to the 1st.

Ahead of public hearings, those commenting say congressional, legislative maps meet standards for population equality, keeping political subdivisions intact, contiguity and compactness.

As a new law out of Texas opens the door to stricter abortion policies nationwide, one Iowa woman who obtained an abortion in 2017 says she fears what further bans in the state could mean for other women.

Regardless of whether these maps are approved, they provide another illustration of how Iowa’s population --- like so many other states’ --- is shifting from rural to urban and suburban areas.

The day the redistricting plan is releases is “kind of like a kid with Christmas. You don't know what you're going to get,” House Speaker Pat Grassley said.

No current members of the U.S. House are thrown into a district with another incumbent. However, Ashley Hinson and Marianette Miller-Meeks would be in unfamiliar territory. Their would-be Democratic challengers — state Sen. Liz Mathis of Hiawatha and state Rep. Christina Bohannan of Iowa City — both would be in the new 1st District. Under the current map, Mathis is in the 1st and Bohannan in the 2nd.

The maps, based on population changes between the 2010 and 2020 censuses, will be released at 10 a.m. Thursday in a digital format, which will be available at www.thegazette.com.

Redistricting occurs once every 10 years after the national census has been completed to draw new congressional and legislative districts based on population changes. Using criteria established in the U.S. and Iowa constitutions and state law, the goal is to make the districts as close to equal as possible.

Democratic legislative leaders endorsed Biden’s coronavirus vaccination mandates as a response to failed GOP leadership while the Republican Party of Iowa warned the president is “striking a dangerous authoritarian tone.”

Iowa meat lockers that make in-demand specialty products often struggle to get enough skilled workers. Which is why the Iowa Legislature created a task force to study whether the state should start an artisanal butchery program at a state community college or university.

After months of decline following the winter spike, COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are once again rising in Iowa and many other areas of the country. Both measures are higher than they have been since January, which was the tail end of the pandemic’s worst and deadliest stretch so far.

The Legislative Services Agency plans to release its first redistricting map by Sept. 16. An advisory panel has two weeks to gather public input before recommending a plan to the Legislature, which must wait three days before taking an up-or-down vote on it.

DES MOINES (AP) — Sixty Iowa Republican legislators are asking the Iowa Supreme Court to overturn a 2018 ruling that declared abortion a fundamental right under the state Constitution.