Articles Tagged: Iowa Legislature

New policy wins — including $150 million for residency expansion and new prior-authorization rules — are giving Iowa physicians hope, but health leaders warns real improvements will take years.

“I can assure you that the legislators that passed this, myself and the Board of Regents are extremely sensitive to what you have just indicated,” said Regent and advisory council chair Christine Hensley. “We also understand that this center is really being watched throughout the country. And We will not fail. We will not fail.”

Republican has decided to run again for a seat in the Iowa Legislature after spending the last few months visiting counties and speaking with Iowans.

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds intends to put forward a proposal to change Iowa's property tax code, she said Tuesday after a roundtable discussion in Davenport.

As Iowa researchers continue the search for a new funding source for the state’s largest water sensor network — which provides real-time data about nitrate, phosphorus and flow levels in the state’s rivers and streams — the network’s director said Iowa’s nitrate issues are continuing to expand.

Among the questions a new University of Iowa Center for Intellectual Freedom will tackle at its inaugural event Dec. 5-6 are “What is wrong with universities?”, “How did we end up here?” and “Can universities be reformed?”

The first meeting of a new Legislature-imposed University of Iowa Center for Intellectual Freedom advisory council has been set for next week, on Tuesday, over Zoom — meaning the half who live outside Iowa won’t need to travel to the state.

Group says new law makes it ‘harder for Iowans to participate’ in 5-cent deposit redemption program

Proposed bylaws for the University of Iowa’s new legislature-mandated Center for Intellectual Freedom require its 26-member advisory council to meet at least once a semester — plus any special meetings the chair or executive committee call.

A federal judge has granted Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield a preliminary injunction temporarily blocking enforcement of parts of Iowa’s new pharmacy benefit manager reform law.

In line with legislation requiring Iowa’s public universities to start offering shorter paths to a degree — launching students into the workforce more quickly — the University of Northern Iowa this month debuted a new elementary education “degree in 3.”

Iowa’s Board of Regents for the first time is seeking a firm, rather than a single person, to serve as its legislative liaison and state relations representative for the University of Iowa in dealings with the Legislature and executive branch.

With a growing chorus of constituents urging Iowa’s Board of Regents to either sign or reject the Trump Administration’s proposed “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education,” a board spokesman confirmed, “We are reviewing the compact.”

Senate File 75 requires Iowa counties home to one of Iowa’s three Regent universities to elect their county supervisors by districts, rather than at-large. All three counties — Johnson, Black Hawk and Story — currently have Democratic-leaning boards and elect supervisors countywide.

Following the arrest of former Des Moines superintendent Ian Roberts, State Auditor Rob Sand will review how Iowa licenses educators after receiving a qualifying legislative request from a Des Moines lawmaker.