With lobbyists for Iowa’s public universities lingering in an “undecided” state on the dozens of bills introduced this session angling to reshape higher education, the Board of Regents this week will consider creating a new “legislative committee” tasked with taking a position on pending legislation.
Iowa prosecutors proposed a bill to make criminal groping a serious misdemeanor, which carries up to a year in jail -- but they had no idea it would face such pushback in the state House and Senate.
Should the bill pass and be signed into law, Iowa would become the first state in the nation to remove a protected class from a state’s civil rights act, a legal expert says.
Erin Merryn, who has worked to get similar laws passed in 38 states, testified this week at the Iowa Capitol during a legislative hearing on an Iowa bill
Some of the proposals by Democrats include capping rent increases, creating an affordable housing tax credit program and providing partial refunds for denied rental applications.
Also, state lawmakers are considering taxes on vape products
This week on the show, Gov. Kim Reynolds may have accidentally announced her re-election campaign, Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks is getting a primary rematch, and legislative proposals to ditch the outdoors and recreation trust fund and remove gender identity from the Iowa Civil Rights Act.
Also in the Capitol Notebook: A bill criminalizing ‘smuggling’ of noncitizens advances in Iowa House.
State and local law enforcement officers in Iowa would have to assist U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in apprehending and detaining individuals who are in the country illegally under a bill in the Iowa Legislature. Everyone who spoke at a subcommittee hearing Thursday was either opposed to the bill or undecided.
Gender identity was added to the Iowa Civil Rights Act in 2007; a bill introduced Thursday by a Republican state lawmaker would remove gender identity as a protected class
The bills proposed by Gov. Kim Reynolds would launch a new $16 million grant program to provide three-year grants of up to $100,000 to preschool providers — typically school districts — and child care providers to provide wraparound services for working families.
The legislation would allow Pate’s office to work with state, federal and private agencies to seek information that will help his office determine registered voters’ citizenship
While a proposed bill in the Iowa legislature would not prevent the development of a Cedar Rapids casino, backers worry it would prohibit the city of Cedar Rapids from using a primary funding source to pay for needed road improvements and flood control measures tied to the project, but which benefit the larger surrounding area.
The Iowa Senate State Government Subcommittee on Wednesday advanced Senate Joint Resolution 6, which would initiate the process of passing a state constitutional amendment to replace the Natural Resource and Outdoor Recreation Trust Fund first established in 2010.
Also, Iowa Senators advance a proposed state constitutional amendment on hunting and fishing
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