Articles Tagged: Iowa Legislature

During this year’s legislative session, the Iowa House of Representatives and the governor’s office used an Iowa-based AI-native program to help streamline the legislative process for evaluating and tracking bills, a first for the state.

Iowa’s Forest Reserve Program, which provides a tax incentive for property owners to maintain woodlands, remains intact after this year’s legislative session, but the Iowa Woodland Owners Association anticipates the fight to keep the program to continue.

Landowners impacted by a proposed carbon capture pipeline in Iowa say they are “not going away” and that the debate is “not over” one day after Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds vetoed legislation that sought to limit pipeline projects and the use of eminent domain.

The governor’s office announced Wednesday that Reynolds had signed or vetoed more than 20 bills.

Pharmacy benefit managers — or PBMs — will face new restrictions designed to constrain prescription drug costs and protect rural pharmacies under legislation signed into law Wednesday by Gov. Kim Reynolds.

Aspiring barbers, hairstylists and cosmetologists in Iowa will be allowed to work without a license so long as they are supervised by a licensed barber or beauty professional under legislation signed into law last week by Gov. Kim Reynolds.

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said work requirements are needed to focus Medicaid on those truly in need. A nonpartisan analysis by the state’s Legislative Services Agency projects 32,000 eligible Iowans could lose coverage under the new law.

All forms of cancer will be covered by firefighters’ and other first responders’ disability insurance coverage — rather than only the 14 forms previously covered — under legislation signed into law Friday by Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds.

Iowa businesses will see a $1.2 billion reduction in unemployment insurance taxes over the next five years under legislation signed by Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds on Thursday.

Iowa Senate President Amy Sinclair said Thursday she believes state legislation that would limit eminent domain and regulate hazardous liquid pipelines is unconstitutional and will cost the state money, in both legal fees and missed economic development.

Iowa poll workers will be allowed to challenge a voter at the polls on the basis of their citizenship status under new legislation signed into law Monday by Gov. Kim Reynolds. The new laws also make changes to election recount procedures in the state, ban ranked choice voting and make it harder for third-party groups such as Libertarians to qualify as a major political party in the state.

Iowa Rep. J.D. Scholten said he decided to make his candidacy official after U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst drew national criticism for a comment she made at a town hall in Parkersburg last week. “... I've been thinking about it for a while, but that's when I just said: This is unacceptable and you've gotta jump in," Scholten said of his decision.

Expanding Iowa’s community college offerings to include four-year bachelor’s degrees could address the state’s growing workforce needs, shrink its “educational deserts” in rural communities, and improve earnings for Iowans.

The Gazette explores which issues went unresolved by state lawmakers this year that they likely will face again next year.

Health care organizations want Gov. Kim Reynolds to sign a recently-passed PBM bill into law, saying it will protect pharmacies; business groups want her to veto it, saying it will raise health care costs.