Articles Tagged: Iowa Legislature

Gov. Kim Reynolds said Wednesday that “everything is on the table” when it comes to three competing tax plans that will ultimately have to become one.

The feedback from various business groups, conservative tax policy organizations, and water quality and environmental advocates was not unanimous, but certainly largely in support of Republican state legislators’ varied proposals to lower the state tax on income to a single rate; reduce the state tax on businesses; and create a shift in taxes that provides funding for the long-starved state fund for conservation and water quality projects.

In line with a new state law and Board of Regents policy, Iowa’s public universities are rolling out a mandatory free speech training program Wednesday that all students, faculty and staff must complete by the end of the spring semester.

Individuals with a bachelor’s degree and three years of work experience would have a faster route to a teacher’s license under a proposal introduced by Republicans in the Iowa House.

The Iowa-based gasoline and convenience store company has proposed legislation that would make it legal for 16- and 17-year-old workers to operate dough rollers.

Sen. Jack Whitver said he thinks the topic of books some consider vulgar should be addressed through transparency and having review process.

On this week’s edition of the On Iowa Politics Podcast, fair and flat, fly the bird, and the Supreme Court.

Republican leaders in both the Senate and House have said they expect to move quickly on the legislative process for their respective plans, likely starting each next week.

Cedar Rapids native Austin Frerick says he will fight for a fair and progressive tax structure and to level the playing field for locally owned farms, restaurants and businesses so they can compete against foreign corporations.

Jack Whitver, the Republican Senate majority leader from Ankeny, said he believes the proposal aligns with the tax plan that Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds’ proposed earlier this month.

Four years after lower-than-requested state funding forced Iowa State University to downsize its new Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, ISU is returning to lawmakers this session seeking support for a “phase two” of the project.

Among the proposals this year are bills that would require cities to prove there is a public safety need for where they place traffic cameras, and limit enforcement to speeding violations of 20 miles per hour or more over the speed limit and cap the amount of revenue an agency can generate from tickets.

Requests for critical stress management debriefings tripled in 2021, Director Stephan Bayens said Wednesday.

In Iowa, last year, there were 373 crashes directly related to distracted driving resulting in six fatalities and more than $4 million in property damage, Iowa State Patrol Maj. Mark Stine told lawmakers.

The push back from stakeholders was not as severe in this, the second attempt by Gov. Kim Reynolds to create a statewide ethanol requirement.