Articles Tagged: Iowa Senate

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.

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.

Four Iowans opposed to an 11,600-head feedlot in northeast Iowa filed an Iowa Senate ethics complaint against state Sen. Dan Zumbach, saying Zumbach used his position to pressure state employees to approve the feedlot owned by his son-in-law.

The line of succession plan for when an Iowa governor is no longer in office would be clarified under a proposed amendment to the state constitution.

Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds’ campaign reported raising nearly $4.8 million in donations in 2021. Her highest profile Democratic challenger, Deidre DeJear, reported raising nearly $287,000.

Local governments or law enforcement officers who enforce federal gun regulations would be subject to $50,000 fines under a legislative proposal advanced Wednesday by Iowa Senate Republicans. The proposal, which Senate Republicans have titled the Second Amendment Preservation Act, would nullify any federal gun regulations that exceed Iowa state law.

Educators in Iowa have been relaying their concerns with opening-day remarks made by Republican Iowa Senate President Jake Chapman, who accused teachers of having a “sinister agenda” regarding books in school libraries, Democratic legislative leaders said Thursday.

Judging by the opening-day remarks delivered Monday by leaders in the Iowa Legislature, Republicans and Democrats have decidedly different views about how to attract more workers and people to Iowa, whose population has been stagnant for a decade.

Over nearly a quarter of a century, Sen. Joe Bolkcom has found that representing Iowa City to be the best job in Iowa politics because his constituents have given him the freedom and support to tackle issues other legislators haven’t been able to address because “they come from districts where it's harder to be outspoken.”

Bolkcom, who served on the Johnson County Board of Supervisors, before being elected to the Iowa Senate in 1998, will not run for re-election in 2022. In the Legislature, he worked on anti-poverty and environmental issues.

The committee lacks jurisdiction to act, one member said.

Not all lawmakers responded to the Missed Vote Iowa scorecard, but among those who did, COVID-19 and military duty were among the reasons cited.

Ready to do “bigger things, Mathis says her priority will be reducing health care costs, especially prescription drug costs, expanding access across rural areas and increasing mental health services.