Articles Tagged: Iowa Senate

The 43-year-old Jack Whitver says he is undergoing radiation treatments and does not plan to step down from his leadership in the Iowa Legislature.

How much are Iowa lawmakers paid? And what other perks do they receive as elected officials? Curious Iowa looks at what it’s like to serve in the Iowa Legislature, and how these citizen legislators balance careers and family with their responsibilities at the statehouse.

Here’s a look at which legislation was approved during the 2024 session of the Iowa Legislature.

A bill requiring Iowa schools to adopt new social studies and civics education standards with a focus on Western civilization, U.S. and Iowa history is headed to Gov. Kim Reynolds to be signed into law.

Another bill would add penalties for cities, counties that regulate firearms

Senate removes school security personnel grant program

The bill, which would temporarily lift limits that would apply to the Boy Scouts, now heads to the Iowa House for consideration. Lawmakers face an April 19 deadline.

The bill would remove the most senior judge in the district from the judicial nominating commission. Instead, the governor would be allowed to appoint an additional member. With the addition, the governor would be able to appoint six — or a majority — of the members to each judicial nominating commission.

Senate lawmakers advanced a bill Wednesday that would lift Iowa’s statute of limitations on civil claims on sexual abuse to allow survivors of sexual abuse in the Boy Scouts of America to take full advantage of bankruptcy proceedings against the organization.

Senate Democrats, who no longer have the numbers needed to reject gubernatorial nominations, opposed McKenzie Snow’s nomination over her lack of public education experience.

The bill’s supporters say it is needed to close a legal loophole and help pesticide manufacturers manage the costs of weed killers, while critics say Iowans who get sick from pesticides should have legal recourse, including over labeling.

House and Senate versions vary in coverage

A bill in the Iowa Legislature would expand the state’s “dram shop” laws, which impose civil liability for selling alcohol to a visibly intoxicated or underage persons, to apply to consumable hemp products.

The bill would allow 14- and 15-year-olds to drive to any kind of job, not just farming, following a law passed last year that allows younger teens to work longer hours and later in the day. The bill reduces the distance a teen can drive under the “special minor’s restricted license” from 50 to 25 miles to school or a job. And driving cannot be part of the work.

The Iowa Senate will vote whether to confirm former Trump administration education official McKenzie Snow as director of the Iowa Department of Education