James Q. Lynch

Cedar Rapids City Council member Ashley Vanorny was among speakers Monday at a “People’s Condition of the State” event hosted Progress Iowa and featuring representative from a number of Democratic-leaning organizations.

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.

“I think there's going to be an effort to push for everything that's on the agenda,” University of Northern Iowa political scientist Chris Larimer said. “I think they're going to push on tax cuts, maybe more easing of gun restrictions and kind of waiting and seeing what they're going to do on abortion” in anticipation of a United States Supreme Court decision on a Mississippi abortion law.

Police investigate as wrong-day driver being evaluated.

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Along the way, however, there are any number of ideas and issues that can disrupt, delay and derail the familiar routine of a legislative session. Often, they are the same issues from year-to-year: abortion; gun rights; traffic cameras; gambling.

Justin Wasson, 33, is running in the rural Linn and Benton counties district, which includes Central City, Bertram, Vinton, Ely, Fairfax, Belle Plaine, Mount Vernon and Van Horne. The founder and owner of Affordable Pressure Washing in Cedar Rapids says he wants to take his experience cleaning up messes to the Statehouse.

Sen. Chuck Grassley says Senate Republicans see the $1.8 trillion package of social and environmental initiatives as unnecessary and inflationary.

The state has awarded $14.8 million to 4,608 residential projects and more than $26.7 million to 2,666 business installations. The average residential credit has grown from $1,850 in 2012 to $3,215 in 2021. The average business credits have increased from $7,997 to $9,990.

The race for Iowa attorney general in 2022 will be about “who is the best lawyer to stand up and advocate for Iowans, who will work hard for them and defend the issues that they care about,” according to Brenna Bird.

Lawmakers must address children’s needs, school funding, opportunities for working Iowans and legislative transparency, first-term Democrat says.

Vacant buildings aren’t cheap to keep up, lawmakers found learned. An impetus for legislation in 2019 was learning the state was spending about $65,000 a year for upkeep at the former penitentiary at Fort Madison.

As president of a national attorneys general group, Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller wants "a better and quicker early warning system for consumers on the basic fundamental frauds,” such as Social Security and IRS fraud and utility shutoffs.

“Can’t just continue to throw money at it,” a lawmaker says, but another its a classic case of legislators “kicking the can down the road ...spending money on it as we're kicking it.”