Maya Marchel Hoff, Gazette-Lee Des Moines Bureau

Transgender and nonbinary Iowans will see their legal protections weakened this week when a law removing gender identity from the Iowa Civil Rights Act goes into effect.

Iowa State Auditor and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Rob Sand rebuked party labels and fielded questions during a town hall Wednesday in Waukee. It was the first stop of 100 that Sand will make across the state this summer and fall. He’s slated to visit all of Iowa’s 99 counties, including two stops in Lee County, to its two county seats.

The executive director of anti-abortion advocacy group Pulse Life Advocates said anti-abortion activists still have more work left to do.

Iowa will receive $37.8 million in opioid settlement funds after the state signed onto a settlement agreement with OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma and its owners, the Sackler Family, on Monday, resolving thousands of opioid lawsuits nationwide.

Gov. Kim Reynolds vetoed legislation last week that would have allowed doctors to prescribe synthetic psilocybin — the active component of "magic mushrooms" — in Iowa if the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approves the substance.

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 Gov. Kim Reynolds approved the full state standings budget, Senate File 659, Wednesday after emergency response systems officials asked her to veto a provision over concerns it would lead to budget uncertainty for local 911 boards.

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

Fifty-six million dollars in opioid settlement funds will be distributed after Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds on Friday signed into law legislation that outlines how the money will be spent, along with 24 other bills.

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.

The Iowa DOGE Task Force also discussed possible education recommendations, including making portions of teacher pay merit-based, and consolidating rural school districts as populations in the least-populated areas of Iowa continue to decline.

The water quality concerns in were highlighted during a roundtable held by Democratic Iowa State Auditor Rob Sand’s gubernatorial campaign Tuesday at the Exira Public Library, where he spoke to local residents and officials.

Iowa U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst was being criticized Friday after a comment she made earlier in the day during a town hall meeting in Parkersburg. While answering a question about proposed cuts to Medicaid, a member of the audience yelled “people will die.” Ernst responded, “Well, we all are going to die.”

Republican Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, who was in Davenport for a campaign fundraiser Thursday, said of Medicaid recipients who would lose coverage because they don’t meet proposed work requirements and don’t qualify for an exception, “that's their choice to lose coverage.”

As the country grapples with a health care workforce shortage, health care facilities across Iowa, especially in rural areas, will see some assistance under legislation signed Wednesday by Gov. Kim Reynolds.