Week in Iowa

In the news

IOWANS FLOCK TO STATE FAIR: Iowans gathered at the State Fair over the last week, with attendance numbers passing 100,000 on weekend days. Attendees enjoyed various deep-fried and on-a-stick foods, wandered through the “hall of breeds” showcasing Iowa livestock, and saw candidates for office at the Des Moines Register Political Soapbox.

Usually a required stop for national politicians looking to garner support ahead of the Iowa caucuses, the fair featured a few low-profile appearances. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican and critic of former President Donald Trump, stopped at the fair on a swing through Iowa and New Hampshire, and former Vice President Mike Pence toured the fair with Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa.

UIHC EYES INPATIENT EXPANSION: University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics is seeking proposals for construction of a vertical expansion of its existing inpatient tower, with a budget of $95 million. The hospital plans to select a contractor after September, and it will need approval from the Board of Regents to begin construction.

The hospital is looking to add two floors to the existing eight-floor Pappajohn Pavilion. The budget also includes renovating the seventh and eighth floors.

GRASSLEY UNDER FIRE: Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, received flack last week when he made remarks on “Fox & Friends” speculating whether the IRS would use increased funding from the Inflation Reduction Act to send armed agents into small businesses.

Grassley asked whether the agency would have a unit “that goes in with AK-15s already loaded, ready to shoot some small business person in Iowa,” after receiving a boost in funding from the climate, tax and health care bill Democrats passed along party lines earlier this month. PolitiFact called the claims “outlandish” and noted the typical auditors Americans would encounter are unarmed, and most audits are done by mail.

AMY KLOBUCHAR, LIZ MATHIS CAMPAIGN FOR IRA: Eastern Iowa health care officials and Democrats said the Inflation Reduction Act will bring down health care costs for seniors and help low-income Iowans manage costs for health care. The $750 billion health care and climate law, signed by President Joe Biden this past week, allows Medicare to negotiate prices of some high-cost drugs and caps out-of-pocket spending on drugs at $2,000 a year for Medicare recipients, among other provisions.

They said ...

“That’s Iowa’s rainy day fund, and it’s raining in our state. On mental health care, on education, on health care, on child care.” — Democratic candidate for governor Deidre DeJear on Iowa's budget surplus.

“It will become even more important that Iowa has an attorney general who will stand up for freedom, who will stand up for farmers, and who will enforce the federal constitution and laws on the federal government." — Republican candidate for attorney general Brenna Bird on plans to challenge the Biden administration in court.

Odds and ends

PROCLAMATION HONORS USS IOWA: Gov. Kim Reynolds designated Monday, Aug. 22, as USS Iowa Submarine Day in a ceremony this past week. The USS Iowa is a Virginia-class submarine that will be the fourth Navy vessel named after the state. It’s currently under construction and will be commissioned next year.

HINSON WANTS JUSTIFICATION OF TRUMP SEARCH: Even after the unsealing of the warrant that led to a search of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, Iowa Republicans called for justification and questioned the focus of the Justice Department. Rep. Ashley Hinson, R-Iowa, called for a detailed justification of the search to prove that it was not politically motivated. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said the Justice Department should "correct course" and focus on violent crime.

Water cooler

COVID-19 HOSPITALIZATIONS, CASES DROP: The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 dropped 24 percent in Iowa in the past week, and new cases also decreased. As of Wednesday, 244 Iowans were hospitalized with COVID-19, down from 323 the week before. The state reported 4,921 new cases of the virus, down from 5,660 the previous week.

VILSACK VISITS: U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai praised President Joe Biden's economic agenda and talked about expanding U.S. agriculture into new markets during an Iowa visit Thursday. Vilsack said Tai has worked to get American agriculture products into foreign markets.