State Government

Winneshiek County Sheriff Dan Marx is asking a judge to dismiss an Iowa Attorney General Office’s petition against him for not cooperating with federal authorities to enforce immigration laws because his Facebook post that sparked the dispute has been removed -- so there’s no “ongoing violation.”.

The monthslong search was launched to fill the role after the former director resigned last July while battling Stage 4 kidney cancer.

Lawmakers plan to use surplus to cover an estimated $900M shortfall.

Also in the Capitol Notebook, a bill that would create licenses for palliative care centers is headed to the governor.

Iowa House Democrats on Thursday chose Rep. Brian Meyer, a Democrat from Des Moines, to lead the caucus after minority leader Jennifer Konfrst steps down at the end of the 2025 legislative session to run for Congress.

Gov. Kim Reynolds signs bills including one that says when regents have to set tuition.

“Healthy Kids Iowa” -- a new program announced Wednesday by Gov. Kim Reynolds -- will provide qualifying families with $40 worth of food per child per month in June, July and August. It replaces a summer food program that Reynolds opted out of. It would have provided $29 million in federal food assistance funding for an estimated 240,000 children in the state.

At least one key lawmaker believes a property tax reform bill still has a chance to pass into law before Iowa legislators complete their work for the year, which could happen soon.

In addition to $10 million Iowa paid two siblings of a teenage girl who died of starvation in the care of her adoptive parents in 2017, the state has agreed to pay a third sibling $4.2 million after being “severely physically abused, neglected, and tortured.”

One day after state senators advanced an education budget bill starving Iowa’s public universities of any general aid increase in the coming year, the Iowa House advanced its own package cutting general education support by the amount each university was spending on diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. But unlike the Senate version, the House would increase some support for other regent initiatives and for community colleges.

The judge said the state law, passed in 2024, encroaches on the authority of the federal government to regulate vaping products

A dozen Republican senators have pledged to hold up the next state budget until its party’s leaders allow for debate and a vote on property rights legislation passed by the Iowa House.