State Government

The Department of Public Safety proposal comes more than a year after fatal shooting at Perry schools.

Also, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds’ proposal to provide paid family leave to state workers got its first legislative approval

Gov. Kim Reynolds, during a visit Tuesday to Alburnett schools, said school districts losing students because of a recent law on school choice have the responsibility to make families choose to stay in the district -- rather than asking the state government to help address the decline.

In responding to a House proposal that would require the University of Iowa to establish a new “School of Intellectual Freedom,” a UI lobbyist on Tuesday announced campus plans to create a new “Center for Civic Dialogue and Leadership.”

Increased tax credits for home schooling, exemptions for blood lead testing for home-schooled children and implementing gender-neutral term requirements for world language instruction for all students were among the education-related proposals in a bill considered Monday.

House lawmakers on Monday advanced legislation to create a five-year moratorium on new state-licensed casinos in Iowa. The move comes as the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission nears a decision at its Feb. 6 meeting on whether to grant a license for a Linn County casino.

Also, legislators considered a bill that would enhance penalties for individuals who wear a hood in an effort to conceal their identity while committing a crime.

A House subcommittee last week advanced a resolution to add hunting and fishing rights to the Iowa Constitution. The constitution would establish a right to hunt, fish, trap and otherwise harvest wildlife, "subject to reasonable laws."

Amie Wichtendahl of Hiawatha hopes her election serves as a ‘repudiation’ of anti-trans stereotypes

Iowa’s new House Higher Education Committee has introduced a spate of study bills directed at Iowa’s public, private and community colleges and universities -- including several going further to limit diversity, equity and inclusion on the campuses and others imposing new mandates around what can and should be taught.

Under the proposed legislation — the full language of which has not been released — all Iowa school districts would be required to adopt by July 1, 2025, minimum standards for restrictions on personal electronic devices.

Bills proposed in the Iowa Legislature would increase the number of dispensaries in the state and add to the legal forms of medical cannabis