State Government

Rockwell City Republican resigns House seat to take job as state director for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Iowa Rural Development office.

“Senator Claire Celsi, our beloved wife, sister, mom, and grandma, has entered hospice care. Our family asks that you please respect our privacy during this difficult time,” Celsi’s family said in a statement issued through the Iowa Senate Democrats’ caucus spokesman.

Iowa Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Rob Sand blasted Gov. Kim Reynolds’ efficiency task force as partisan, vowed to veto changes to Iowa’s public pension system, and pushed for more oversight of private school vouchers at a Cedar Rapids town hall.

Reynolds plus a 20-person Iowa delegation — including Iowa Agriculture Sec. Mike Naig, Iowa Economic Development Authority Director Debi Durham, and Iowa agriculture, business and education leaders — completed the trade mission this past weekend.

Browse, sort or search State of Iowa employee salaries for fiscal year 2024.

Roughly 30 people marched otuside the Iowa Department for the Blind building in Des Moines Tuesday to protest the changes made under new department leadership, which protesters said has silenced concerns from department employees regarding the changes.

Jack Whitver, the Iowa Senate Majority Leader who has been battling a brain tumor for more than a year, will not seek re-election and will step aside as leader, he announced Tuesday.

New public employees would be given the opportunity to opt out of the state retirement program, and teachers would receive financial bonuses for student achievement under recommendations being put forward by Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds’ citizen-run task force on government efficiency.

Catelin Drey, a northwestern Iowa Democrat who won an August special election and broke the Republican supermajority in the Iowa Senate, was sworn in at the Iowa Capitol Monday morning.

Iowa’s recidivism rate hit a 10-year low in the state’s most recent figures, but criminal justice experts say recidivism rates are limited in their portrayal of a criminal justice or state correctional system.

Some Head Start programs in Iowa that provide child care and early learning that “serves Iowa’s most vulnerable families” at no cost, have reduced operations — with a few even closing classrooms — because of compounding funding challenges.

Also, State Treasurer Roby Smith says state’s Pooled Money Fund has surpassed $1 billion in total earnings since he took office.