by Robin Opsahl, Iowa Capital Dispatch May 8, 2025 Majority-party lawmakers in the Legislature have reached a budget agreement, House Republicans announced Thursday, signaling the 2025 legislative session is nearing an end. In a news release, House and Senate Republicans released the spending figures from their budget agreement — a total of $9.425 billion in […]
by Robin Opsahl, Iowa Capital Dispatch May 7, 2025 The latest version of a property tax bill discussed by a Senate subcommittee Wednesday is still expected to go through changes before a floor vote — but Sen. Dan Dawson, R-Council Bluffs, said it’s still a priority to pass legislation on the issue this year. Restraining […]
by Cami Koons, Iowa Capital Dispatch May 7, 2025 The U.S. Department of Agriculture has approved the Healthy Kids Iowa demonstration project in lieu of the federal government’s summer nutrition program for children, Gov. Kim Reynolds announced Wednesday. A press release from the governor’s office called the program an alternative to the federal program that […]
by Ashley Murray, Iowa Capital Dispatch May 6, 2025 WASHINGTON — Veterans and Democratic lawmakers on Capitol Hill Tuesday protested the Trump administration’s planned cuts for the Department of Veterans Affairs that include slashing some 80,000 jobs, which many worry will affect the massive agency’s delivery of medical care and benefits. The group rallied outside […]
by Robin Opsahl, Iowa Capital Dispatch May 6, 2025 Though an agreement is yet to be reached on state spending for the upcoming fiscal year, the Senate Appropriations Committee moved four bills forward in a Tuesday meeting. Senators passed four budget bills through the appropriations committee Tuesday, making them available for floor debate in the […]
by Cami Koons, Iowa Capital Dispatch May 5, 2025 Despite another week of rainy conditions, which left an average of just over three days suitable for field work, Iowa farmers have more corn and soybeans in the ground than this time last year. Corn planted in the state reached 49%, which is three days ahead […]
by Cami Koons, Iowa Capital Dispatch May 2, 2025 Several black bears spent the winter tucked into dens in northeastern Iowa, which wildlife experts say is a “step up the ladder” toward an established breeding population of bears in the state. Black bear sightings in the region have been fairly regular over the past decade […]
by Robin Opsahl, Iowa Capital Dispatch May 2, 2025 While Iowa’s federal delegation has spent the week taking action on issues like fentanyl and Air Force facilities in Washington, D.C., some of Iowa’s U.S. representatives have also weighed in on an issue in their home state — the upcoming governor’s race. After Gov. Kim Reynolds […]
by Robin Opsahl, Iowa Capital Dispatch April 30, 2025 Starting in the 2025-2026 school year, public Iowa K-12 school districts will be required to set policies that, at minimum, ban the use of cellphones during class time under a law signed by Gov. Kim Reynolds Wednesday. The ban on cellphones during instructional periods was one […]
by Clark Kauffman, Iowa Capital Dispatch April 29, 2025 A lawsuit over a Des Moines Register poll that showed Kamala Harris leading Donald Trump in Iowa during the final days of the 2024 campaign has been moved to federal court. The lawsuit, one of two related to the poll, is a potential class-action case filed […]
