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Bills up for consideration in 2025 narrow as Iowa lawmakers hit second funnel deadline

The Iowa Capitol in Des Moines on April 1, 2025. (Photo by Cami Koons/Iowa Capital Dispatch)

by Robin Opsahl, Iowa Capital Dispatch April 4, 2025 As the Iowa Legislature advanced past the second major deadline of the 2025 session, conversations on pipelines, Medicaid work requirements and new higher education requirements are continuing through surviving bills — though agreements have not necessarily been reached between the two Republican-controlled chambers. The session’s second […]

Gov. Kim Reynolds signs ban on handheld cellphone use while driving

Gov. Kim Reynolds, joined by Iowa families who had lost loved ones in distracted driving crashes, law enforcement officers and others, celebrated after the governor signed a ban on handheld cellphone use while driving into law April 1, 2025. (Photo by Robin Opsahl/Iowa Capital Dispatch)

by Robin Opsahl, Iowa Capital Dispatch April 2, 2025 Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed into law Wednesday a measure banning drivers from using cellphones behind the wheel outside of hands-free or voice-activated modes. Reynolds was joined by more than 50 people in her office Wednesday, many of whom were related to people who had died […]

Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins says USDA plans to assist farmers with tariff backlash

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins, center, joined by U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, left, and Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, answered questions from reporters after a roundtable at Beck’s Hybrids in Colfax March 31, 2025. (Photo by Robin Opsahl/Iowa Capital Dispatch)

by Robin Opsahl, Iowa Capital Dispatch March 31, 2025 COLFAX– As U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins toured Iowa agricultural facilities Monday, she said the U.S. Department of Agriculture is prepared to support farmers while tariffs go into place. President Donald Trump announced plans Sunday to impose “reciprocal tariffs” on countries that have their own […]

Mining is an environmental and human rights nightmare. Battery recycling can ease that.

Redwood’s Tahoe Campus in Northern Nevada. (Photo courtesy of Redwood Materials)

by Tik Root, Grist, Iowa Capital Dispatch March 30, 2025 This story was produced by Grist and co-published with States Newsroom Rows of dead batteries stretch across some 30 acres of high desert, organized in piles and boxes that are covered to shield them from the western Nevada sun. This vast field is where Redwood Materials stores […]

Medicaid cuts rippling through rural America could bring hospital closures, job losses

by Jennifer Shutt, Iowa Capital Dispatch March 22, 2025 WASHINGTON — Americans living in rural communities throughout the country could see their access to health care diminish if Congress changes eligibility for Medicaid or significantly reduces its federal funding. While rural residents who depend on the state-federal program for lower income people would experience the most […]

D.C. Dispatch: Miller-Meeks, Grassley introduce bills on drug costs

Members of Iowa's congressional delegation proposed legislation aiming to address high prescription drug prices. (Photo illustration by Clark Kauffman/Iowa Capital Dispatch)

by Robin Opsahl, Iowa Capital Dispatch March 21, 2025 Members of Iowa’s congressional delegation have introduced legislation they say will help lower drug costs. U.S. Congress has largely not met this week, with most of the attention in national politics centering on President Donald Trump’s moves to close the U.S. Department of Education and militarize […]

Trump administration reported to consider expanding military role along southern border

A Texas National Guardsman observes as Border Patrol agents pat down migrants who have surrendered themselves for processing, May 10, 2023. (Photo by Corrie Boudreaux for Source NM)

by Ashley Murray, Iowa Capital Dispatch March 20, 2025 WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is gearing up to militarize a stretch of the southern border, according to a Washington Post report Thursday, raising concerns from experts that the move would put U.S. military members in direct contact with migrants, a possible violation of federal law. […]

Trump signs order directing Education secretary to shut down her own department

From left, Olivia Sawyer and Jeremy Bauer-Wolf protest the U.S. Education Department’s mass layoffs during a “honk-a-thon” and rally March 14, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Shauneen Miranda/States Newsroom)

by Shauneen Miranda, Iowa Capital Dispatch March 20, 2025 WASHINGTON — In a sweeping executive order signed Thursday, President Donald Trump called on Education Secretary Linda McMahon to “take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure” of the U.S. Education Department. Trump signed the order at a major White House ceremony, flanked by children seated at desks. […]

House advances bill to change school nutrition standards 

The Iowa House of Representatives voted to modify school nutrition standards. (Photo by Hakim Fobia/USDA)

by Cami Koons, Iowa Capital Dispatch March 19, 2025 A bill passed the Iowa House Wednesday that would require schools to forgo federal nutrition standards to instead prioritize Iowa-specific guidelines. House Democrats, who opposed the bill, said in floor debate it makes Iowa students “guinea pigs” for unproven nutrition practices, while failing to address the […]

Bill shuts Iowa’s largest counties out of economic development funds for 3 years

Reps. John Wills, left, Derek Wulf and Elizabeth Wilson considered legislation March 19, 2025 that would impose a three-year moratorium on Iowa Economic Development Authority programs and funding for Iowa’s four most populous counties. (Photo by Robin Opsahl/Iowa Capital Dispatch)

by Robin Opsahl, Iowa Capital Dispatch March 19, 2025 Iowa’s four most populous counties would not be able to access state economic development programs and their funds for three years under a bill advanced Wednesday by an Iowa House subcommittee. The legislation, House Study Bill 310, would impose a three-year moratorium, from July 1, 2025 […]

                 

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