As Iowa’s Education Savings Account program continues to expand to include all K-12 families, rural public school districts are still trying to determine how the scholarships will affect their classrooms, budgets and enrollment. Supporters argue ESAs give families more educational choices, while critics say the program diverts money away from public schools that remain the […]
Gov. Kim Reynolds
Posted inCommunity/News
Federal judge strikes down Gov. Reynolds’ restrictions on SNAP benefits
On Monday, a federal judge struck down new restrictions on food that can be purchased with SNAP benefits in Iowa and four other states. In her 68-page ruling, Judge Amy Berman Jackson of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia found that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which funds SNAP, lacked the […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Auditor: School choice cost Iowans $258 million, is ‘paying tuition for the wealthiest families’
Nearly 79 percent of students who used Iowa’s funding program for K-12 private schools were “already projected” to attend private schools, according to a report released Wednesday by Iowa Auditor Rob Sand. The Iowa Department of Education called the report a “policy advocacy brief” that critiqued statutory provisions of the Iowa Education Savings Account (ESA) […]
Posted inStatewide
Gov. Reynolds outsources IT services to New Jersey corporation, eliminating 200 state government jobs
Gov. Kim Reynolds announced Tuesday that she is outsourcing all of the state’s executive branch information technology (IT) work to an out-of-state corporation, eliminating the jobs of approximately 200 people who work for the Iowa Division of Information Technology. Cognizant Government Solutions, based in New Jersey, will provide the IT services, and the state’s data will […]
Posted inCentral Iowa
Lawn watering ban enacted in central Iowa due to high nitrate levels, affecting 20% of the state population
Central Iowa Water Works (CIWW) imposed a lawn-watering ban on Monday. This is the second year in a row the water utility has banned watering by its 600,000 customers in the greater Des Moines area and beyond. “The lawn watering ban is not due to a lack of water in our rivers or reservoirs,” according […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Rob Sand warns Iowa is facing ‘a fiscal time bomb,’ calls for four debates with Zach Lahn
Iowa’s state budget deficits are a “fiscal time bomb,” and addressing the problem “before the bomb explodes” will be the top priority if he’s elected governor, Rob Sand told the annual conference of the Iowa Association of Business and Industry (ABI) in Coralville on Thursday. ABI had scheduled a nonpartisan forum for gubernatorial candidates at […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Central Iowa Water Works asks its 600,000 customers to ‘use water wisely’ as nitrate levels spike
It has been almost a year since Central Iowa Water Works (CIWW) had to impose an unprecedented outdoor watering ban on the 600,000 residential and business customers it serves in the Greater Des Moines area and beyond because of the high levels of nitrate pollution in the Raccoon and Des Moines rivers. Now, the water […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Report: Republican candidate for governor Zach Lahn flies to Kansas every six days, on average
Republican Zach Lahn has been spending a lot of time in Kansas, where he has a home, over the last seven months as he campaigns for governor as the “Iowa First” candidate, the Des Moines Register reported on Thursday. “I’m in Iowa the majority of the time, a tremendous amount of time,” Lahn told the […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Rep. Jeff Shipley is on a crusade. If you’re not with him, you might be a ‘fagtard’
Content warning: Homophobic and ableist slurs. On March 3, state representative Jeff Shipley posted a photo from the Iowa House floor holding up a box of ivermectin. Specifically, the Republican from Fairfield was holding a box of apple-flavored IverCare paste. The label showed a horse silhouette and a feeding syringe. “OTC ivermectin now being debated […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Republicans defend ‘freedom milk,’ the Big Lie as Iowa Legislature passes final bills of the session
Iowa legislators held a marathon session Saturday and Sunday to finish up the 2026 session, ending with a property tax deal and measures on warrant resolution clinics and abortion medication, as well as a budget compromise. The Iowa House began its final session at 8:31 a.m. Saturday, and gaveled out at 6:11 p.m. Sunday. In […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Republican candidates for governor talk cancer, water quality, school vouchers and Rob Sand at Iowa PBS forum
Who wasn’t there was almost as important as who was at the Iowa PBS forum of Republican candidates for governor on Tuesday night. Frontrunner Randy Feenstra skipped it, as he has skipped other forums where his fellow Republicans running for the nomination appear, but he still loomed over the three Republicans who did show up […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Iowa Senate sends ‘MAHA bill’ with SNAP restrictions, over-the-counter ivermectin to governor’s desk
The Iowa Senate sent Gov. Kim Reynolds’ “Make America Healthy Again” legislation to her desk Monday, a package that includes SNAP restrictions, over-the-counter ivermectin and several school health and nutrition policies. HF 2676, passed 30-16, seeks to make permanent the state’s currently implemented waivers restricting the purchase of unhealthy foods through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance […]
