Gov. Kim Reynolds on Friday signed the final slate of bills remaining from the 2024 legislative session, including new laws related to the regulation of hemp-derived product and changes to the state’s boards and commissions. The signing of 20 bills marked the end of action on legislation passed during the 2024 session. While some of […]
Gov. Kim Reynolds
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‘Baloney,’ ‘a political lynching’ and ‘an egregious act’: Ernst, Grassley and Reynolds join Bird in denouncing Trump’s trial
As Donald Trump sat through his fourth week in a Manhattan courtroom, listening to prosecutors present evidence he committed 34 acts of business fraud to help his 2016 presidential campaign, Iowa’s leading Republicans spoke out, echoing his message that people shouldn’t trust the legal system because all the criminal cases against him are without substance […]
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Two lawsuits filed over Iowa’s attempt to usurp federal immigration law and set up its own deportation system
Two lawsuits challenging the attempt by Republicans in the Iowa Legislature to let the Reynolds administration appropriate power belonging to the federal government in order to arrest and deport immigrants in Iowa based on their past, not current, immigration status were filed in federal court on Thursday. SF 2340, which Gov. Kim Reynolds signed into law last […]
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DOJ will sue Reynolds administration if the state attempts to enforce its new immigration law
The U.S. Department of Justice has warned Gov. Reynolds that it will sue the state of Iowa if the Reynolds administration attempts to enforce SF 2340, the Des Moines Register reported on Friday. That bill, which Reynolds signed into law last month, would usurp the federal government’s enforcement of immigration laws by transferring some federal […]
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Iowa lawmakers debate until 2 a.m. in race to finish 2024 legislative session
Iowa lawmakers debated budget bills into the early morning Friday as they aim for the end of session in the coming days. Though legislators spent much of their days in party caucus meetings Thursday, members of both the House and Senate moved through dozens of bills during debate, in addition to meetings of the chambers’ […]
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Two gun bills head to governor’s desk: one to prevent tracking of suspicious purchases, one to protect armed school staff from liability
Republicans in the Iowa Legislature have passed two bills dealing with guns this week. On Tuesday, the Iowa Senate gave final approval to a bill to prevent credit card companies from taking steps that would make it easier for law enforcement agencies to identify purchases of firearms and ammunition. A day earlier, the House voted […]
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Months after rejecting $29 million in federal aid for food-insecure families, Gov. Reynolds announces ‘competitive’ grants offering 3% of that funding
A little more than four months ago, Gov. Kim Reynolds announced she would not permit Iowa families who receive federal food assistance from receiving an extra $40 per child a month in benefits over three months to help cover the increased costs of feeding children who won’t be eating school lunches or breakfasts during summer […]
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Unable to find a qualified contractor to run its anti-abortion ‘pregnancy resource centers’ fund, the state administers funds anyway; Republicans pass bill to make it legal retroactively
Starting in 2022, the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) began looking for a qualified independent third-party to administer a program that will use millions in tax dollars to fund privately run anti-abortion centers — which call themselves “pregnancy resource centers” — in the state. The More Options for Maternal Support (MOMS) program […]
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Gov. Reynolds thanks AG Bird for suing the Biden administration to stop new greenhouse gas reporting requirements
On Wednesday, Gov. Kim Reynolds issued a news release praising Attorney General Brenna Bird’s work to overturn Biden administration rules that would inform the public about the amount of greenhouse gases being produced by large corporations. Reynolds called President Biden “a radical climate alarmist” because the Securities and Exchange Commission issued new rules last month […]
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Rep. Hinson, Rep. Feenstra and AG Bird push U.S. Supreme Court to restrict medication abortions
The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Tuesday on whether to allow a preliminary injunction suspending the FDA’s 2021 decision easing restrictions on the availability of mifepristone, a prescription medication used in medical abortions. The injunction, issued by a federal judge in Texas in April 2023 and subsequently narrowed by the Fifth Circuit Court of […]
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Iowa Poll finds 50% believe the state is headed in the wrong direction
A majority of Iowans say the state is headed in the wrong direction, according to the results of a new Iowa Poll published by the Des Moines Register. The poll also found an increase in the number of respondents who disapprove of the work being done by Gov. Kim Reynolds, Sen. Chuck Grassley and Sen. […]
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‘This is our legacy’: ICPL hosts banned book giveaway as attacks on books and libraries continue
Update: The pop-up event at ICPL on Saturday was postponed due to a winter weather advisory. The new event date has yet to be announced. The Banned Wagon is coming to the Iowa City Public Library (ICPL) on Saturday, as the library hosts a pop-up event where Annie’s Foundation will be giving away free copies […]
