Gov. Terry Branstad illegally discriminated against the former Iowa Workers’ Compensation Commissioner Christopher Godfrey when he slashed Godfrey’s salary in 2011 in an attempt to force Godfrey to resign, a Polk County jury decided on Monday. The jury agreed with Godfrey that Branstad had singled him out because Godfrey is gay, and awarded him $1.5 million in damages.
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Shortly before last November’s election, state government officials bypassed normal procedures and quickly agreed to a multi-million dollar settlement of sexual harassment claims against a longtime friend and political ally of Gov. Kim Reynolds, the Associated Press’ Ryan J. Foley reported on Thursday. Foley obtained correspondence between Iowa Solicitor General Jeff Thompson and Paige Fielder, […]
Gov. Kim Reynolds said in her Condition of the State address on Tuesday that she’s ready to take action to advance her priorities. Reynolds told the assembled legislators, “the future I see isn’t around the corner, or after the next election. The future is now.” Except, it seems, for the one policy area where Reynolds […]
Gov. Kim Reynolds is coming to Iowa City on Thursday for a public event at Hamburg Inn No. 2 on Linn Street. The governor will holding her KIM (Keep Iowa Moving) rally at noon, as part of a swing through eastern Iowa, starting that morning in Cedar Falls and ending in Keokuk. Although this is […]
On Tuesday, Gov. Kim Reynolds said “from the very beginning” her position on same-sex marriage has been “it probably should go to a vote of the people and they should weigh in.” Later that afternoon, the governor’s spokesperson said the governor doesn’t believe what she said she believes, and that Reynolds accepts the legality of […]
When most adults give an elderly parent a job, it’s usually as a babysitter. Not Gov. Kim Reynolds. This week it was revealed that Reynolds has appointed her 78-year-old father to a state panel that will vet judicial candidates in District 5A to replace retiring Judge Paul Huscher of Waukee. Charles Strawn will serve on […]
On Thursday afternoon, Gov. Kim Reynolds’ office reversed its previous stated position, and released the letter that led the governor to fire Iowa Finance Authority (IFA) Director Dave Jamison last month. The governor’s office had originally responded to an open records request from the Associated Press that it had no written documents related to the […]
During her regular weekly press conference on Monday, Gov. Kim Reynolds said she is committed to transparency, but also came out in favor of cutting the amount of publicly reported information about how well the state’s controversial privatized Medicaid management program is performing. […]
Months after his initial nomination, Gov. Terry Branstad is officially closing the door on his tenure as the longest serving governor in the U.S. and will jet off to his new position as ambassador to China. […]
Planned Parenthood of the Heartland announced this week they will close clinics in the Quad Cities, Burlington, Keokuk and Sioux City as a result of funding cuts passed by the state legislature and signed by Gov. Terry Branstad. […]
Gov. Terry Branstad heralded this year as “one of the most significant and productive sessions in our history.” And it certainly did produce a large volume of wide-ranging, impactful bills. But for some, those bills represented a sharp lurch to the right and an abrupt end to bipartisan Iowa politics. Among the measures that left Iowa organizations and activists gearing up for a fight are laws impacting women’s access to abortions, reducing union bargaining rights, expanding and protecting access to guns and decreased support for public education.
Some measures, including a 72-hour waiting period for abortions and restrictions on collective bargaining rights for public employees, have already been challenged in court. […]
University of Iowa President Bruce Harreld issued a call to action Thursday following Gov. Terry Branstad’s suggested $34.3 million cut to higher education — the largest cut made as part of an effort to slice $110 million from the budget for the current budget year. “This cut, in the current fiscal year, is not without […]
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