A Senate subcommittee moved forward with the second step in amending the state constitution Wednesday to require a two-thirds majority vote of the Legislature for income tax increases. SSB 1221 is a follow-up from HJR 2006, passed in 2024 with the same language. To amend the Iowa Constitution, lawmakers must pass the amendment language in […]
Iowa Constitution
Posted inCentral Iowa
Polk County ballots contain spelling error on constitutional amendment
The Iowa Secretary of State’s office is determining whether a spelling error in the wording of a proposed constitutional amendment on Polk County ballots would create any problems in counting those votes. As early voting began Wednesday, some ballots in Polk County contained a typo in its section on the constitutional amendment related to the […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Iowans will decide on two constitutional amendments in November
Iowa voters will not only cast their votes for candidates in the upcoming general election, but will also have the opportunity to decide if two measures are added to the state constitution. It’s one of the few opportunities Iowa voters have to weigh in directly on statewide public policy. In many states, voters will make […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Republican leaders poised to eliminate gun regulations as new amendment is officially added to Iowa Constitution
On Friday, Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate held a ceremony to mark Public Measure 1 becoming the latest amendment to the state constitution. The new amendment requires courts to use “strict scrutiny,” the most stringent form of judicial review, when considering existing or future regulation regarding guns. It’s a higher level of scrutiny than […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Iowans overwhelmingly approve constitutional amendment that ‘prohibits current and future common-sense gun laws’
Public Measure 1, which amends the Iowa Constitution to make it harder to pass new gun safety laws and easier to eliminate existing ones, was overwhelmingly approved by voters on Tuesday. Just over 64 percent of voters statewide voted yes, and the supporters of the measure prevailed in 97 of Iowa’s 99 counties. Only Johnson […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Election 2022: Public Measure 1 would eliminate ‘current and future common-sense gun laws’
Linn County Attorney Nick Maybanks was blunt in his assessment of Public Measure 1, which would amend the Iowa Constitution in a way that would stop most attempts to regulate guns in the state. “This amendment is a wolf in sheep’s clothing,” Maybanks said at a news conference on Tuesday at the Cedar Rapids Public […]
Posted inEastern Iowa Community/News
The U.S. Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade, rescinding a right for the first time in its history
“As of today, this Court holds, a State can always force a woman to give birth, prohibiting even the earliest abortions,” Justice Elena Kagan wrote, summing up what the Republican-appointed majority on the U.S. Supreme Court did in its decision Friday that stripped Americans of the federally protected right to abortion. “A State can thus […]
Posted inCommunity/News
As Iowa GOP leaders eagerly await Roe being overturned, abortion rights advocates plan a rally on the Pentacrest
There will be a rally to support abortion rights on the University of Iowa Pentacrest at noon on Saturday. The event, organized by Repros for Iowa, Corridor Community Action Network and Iowa City Democratic Socialists of America, is in response to Wednesday’s hearing in the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Republican-appointed majority clearly indicated […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Gov. Kim Reynolds asks the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade
Kim Reynolds, acting in her official capacity as governor of Iowa, has requested the United States Supreme Court, asking the justices to overturn half a century of legal precedence and rule that the U.S. Constitution does not protect the right to choose an abortion. Reynolds was one of 11 Republican governors who signed an amicus […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Iowa Senate Republicans pass an anti-abortion amendment to the Iowa Constitution
Republicans in the Iowa Senate approved an amendment to the Iowa Constitution that would undermine a woman’s right to an abortion on Tuesday. Senate Joint Resolution 2 passed on a party-line vote, with all Senate Republicans voting in favor and all the chamber’s Democrats voting against it. “Everyone deserves the freedom to make medical decisions […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Iowa Senate Republicans push through bills eliminating gun permits and giving gunmakers new legal protections
The Iowa Senate passed two bills concerning gun sales on Monday. The first removes the requirement for a person to be licensed to buy or carry a gun, and the second provides broad immunity against lawsuits to gun manufacturers and dealers. Both bills passed the Republican-controlled chamber on party-line votes. HF 756 and HF 621 […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Iowa House Republicans push through an amendment to add anti-abortion language to the Iowa Constitution
Shortly after 9 on Wednesday night, the Republican-controlled Iowa House of Representatives passed a constitutional amendment to eliminate the existing protection for abortion rights in Iowa. The vote was 55-44, with three Republicans — Jane Bloomingdale of Northwood, Lee Hein of Monticello and David Maxwell of Gibson — joining all the chamber’s Democrats in opposing […]
