Just eight days after it was introduced in the Iowa Legislature, a bill that would make it harder to vote but easier to remove people from voting rolls, and creates new criminal liability for local election officials, received its final approval. On Wednesday night, the Republican-controlled Iowa House of Representatives sent the bill to Gov. […]
Iowa Senate
Republican lawmakers advance bill that cuts off state funding to any city that reduces its police budget

A bill that would halt state funding to any city or county that reduces the budget of its local law enforcement agency is making its way through the Iowa Senate and House of Representatives. SSB 1203, known in the House as HSB 230, was introduced last Thursday and approved by subcommittees in the both the […]
‘It’s voter suppression’: Iowa Republicans target voting access, citing Trumpian election conspiracy theories

At least 33 state legislatures around the country, most of them controlled by Republicans, are working on bills that restrict voting. Iowa is one of them. “These bills are an unmistakable response to the unfounded and dangerous lies about fraud that followed the 2020 election,“ the Brennan Center for Justice said in a report on […]
Eliminating tenure, identifying Democrats, controlling spending: Republican lawmakers seek to change Iowa’s universities

An effort by Republicans in the state legislature to eliminate tenure at Iowa’s three public universities advanced this week, as the House Education Committee passed a bill to end tenure at the University of Iowa, Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa, and a Senate subcommittee approved the Senate version of that bill. […]
Bill that would allow landlords to refuse to rent to people on federal assistance approved by Iowa Senate subcommittee

A bill advancing through the Iowa Senate would strike down ordinances in Iowa City, Marion and Des Moines that prevent landlords from discriminating against people who receive federal housing assistance. SSB 1079 would strip all local governments in the state of the power to enact or enforce ordinances that prohibit landlords from rejecting potential renters […]
Iowa Senate Republicans advance bills to divert tax dollars from public to private schools, require 100% in-person instruction

Republicans in the Iowa Legislature are moving quickly to approve bills that would allow tax dollars that support public schools to be diverted to private schools, and further limit the control local school boards have over the schools in their districts. Gov. Kim Reynolds listed both actions as top priorities in her Condition of State […]
Wear a mask, Iowa Public Health Association asks state lawmakers

The Iowa Public Health Association (IPHA) sent an open letter to the state legislature on Thursday, asking lawmakers to “accept your position of critical role models to the people of Iowa” and “lead by example and always wear a mask during your work at the Capitol and ask others to do the same.” As IPHA […]
Iowa surpasses 200,000 COVID cases; Republican lawmakers talk about relaxing restrictions

During her news conference on Thursday morning, Gov. Kim Reynolds said the number of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities with COVID-19 outbreaks was about to spike by 20; but as of Friday afternoon, the Iowa Department of Public Health has added 25, pushing the number of ongoing outbreaks in long-term care facilities to […]
Republicans push through new abortion restriction in Iowa legislature’s last session of 2020

Republicans in the Iowa legislature fast-tracked a bill imposing a 24-hour waiting period on women seeking an abortion. The bill was passed just hours after the new waiting period was first introduced. The quick series of votes came during the final session of the year for both the Iowa House of Representatives and the Iowa […]
Iowa Senate Republicans pass a bill that makes it harder to vote

On Wednesday, the Iowa Senate passed a bill that will make to more difficult for people to vote. The bill, which would make illegal the sort of help with absentee voting that Secretary of State Paul Pate provided during the June primary, was approved 30-19. All the votes in favor of the bill came from […]
Iowa Senate approves anti-abortion constitutional amendment on a party-line vote

On Thursday, the Republican majority in the Iowa Senate approved an amendment to the Iowa Constitution that would undermine a woman’s right to make reproductive health choices, in an attempt to make abortion illegal. The vote was 32-18, with all Republicans voting in favor of the amendment and all the Senate’s Democrats […]
California announces ban on travel to Iowa, because of Iowa’s new ban on Medicaid paying for gender confirmation procedures

California will impose a ban on state-funded and state-sponsored travel to Iowa starting on Oct. 4, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced on Friday. The travel ban is a response to a bill Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed into law in May, which prohibits the use of Medicaid funds for gender reassignment surgery that doctors […]