The Iowa Senate Ethics Committee voted Friday to dismiss a complaint against state Sen. Zach Wahls, D-Coralville, for his past employment as executive director of the Next 50 Network while serving in the state Legislature. The complaint, filed by Kathy Ulrich of Cedar Rapids, alleges Wahls, who is running to become the Democratic candidate for […]
Iowa Senate
Posted inCommunity/News
State Sen. Catelin Drey knows Iowa’s in a cancer crisis. She’s living it.
In January, state Sen. Catelin Drey stood at a podium on the Senate floor in front of her colleagues representing all corners of Iowa. She told them that she was about to speak candidly on a topic both “personal and political.” Behind her, legislators and staffers appeared to be half-listening, looking at their laptops and […]
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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 […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Iowa House passes bill to raise the speed limit on two-lane highways
Two-lane state highways could see speed limits rise from 55 to 60 miles per hour under a bill passed Wednesday by the Iowa House. SF 378, passed 76-16, would increase the default speed limit for all vehicular traffic zones, while keeping in place other limits, like the 25 mph limit in residential and school districts. […]
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Iowans rally against bill to ban universities hiring H-1B visa holders from China
About 150 people rallied at the Iowa State Capitol on Saturday to protest a bill that would stop Iowa universities and community colleges from hiring people on H-1B visas if they come from one of seven countries. HF 2513’s prohibition applies to any H-1B visa holder “who is also a citizen of a nation designated […]
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Iowa Senate committee approves bill forcing medical training programs to accommodate unvaccinated students
On Wednesday, Republicans on the Iowa Senate Education Committee approved a bill that would require public and private colleges and universities that offer “a medical, nursing, or other health care-related degree” to permit unvaccinated students to complete courses requiring clinical rotations that would bring them into contact with medically vulnerable patients. SF 2095 requires a […]
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Iowa House passes bill to restrict use of eminent domain for Summit’s CO2 pipeline
Companies would no longer be able to use eminent domain to appropriate privately owned land for carbon pipeline projects under a bill approved by the Iowa House on Wednesday. HF 2104 passed with bipartisan support, 64-28. Ten of the House’s 33 Democrats joined 54 of the chamber’s 67 Republicans in voting for the bill. “I […]
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Iowa Senate Republicans advance bill to eliminate possibility of reopening Iowa City State Historical Society research center
A Senate subcommittee advanced a measure Tuesday to remove the state requirement to maintain a State Historical Society of Iowa research center in Iowa City — a point of litigation as the state has already moved to close the facility. SSB 3033 strikes the state requirement for the Iowa Department of Administrative Services to maintain […]
Posted inCentral Iowa
Iowa Sen. Claire Celsi dies at age 59
Iowa Sen. Claire Celsi, D-West Des Moines, died Monday, according to a social media post from her daughter and statements from lawmakers. Celsi, 59, entered hospice care Sept. 18 and was no longer seeking curative treatment, according to her family. She had been battling an undisclosed medical issue for several months. She returned to the 2025 legislative […]
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‘I’m looking forward to getting to work’: Catelin Drey sworn in as the newest member of the Iowa Senate, ending the Republican supermajority
Catelin Drey officially became a member of the Iowa Senate on Monday, taking her oath of office at the State Capitol. “There is something very humbling about taking the official oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States and the state of Iowa at a moment when it feels like that has become increasingly […]
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Iowa Democrats celebrate as Catelin Drey wins special election, breaking GOP supermajority
Iowa Republicans’ supermajority in the state Senate was broken Tuesday as Democrat Catelin Drey won the special election for Iowa Senate District 1. Drey faced off against Republican Christopher Prosch in the election, which was called to fill the seat after Sen. Rocky De Witt, R-Lawton, passed away due to pancreatic cancer in June. According […]
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‘Spitting in the face of landowners’: Iowa House Republicans denounce Reynolds’ veto of eminent domain bill, call for special session to override it
Republicans in the Iowa Legislature have rarely publicly disagreed with Gov. Kim Reynolds during her eight years in office. Even when they didn’t support her position on an issue, they would downplay any differences. That all changed on Wednesday, when Gov. Reynolds vetoed HF 639, a bill that would have added new requirements on projects […]
