From Press Release   Gov. Terry E. Branstad today signed the following ten bills into law: House File 229: an act relating to the regulation of free offers and buying club memberships. House File 630: an act appropriating federal funds made available from federal block grants and other nonstate sources, […]

From Press Release   The Iowa Gold Star Military Museum will host its annual Memorial Day observance on Monday, May 25, from 5 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the museum on Camp Dodge Joint Maneuver Training Center, 7105 NW 70th Ave., Johnston. A complimentary “S.O.S.” (“Stuff on a Shingle”) breakfast […]

From Press Release   The Iowa National Guard invites World War II veterans of all branches, as well as the public and media, to attend the Camp Dodge Command Retreat ceremony to be held Thursday, May 21 at 2 p.m., at the historic Camp Dodge Pool Complex, 7105 NW 70th […]

By The Iowa Statesman   For than four hours Wednesday, the Iowa House of Representatives debated the health and human services appropriations bill for the next two fiscal years. And after working through 15 amendments — most of them amendments to the original House Republicans’ amendment — Senate File […]

From Press Release   U.S. Sens. Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst of Iowa today sent a letter to Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack encouraging the department to ensure that resources have been properly deployed to Iowa to fight the ongoing outbreak of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza.  The disease has been […]

By The Iowa Statesman   The start of the second week of unpaid overtime for the Iowa General Assembly was just as fruitless as the rest of the 2015 legislative session. Monday, the Democrat-controlled Senate and Republican-controlled House of Representatives sent two bills to conference committee. It appears there […]

By The Iowa Statesman   Monday, Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad signed a proclamation establishing Thursday as “Day of Reason” in Iowa. His office gave the proclamation little fanfare, but Linn County Humanists posted an image of the proclamation, which is just now beginning to make the rounds on the Internet […]

By Bob Eschliman Editor   State Rep. John Byrnes (R-Osage) has frequently touted his ability to win as a Republican in a district that has a distinct electoral advantage for Democrats. And now, it appears, he wants his colleagues to understand why. Last week, during an exchange with Jeff Moorman […]

By Bob Eschliman Editor   The Iowa Senate got into a party- squabble over spending for health and human services in FY 2016. And, with $1.346 billion being discussed, the contention was of little surprise to any regular observers of the General Assembly. Republicans offered a number of amendments to […]

By Bob Eschliman Editor   The Republican-led Iowa House of Representatives, by voice vote, moved four bills to conference committee on Wednesday afternoon. The first bill sent to conference, Senate File 496, was the Senate’s Judicial Branch appropriations bill. The Senate had rejected a House amendment earlier in the […]

From Press Release   Tuesday, Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad denied the following applications for commutation: • Edgar M. Cardona, age 40, committed his crime on November 11, 2003, in Pottawattamie County.  He is currently serving a twenty-five year sentence for first-degree robbery. • Troy A. Midthus, age 48, committed his […]

From Press Release   Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad will sign three bills into law tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. in the Governor’s Formal Office. House File 585 is an Act establishing an address confidentiality program in the Office of the Secretary of State for a victim of domestic abuse, domestic […]

By Bob Eschliman Editor   In an hour and a half, the Iowa Senate approved legislation than it had in the past week. The Senate bounced back and forth between the Appropriations, Ways and Means, and Unfinished Business calendars, passing nine bills. Among them, senators to up two pieces […]

By Bob Eschliman Editor   After nearly five hours of floor debate Tuesday, the Iowa House of Representatives managed to adopt eight bills, including a couple of appropriations bills. The morning got off to a fast start with passage of three of the bills in just 41 minutes. The House […]

By Bob Eschliman Editor   In the run-up to passage of the omnibus transportation funding bill, Senate File 257, which resulted in the 10-cent increase in Iowa’s motor fuel sales and use tax, a number of lobbyist groups declared their support for the legislation. But only two of those groups, […]

By Bob Eschliman Editor   UPDATE: Following The Iowa Statesman’s original report, Caffeinated Thoughts editor Shane Vander Hart received the following response to questions about state Rep. Josh Byrnes’ about homeschool families in Iowa: “Shane, you are so out of touch. I represent a group of constituents. I don’t […]

From Press Release   Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad has ordered all flags on the Capitol Complex to be flown at half-staff from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday in observance of the Iowa Peace Officer Memorial Ceremony which is to be held at 10 a.m. that day at the […]

By The Iowa Statesman   This afternoon, Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad was joined by Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey and Iowa Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management Director Mark Schouten to discuss the state’s response to HPAI H5N2 outbreak in Iowa. As part of the discussion, Branstad also […]

From Press Release   Iowa Gov. Terry E. Branstad today signed the following bills into law: House File 347: An act relating to the licensure of child care programs operated or contracted for by a school district or accredited nonpublic school and including effective date provisions. House File 447: An […]

By Bob Eschliman Editor   The painfully slow process of adopting a FY 2016 budget continued Thursday morning and evening in the General Assembly with House passage of its own administration and regulation and education appropriations bills. During floor debate on House File 659, the atmosphere of the chamber was […]

From Press Release   The bipartisan, bicameral Iowa egation, led by Congressman Dave Loebsack, today called on the U.S. Department of Agriculture  to provide any assistance they can under their statutory authority to help affected states combat the recent outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza, also known as bird flu. […]

From Press Release   Last weekend, Republican presidential candidate Chris Hill received an enthusiastic response to his “People’s Campaign” at the Muscatine County Republican Spring Picnic held on Sunday in Wilton. The annual event was hosted by Chairman Fred Grunder and attended by local and state representatives including Steve Scheffler. […]

By Bob Eschliman Editor   There has been very little urgency in the General Assembly – particularly on the part of House Republicans – to finalize the budget during the final official week of the 2015 legislative session. The House Republican leadership unveiled its budget targets last week, nearly two […]

From Press Release   U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, today announced his Iowa Leadership Team, naming prosecutor and former Iowa Secretary of State Matt Schultz his Iowa State Chairman, in addition to 23 other state lawmakers, conservative activists and influencers as Iowa state co-chairs. Cruz for President’s Iowa State Director, […]

By Bob Eschliman Editor   Monday, the Iowa Senate approved the Fiscal Year 2016 appropriations bill that covers the Iowa Department of Natural Resouces, Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, and the Iowa Environmental Protection Commission on a party- vote. Senate File 494 was a “status quo” bill in […]

By Bob Eschliman Editor   With four new “probable cases” of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza in northwest Iowa, the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship is now briefing the General Assembly and the general public about the outbreak. IDALS held a press conference Monday afternoon in which officials explained […]

From Press Release   Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad today highlighted the success of the innovative new Teacher Leadership and Compensation System (TLC) at Southeast Polk Junior High School during his weekly press conference. The press conference occurred following the last of three visits with school districts this month to learn […]

By The Iowa Statesman   U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) got a huge boost for his presidential campaign over the weekend when former Iowa Farm Bureau Federation President Craig Lang gave his endorsement at an event in Atkins on Saturday. Saying it was time for a president who is serious […]

By The Iowa Statesman   Friday afternoon, Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad signed the following bills into law. Among them are provisions related to expanding existing strip search laws, increasing the penalties for disorderly conduct that funerals or memorial services, amending how compensation for county elected officials is established, and to […]

By The Iowa Statesman   Thursday, the Iowa Senate adopted Senate Resolution 35 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of signing the bill that combined Iowa’s technical schools and junior colleges, creating the state’s community college system. The man credited with the landmark legislation, former Senate President John “Jack” Kibbie, was […]

By The Iowa Statesman   Tamara Scott, the Iowa state director of Concerned Women for America, sent out the following message Thursday to the organization’s membership. It relates to Gov. Terry Branstad’s anti-bullying legislation, Senate File 345. Earlier this week, Democrats attempted to force a vote on the measure, but […]

By The Iowa Statesman   Shortly after the death of her father, Casey Kasem, Kerri Kasem began lobbying lawmakers across the U.S. for legislation to prevent what she and many of families have faced in the past. With the passage of Senate File 306 in both the House and Senate, […]

By Bob Eschliman Editor   Despite no new movement on negotiations between the Democrat-controlled Senate and the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, work on the Fiscal Year 2016 budget continued this week. Although they are hundreds of millions of dollars apart on spending targets, and both budgets would increase spending to […]

By Bob Eschliman Editor   They tried and failed. Iowa House Democrats attempted Wednesday morning to bypass House Majority Leader Linda Upmeyer (R-Clear Lake) and force a vote on Gov. Terry Branstad’s hallmark anti-bullying bill, Senate File 488. Conservatives across the state have fought the proposed legislation, saying it unnecessarily […]

By Bob Eschliman Editor   At the conclusion of regular business on any work day in the Iowa House of Representatives, any member of the chamber may rise and speak about any subject of his or her choosing. These speeches, called “personal points of privilege,” are often used to publicly […]

From Press Release   Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds today applauded the Iowa House of Representatives for passing House File 641, a bill that aims to connect every acre of Iowa to high-speed broadband Internet. The bill passed 89-5. “We began calling for broadband legislation last […]

From Press Release   Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds, Sec. of Agriculture Bill Northey and Iowa Economic Development Authority director Debi Durham today sent a letter to Iowa’s congressional egation encouraging the passage of Trade Promotion Authority, reforming and reauthorizing the Export-Import Bank, and authorizing market-opening trade […]

By Bob Eschliman Editor   The Iowa Senate unanimously adopted a House of Representatives bill that would place preschools operated by or for local school districts under the purview of the Iowa Department of Human Resources. Last week, the Senate adopted House File 347, but with an amendment to further […]

By Bob Eschliman Editor   For the fifth time in as many legislative work days, Iowa House Minority Leader Mark Smith (D-Marshalltown) asked Iowa House Majority Leader Linda Upmeyer (R-Clear Lake) on Monday about the status of conference committee negotiations on school funding for the next two years. Last week, […]

By The Iowa Statesman   The United States Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has confirmed the presence of highly pathogenic H5N2 avian influenza at a commercial laying facility in Osceola County, Iowa.  The facility has 5.3 million hens and is the second confirmed case in the […]

By The Iowa Statesman   The Governor’s Office is asking for the public’s help to find a photo of an Iowan who lost his life during the Vietnam War. During Gov. Terry Branstad’s weekly press conference, he was joined by Iowa Newspaper Association executive director Chris Mudge, who joined in […]

By The Iowa Statesman   Thursday, April 30, will mark the 40th anniversary of the Fall of Saigon, which effectively ended the Vietnam War. That day, North Vietnam to control of all of South Vietnam, and immediately declared a united Vietnam. That day, the Iowa Gold Star Museum, located at […]

By The Iowa Statesman   Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad today signed the following bills into law: • House File 146: An act concerning gambling game prohibited activities and making penalties applicable. • House File 172: An act relating to corporations’ powers and duties, document filings, meetings, mergers, voting procedures, and […]

By The Iowa Statesman   Internet giant Google has announced today it will be investing an additional $1 billion in its Council Bluffs data center in exchange for $19.8 million in sales and use tax refunds. The Iowa Economic Development Authority is taking up the request today, and is likely […]

From Press Release   Iowa Governor Terry Branstad today issued a proclamation of disaster emergency for Clinton County in response to recent severe weather. The governor’s proclamation allows state resources to be utilized to respond to and recover from the effects of a severe storm system that made its way […]

By Bob Eschliman Editor   On the surface, the education funding mechanism in Iowa sounds fairly straight forward: count up the students, figure out how much there is to hand out, then distribute it evenly to all of the school districts. But, reality is never as simple as it may […]

By Bob Eschliman Editor   The Iowa Senate narrowly adopted Wednesday a bill to reschedule marijuana as a Schedule II controlled substance, and to allow for the use of cannabis for medical purposes in Iowa. Senate File 484 was adopted on a 26-19 vote– an act to allow for the […]

By Bob Eschliman Editor   The Iowa House of Representatives on Wednesday quickly approved four of five bills it previously adopted, but were later amended by the Iowa Senate, but the fifth was a bridge too far for the Republican majority. House File 347, as adopted by the House on […]

By Bob Eschliman Editor   When the average Iowan hears terms like “enrollment-based funding,” and “making sure the dollars follow the student,” it’s easy to assume every student in Iowa is counted equally when it comes to state funding. While it makes sense, it’s far from the truth. In fact, […]

From Press Release   The Iowa National Guard’s 671st Troop Command, in conjunction with the Iowa Statewide Interoperable Communications Systems Board, invites Iowa media to participate in the April 17 communications interoperability exercise to be held at Camp Dodge, 7105 NW 70th Ave., Johnston, Iowa. Interested media should arrive at […]