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A bill advanced in the Iowa Senate on Monday that would prohibit cities and counties from regulating natural gas or propane sales triggered a debate on how Republicans value local control this Legislative session. Passed 29-16 along party lines, the bill will bar local governments from overseeing energy choice in their communities. It comes as…

Iowa Starting Line has some temporary good news to share with our readers — we are restarting the website and publishing for at least the next two months. We acquired some funding to keep Starting Line active for February and March while we work through some bigger decisions and seek out a long-term plan for…

Former Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday hopped on an Iowa-organized Earth Day Zoom call with state and national climate leaders to encourage a reassertion of climate authority following years of avoidance. Conferencing in from the White House’s China Room, the U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate said he stepped away from President Joe…

Some rural Iowa schools are eliminating mask requirements amid updated CDC guidance which loosens some social distancing requirements, though notably not their mask recommendations. North Butler in Greene County, BCLUW serving Grundy, Marshall, and Hardin Counties, West Hancock in Hancock County and Kingsley-Pierson near Sioux City are community districts confirmed to have lifted mask-wearing requirements…

If the Iowa GOP seeks to run government like a business, passing a voter suppression bill reflects a poor business model, Democrats said tonight during floor debate in the Iowa House. In his opening statement before the House passed a contentious elections bill, Republican Rep. Bobby Kaufmann called for sweeping reform to Iowa’s election system…

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds received a newly-released, one-dose, Johnson and Johnson COVID-19 vaccine on Wednesday during a live press conference—a bittersweet action to some Iowans who appreciate her attempt to dispel vaccine misinformation amid the state’s continuation of lax pandemic mitigation efforts. Reynolds, who has been widely criticized for her attempts to undermine the pandemic…

“I know you’re watching.” That’s how Iowa Republican Sen. Jake Chapman addressed Silicon Valley tech executives, his gaze deadpan to the center of the Senate live-stream lens. It was during his closing remarks Wednesday afternoon on a bill he authored that curbs tax cuts for big technology companies in the state if they “censor” speech.…

Iowa Republicans are willing to take a hit on the state’s economic development in order to welcome former President Donald Trump with lenient first amendment privileges during a time when few places are offering to be his safe haven. Big tech companies like Facebook, Apple and Google will no longer enjoy the tax breaks and…

Iowa this week moved into the second phase of its vaccine rollout while the state’s stockpile remains low just a few days after it hit a new record amount of COVID deaths. First responders, educators and Iowans age 65 or older are now able to join healthcare workers in receiving the vaccine, making about 20%…

At the close of a three-hour-long debate highlighting clashes in the Iowa Capitol over former President Donald Trump’s debunked claims of widespread election fraud in the 2020 race, the state Senate passed a controversial elections bill along party lines. The GOP bill, which reduces Iowa’s early voting period, imposes criminal charges on county auditors who…