State Legislature
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Taxpayer money, private schools: How vouchers stripped Des Moines Public of $47M
The Hawkeye State implemented a taxpayer-funded private school scholarship program three years ago. It’s since cost Iowa’s largest public school district nearly $47.5 million in state funding.
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Iowa legislative session ends declaring ‘mission accomplished’ on property taxes and more abortion restrictions
Iowa Republicans ended a 112-day legislative session on May 3 with a long-promised property tax overhaul estimated to save homeowners $4.2 billion over six years. They also passed an abortion pill restriction that 80% of Iowa voters—including a majority of Republicans—said shouldn’t be the legislature’s priority.
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EXCLUSIVE: Josh Turek launches rural Iowa plan, points to right-to-repair win as proof of concept
The Iowa House just passed a bipartisan right-to-repair bill that Turek helped champion. Now he’s running for US Senate on a promise to take that fight to Washington.
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Joe Mitchell took a homestead tax credit in Mount Pleasant while living in Des Moines, records show
Where was Joe Mitchell living? The Iowa congressional candidate collected a tax credit on a Mount Pleasant property, while his voter registration, business filings, and a condo purchase all pointed to a different address in downtown Des Moines.
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Iowa lawmakers push back on proposed tobacco tax
A key health committee in the Iowa Legislature has defeated a measure that would have increased the state’s tobacco and e-cigarette taxes.
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Clean water advocates announce demands for Iowa rivers, streams
The environmental advocacy group Food & Water Watch has announced a 20-point “clean water blueprint” it says would help protect Iowa’s waterways from toxic levels of nitrate and phosphorous pollution. Manure from large-scale agriculture operations routinely pollutes ground and surface water nearby.
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Affordability will be focus for Iowa Dems this year: Iowa Worker’s Almanac news and layoffs
Iowa House Democrats say they will focus on affordability in the upcoming legislative session, with plans for lowering property taxes, helping young Iowans buy their first homes, raising the minimum wage, and supporting the state’s workers.
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Sen. Claire Celsi remembered for her passion and outspokenness
The Democratic state senator from West Des Moines died on Oct. 6 after a bout with an undisclosed illness. West Des Moines resident Al Womble will always remember the first time he met Iowa Sen. Claire Celsi. Womble, a union organizer by trade, was an active volunteer in the Iowa Democratic Party and its Polk…
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Iowa Board of Regents tries banning university courses that teach about social justice
The Iowa Legislature passed a bill this session banning diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and trainings by “public entities,” including Iowa’s public universities. And they spelled out exactly what they don’t want us to learn about: “unconscious or implicit bias, cultural appropriation, allyship, transgender ideology, microaggressions, group marginalization, anti-racism, systemic oppression, social justice, intersectionality, neopronouns, heteronormativity,…
