State Government News

Bills that would expand charter schools in Iowa and create scholarships that could be spent on tuition at private schools are advancing as separate proposals in the Iowa House.

Iowans would no longer have to get a permit to acquire handguns or carry a concealed weapon under a bill advanced by Republicans on a House panel Monday.

IPR's Morning Edition host Clay Masters talks with IPR state government reporter Katarina Sostaric about an election bill on Gov. Reynolds's desk that awaits her signature and about where some of her other priorities stand.

Tax breaks and government contracts for big tech companies like Google and Facebook could be cancelled under a bill advancing in the Iowa Senate.

Republicans in the Iowa House of Representatives passed a major elections bill Wednesday that cuts the time allowed for voting by mail, early in-person voting, and Election Day voting, sending the bill to the governor’s desk one week after introducing it.

Republicans in the Iowa legislature are advancing bills that would ban professors from getting tenure at the state’s three regents universities because they say conservative students are beings silenced. Leaders at the University of Iowa, Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa say the ban would make it harder to recruit and keep faculty.

School board members could be removed from office for violating state law, and superintendents could face stronger professional sanctions, under a bill advanced by an Iowa Senate subcommittee.

Iowa Republican lawmakers plan to give final approval to a bill Wednesday that shortens the early voting period and makes other wide-ranging changes to the state’s election laws, sending it to the governor’s desk just one week after the proposal was introduced.

It's "entirely unknown" how Iowa's legislative redistricting process will proceed due to extreme delays in the release of Census data. The population numbers may not be released until after the deadline for Iowa to complete its reapportionment process.

IPR Morning Edition host Clay Masters talks with IPR state government reporter Katarina Sostaric about a flurry of activity at the Iowa statehouse last week and what is still under consideration this week.