Here First

A Senate subcommittee has advanced a bill that would create a state-sponsored program to provide women with alternatives to abortion. Democrat Deidre DeJear officially filed with the secretary of state’s office to run for governor of Iowa. Plus, guns in the hands of children remains on the top of some lawmakers and community members’ minds after a deadly shooting on a Des Moines high school campus.

Months after a divided federal appeals court partially upheld the first of Iowa's "ag-gag" laws, a judge has ruled the state's second such law is unconstitutional. Many rural towns across Iowa struggle with access to childcare and for some small communities, it can limit their ability to grow. Plus, IPR Health reporter Natalie Krebs looks at COVID-19 impacts on the state two years since the first cases were confirmed in Iowa.

National Democrats who set the presidential primary calendar have officially started conversations that could knock Iowa from its first-in-the-nation position or add other early states. Meanwhile, former Secretary of State Mike Pomopeo was in Davenport on Friday night for a Republican Party of Iowa Fundraiser raising speculation he may run for president in 2024. Plus, IPR State Government reporter Katarina Sostaric goes over some of the issues before state lawmakers ahead of a deadline at the statehouse this week.

Iowa should bring in more tax revenue than expected this year – but revenue forecasters say that revenue will decrease over the next two fiscal years. Don’t count on Iowa to join the states proposing a “gas tax holiday” as prices at the pump surge. And, an organization in Sioux City hopes to improve the city’s Native American graduation rate with cash.

Iowa Republican Governor Kim Reynolds officially announced she’s running for re-election this year. A new report has ranked Iowa in the top tier when it comes to emergency preparedness. Plus, Federal officials are reporting Iowa’s COVID-19 hospitalizations continue to drop.

Six Des Moines teenagers have been charged in connection with a shooting outside the city’s East High School. Gov. Kim Reynolds complete education bill is advancing in the Iowa legislature. Plus, how high school students who speak multiple languages are getting the word out about vaccines in the Midwest.

A teenage boy died after being shot outside of a Des Moines high school. A disaster recovery fund was set up to take donations to support families impacted by the deadly EF4 tornado that hit Madison County over the weekend. Plus, public health advocates have worked for years to close the gaps in cancer mortality rates between Black and white Iowans but some worry the pandemic may have set back some of their progress.

Crews outside of Winterset are continuing their work to clean up from after Saturday’s deadly tornado. As predicted by energy companies last fall, higher natural gas prices have meant higher heating bills for Iowans this winter. Plus, after two years of living in the COVID-19 pandemic, one community still struggles with information access.

Governor Kim Reynolds has signed law that bans transgender girls and women from competing in female sports in Iowa K-12 schools, and at the college level. The man accused of killing an Iowa State Patrol trooper during a standoff in Grundy Center last year will go to trial for murder this spring in Hamilton County. Plus, in increasingly dry southwest Kansas, replacing some crops with cotton could help farmers conserve water and weather drought.

The Iowa Senate has voted to send Governor Kim Reynolds a bill that would prohibit transgender women and girls from competing in female sports. The Iowa House has passed two bills aimed at expanding access to child care. Plus, Bird flu has reached Iowa for the first time since 2015.