Here First

Governor Kim Reynold took to the national political stage to give the official Republican response to President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address. The governor gave the speech hours after she signed a major tax cut package into law Tuesday surrounded by a crowd of Republican lawmakers. Plus, a new monthly survey suggests that worries about Russia's invasion of Ukraine, soaring inflation and rising interest rates combined to undermine the confidence of business leaders.

Schools, child care centers and colleges could not require students to receive COVID-19 vaccines under a bill passed Monday in the Iowa House. The superintendent of Iowa’s largest school district says he is stepping down at the end of this school year. Plus, Iowa Public Radio’s board of directors has approved a plan to take ownership of the network’s broadcasting licenses from the Iowa Board of Regents.

The city of Cedar Rapids and Linn County are lifting requirements that staff and visitors use face coverings to curb the spread of COVID-19 in municipal facilities. A judge has cleared the way for newspaper publisher Lee Enterprises to use a voting system that will ensure two longtime directors are reelected at next month’s annual meeting. Plus, IPR’s Katarina Sostaric discusses latest happenings at the Iowa statehouse.

The Iowa Legislature has passed a sweeping tax cut bill, sending it to the governor’s desk for her signature. Iowa’s attorney general is looking into why fertilizer prices are increasing. Plus, landowners are uniting to defend themselves against the use of eminent domain.

Lawyers for the state argued before the Iowa Supreme Court that the Court’s 2018 ruling establishing strong abortion rights protections was wrong. The family of a correctional officer killed at the Anamosa State Penitentiary is calling on Iowa lawmakers to pass two bills aimed at improving safety conditions for prison staff. Plus, the Des Moines Area Religious Council is paying Iowans who have experienced hunger and food insecurity to share their stories.

Governor Kim Reynolds has been chosen to deliver the official Republican response to President Joe Biden’s State of the Union speech next week. The Iowa Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments Wednesday in a case that could erode the state’s strong legal protections for abortion rights. Plus, a southeast Iowa school board has approved a shift to a four-day school week, starting in August.

Republican leaders have developed rough outlines of how much of Iowans’ tax dollars they want to spend on state services in the next fiscal year. The Republican-controlled Iowa House has passed a bill that would prohibit transgender girls and women from playing sports with other women and girls. Plus, investigators in Cedar Rapids are working to determine what sparked a fire at an apartment tower that left two people with serious injuries.

Governor Kim Reynolds’s plan to provide state scholarships to parents who start sending their kids to a private school is being changed to try to gain more votes. As the number of Iowans hospitalized with COVID-19 continues to drop, experts say it remains vital that more parents get their kids vaccinated against COVID-19. Plus, as the pandemic continues to make it difficult for schools to keep teachers in the classroom, Iowa’s dual-language programs find it a particular challenge.

Congresswoman Cindy Axne is calling on the U.S. Treasury Department to approve additional rental assistance funds to help Polk County residents who have been impacted by the pandemic. The Iowa Senate Education Committee is advancing its own version of a bill that would forbid transgender girls from participating in girls’ sports. Plus, a new program is launching in Council Bluffs that will work to connect the Latino community to careers in tech.

A House panel has advanced a bill that would change Iowa’s election recount procedures and bar election officials from receiving private donations to help run elections. Republicans on an Iowa House committee have approved a wide-ranging bill to ban vaccine and mask mandates. Plus, a proposal that targets books that some parents find obscene has advanced in the Iowa Senate ahead of a legislative deadline this week.