Here First

A report done for Iowa’s ethanol industry says Iowa corn could lose value if the state’s ethanol plants don’t use pipelines to capture carbon dioxide and carry it out of state for underground storage. Conservation groups say they’re worried a bill in the Iowa Legislature would prevent the expansion of public lands in the state. And the Anamosa State Penitentiary is on restricted movement after exposure to an unknown substance sent four people to the hospital over the weekend.

A key sponsor of a bill to put more regulations on creating carbon capture pipelines says he’s confident the House will vote on the measure this month. Some librarians say they’re concerned Gov. Reynolds’ new government reorganization bill could hurt libraries in the state. And Davenport plans a couple of meetings this week to talk to residents and businesses about possible flooding along the Mississippi River.

Iowa lawmakers have sent Gov. Reynolds a bill banning transgender Iowans from using school bathrooms that align with their gender identity. Vice President Kamala Harris was in Des Moines yesterday for discussions on reproductive health. And the USDA is proposing a new rule around “Made in USA” labels for meat, poultry and eggs.

Republicans have passed Gov. Kim Reynolds’ big government reorganization bill. It’s now headed to her desk to be signed. Federal regulators have okayed a merger between the Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern railroads. And a new report says Iowans provided several hundred million hours of unpaid care in the state in 2021.

The head of the Iowa Board of Regents is ordering the state’s public universities to pause new diversity, equity and inclusion programs. A bill to create a new licensure designation for rural hospitals is headed to Gov. Reynolds’ desk. And, Davenport is preparing for possible flooding this spring.

Former President Donald Trump rallied supporters in Davenport last night. It was his first visit to Iowa since announcing his third run for the White House. Gov. Reynolds’ proposal to reorganize state government is causing some to worry about how the plan might effect electricity and natural gas prices in the state. And Iowa’s unemployment rate dipped slightly in January.

A bill in the Iowa legislature would drop requirements for gender balance on appointed boards. Former President Donald Trump is coming back to Iowa following recent visits by other GOP presidential hopefuls. And food prices are not expected to jump as much in 2023, but grocers are struggling to manage costs without making customers foot the bill.

With just under a year until the 2024 Iowa caucuses, more Republicans are making stops in Iowa including the two people most polls put at the top of the race for the GOP nomination. The University of Iowa decides to pay a racial discrimination lawsuit settlement with no contribution from the state. And the State Auditor says a bill passed in the Iowa Senate would make it harder to root out corruption.

Gov. Kim Reynolds has chosen an Ohio education reform advocate to be the next director of the Iowa Department of Education. School library books and curriculum must be age appropriate under a bill passed out of the Iowa House. Plus, gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors would be banned under a bill Iowa House Republicans sent to the governor’s desk.

The Iowa Senate voted yesterday to pass Governor Kim Reynolds’s plan to cut the number of cabinet-level state agencies by more than half. The Attorneys General in Iowa and Nebraska are warning the EPA they intend to sue the federal agency. Plus, voters in the city of Swisher rejected development of a public water system during a special election.