Stories

Gov. Chet Culver said he knows he’ll be criticized for deciding to veto pay increases for statewide elected officials and House File 2645, which dealt with public employee collective bargaining, but chalks it up to just doing his job.
“There will be those who criticize my actions. That is to be expected,” Culver said at a [...]

A spokesman in Congressman Tom Latham’s office says the lawmaker voted against incentives for election verification because the bill would be a “costly redundant federal program.”

Ever wondered about the intricacies of legislating on Iowa’s capitol hill?  We talked to Rep. Tyler Olson, D-Cedar Rapids about them in the context of the bill to ban smoking in public places, which he floor-managed.

In its busiest week of the legislative session, lawmakers at the Iowa Statehouse advanced dozens of bills through committee, sparing them from the so-called funnel-week deadline and keeping hopes – or fears – of their passage alive.

Below the fold: a video interview with Rep. Donovan Olson, D-Boone.

As he shepherds and tracks several energy bills being funneled to committees in the state Legislature before next week’s cutoff date, Sen Rob Hogg, D-Cedar Rapids, praised Gov. Chet Culver’s energy policies:
“Governor Culver has done an outstanding job on his advocacy for what he calls the next-generation energy economy … There might be some people [...]

Gov. Chet Culver announced his energy plan today in a phone call from Washington, D.C., where he is attending the National Governor’s Association Conference. The three-pronged proposal leans heavily on improving energy efficiency standards.

One part of his approach calls for the establishment of a new commission within the Department of Public Safety that would focus [...]

[Commentary] There’s something disingenuous about the cigarette conversations taking place in Des Moines. On one hand, Iowa residents are being told that the statewide ban currently under consideration — recently passed through the Iowa House of Representatives — is in direct response to public health concerns. On the other hand, we’re learning that the word [...]

The Iowa Library Association (ILA) knows it is in the midst of a battle when it comes to state funding, but the organization is hoping its grassroots call will motivate thousands of library patrons to join the front lines.
Gov. Chet Culver has proposed an 18-percent cut in library funding in his 2009 budget. The ILA [...]

(Editor’s Note: The following video and feature package is the result of collaboration between Iowa Independent fellows Adam Burke and Douglas Burns.)

DES MOINES – While Iowa State Sen. Jeff Angelo, R-Creston, was dating his now wife, the evangelical Christian conservative just had to come right out with it and tell his lady just how much [...]

Two of Iowa’s federal lawmakers, working on opposite sides of the aisle and in different houses of Congress, are taking steps to help ensure stability in the federal tax policy affecting wind energy.
Sen. Chuck Grassley, an Iowa Republican, authored the Wind Energy Incentives Act of 1993, which established the first wind energy production tax credit. [...]