Stories

As GOP gubernatorial hopefuls try to draw distinctions from their Republican rivals, the Iowa Democratic Party continues to co-opt their critiques with the hope of weakening potential challengers to incumbent Gov. Chet Culver.
The latest attack was delivered in Dubuque by state Rep. Chris Rants against former Gov. Terry Branstad. Rants said he spoke earlier in [...]

The Des Moines Register showered more poll numbers on readers today, and the news is better for Democrats than it was over the weekend.
Though each Iowan seems to have his or her own ideas for how money should be cut from the budget, few blame the Democrats for overspending on their key priorities over the [...]

Culver, who has been an outspoken critic of the idea, has previously stopped short of saying he would veto it. That changed today.

Increasing the state’s fuel tax is the fairest way pay for fixing Iowa’s roads, two Iowa State University economists told lawmakers Tuesday.

A face-off is brewing over an increase to Iowa’s fuel tax, but the divide is not breaking down along typical partisan lines.

Several influential Democratic lawmakers told the Cedar Rapids Gazette’s Rob Boshart an 8 cent per gallon increase to the state’s gas tax will be brought up this session despite Gov. Chet Culver’s previous statements that a gas tax is off the table.
Senate President Jack Kibbie, D-Emmetsburg; Sen. Matt McCoy, D-Des Moines, co-chair of the Legislature’s [...]

The Polk County Board of Supervisors denied a request from the Des Moines Area Regional Transit Authority (DART) for a $1.6 million loan to help pay damages associated with five recent pedestrian accidents, according to the Des Moines Business Record.

It’s an organization with little real authority but with tremendous influence, and its work over the next year will go a long way in determining the transportation priorities of the state’s capital city and surrounding suburbs for decades.

However, most are only slightly aware of what the Des Moines Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (DSM MPO) actually [...]

Rep. Bruce Braley, D-Iowa, has some new shoes to fill in the beltway this fall.
Shortly before the August recess, Rep. Jim Oberstar, D-Minnesota, who serves as chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, tapped Braley for service as the vice-chairman of the subcommittee on highways and transit. Braley will serve as second-ranking majority member [...]

More than 50 years have passed since CRANDIC (Cedar Rapids AND Iowa City) trains have carried passengers.  They returned for free demonstrations Saturday for a special “Corridor Train Excursion” on the Hawkeye Express.  The train is owned by Iowa Northern Railways and the rails by Alliant Energy.

The day was part of a plan by Johnson [...]