Stories

His past donations to Democratic candidates were based on friendships, not on politics, GOP gubernatorial hopeful Christian Fong said in an e-mail to the Iowa Independent.

Gov. Chet Culver is closely studying a $56 million disaster relief package passed Wednesday by the House Rebuild Iowa and Disaster Recovery Committee, according to Troy Price, the governor’s press secretary.
The bill is $13 million larger than what Culver requested in his Condition of the State address and is allocated differently than the governor originally [...]

Residents and officials understand that Iowa is working through a state budget crisis, but they also understand that rebuilding the lives shattered by devastating flooding must take priority. The difficulty of reconciling those two goals was not hard to miss at a forum with legislators Monday.

It was an opportunity too good for Democrats to let it pass. In the wake of Sen. John McCain’s and Gov. Sarah Palin’s visit to Cedar Rapids Thursday morning, one of the state’s youngest Democratic legislators took center stage to respond.

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.

Although a meeting with Iowa’s senior citizens began with Rep. Tyler Olson providing an overview of accomplishments from the last legislative session, it ended with him gaining insights into elder abuse.
“People not only came, but they had a lot of questions and comments,” said Olson, a Democrat who represents Cedar Rapids. “I hadn’t heard as [...]

Illinois Sen. Barack Obama’s campaign picked up an endorsement from a second state legislator today, with the announcement that Cedar Rapids Rep. Tyler Olson would be supporting his campaign.

“I’m supporting Senator Obama because he has the judgment and experience to lead America and change the divisive politics in Washington, DC,” said Olson in a release [...]

Iowa Sen. Rob Hogg will set off on his annual bike tour of District 19 on Saturday, June 2, with a few friends joining the fun. State Representatives Tyler Olson and Art Staed and Cedar Rapids City Councilman Tom Podzimek will travel the length of the tour. Cedar Rapids Mayor Kay Halloran plans to join [...]