Protesters gathered outside the Neal Smith Federal Building in Des Moines May 9 calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and end to U.S. military aid to Israel. (Photo by Robin Opsahl/Iowa Capital Dispatch) More than 100 people gathered Thursday at Des Moines’ Neal Smith Federal Building to protest Israel’s actions in Gaza. The Catholic Peace Ministry and local chapter of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom organized the event, calling for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict and for Iowa’s congressional delegation to no longer support the funding of military support for Israel ..read more

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas participates in a fireside chat with Mike L. Sena during the National Fusion Center Association 11th Annual Training Event on March 28, 2024, at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C. (DHS photo by Tia Dufour) WASHINGTON — The Biden administration announced Thursday it’s proposing changes to the asylum system that would allow immigration officials to reject asylum seekers who have a criminal record that poses a threat to national security or public safety and quickly remove them. Those changes will occur during the initial screening stages ..read more

Gov. Kim Reynolds, joined by Lt. Gov. Adam Gregg, left, Sen. Dan Dawson, right, and other lawmakers and lobbyists, signed into law on May 1, 2024, a bill that will reduce Iowa's individual income tax rate in 2025. (Photo by Robin Opsahl/Iowa Capital Dispatch) Gov. Kim Reynolds has signed several bills from the 2024 legislative session into law, including measures to extend postpartum Medicaid coverage and set new early literacy standards. The governor signed Senate File 2251 into law Wednesday. The new law will extend Medicaid coverage for new and expecting mothers from its previous 60-day li ..read more

Gov. Kim Reynolds signs into law legislation giving community college leaders control over developing the state aid distribution formula. (Photo courtesy of Community Colleges for Iowa) Gov. Kim Reynolds has officially given Iowa’s community colleges the ability to develop the formula that determines state aid distribution with her signing of Senate File 2405. Reynolds signed the bill into law Wednesday alongside community college leaders from around the state, according to a Community Colleges for Iowa news release. “I appreciate the willingness of Iowa’s community colleges to work together ..read more

U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana and other Republicans at a press conference introducing legislation on noncitizen voting at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, May 8, 2024. (Photo by Ariana Figueroa/States Newsroom) WASHINGTON — U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson Wednesday unveiled a bill that would require states to verify proof of citizenship to prevent noncitizens from voting in federal elections, something already barred under the law. Johnson, a Louisiana Republican who played a key role through legal challenges in defending the former president’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presid ..read more

U.S. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Robert Califf testifies before the U.S. Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee on Wednesday, May 8, 2024. (Screenshot from Senate livestream)  WASHINGTON — The commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said at a congressional hearing Wednesday the agency is preparing for the possibility the strain of avian influenza affecting dairy cattle could jump to humans, though he cautioned the probability is low.  Robert Califf told senators on the panel in charge of his agency’s funding that top officials from the FDA, Agricu ..read more

Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird spoke at the 2024 Iowa GOP state convention in Clive May 4, 2024. (Photo by Robin Opsahl/Iowa Capital Dispatch) Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird said Tuesday her office is joining a lawsuit against the Biden administration over new Title IX protections for LGBTQ+ students. The lawsuit challenges new Title IX rules issued by the U.S. Department of Education that are set to go into effect Aug. 1. The new rules on the law, primarily dealing with sex-based discrimination, were clarified to prohibit discrimination against LGBTQ+ students on the basis of gender id ..read more

U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, center, and Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, right, both Republicans, speak to reporters on the steps of the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (Photo by Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom) WASHINGTON — Georgia Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene and Kentucky’s Thomas Massie left a meeting with U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson on Tuesday, saying the “ball is in his court” on whether they hold a floor vote to remove him from leadership. Greene filed the so-called motion to vacate in late March and has been using it as leverage ever since to try to get Jo ..read more

TikTok Inc., the U.S. company that operates the popular social media service, and ByteDance, its parent company, filed suit Tuesday, May 7, 2024, in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit over a law requiring ByteDance to sell its subsidiary or face a ban from U.S. app stores. (Photo by Kevin Frayer/Getty Images) TikTok and its Chinese parent company on Tuesday challenged a recently enacted federal law banning the short-form video platform from the United States if it is not sold to a non-Chinese owner. TikTok Inc., the U.S. company that operates the popular social med ..read more

High-voltage transmission lines provide electricity to data centers in Loudon County, Va., home to the world’s largest concentration of data centers. Lawmakers in Virginia and other states are rethinking how incentive programs for data centers may impact the electric grid, clean energy goals and utility rates for other consumers. (Photo by Ted Shaffrey/The Associated Press) State Sen. Norm Needleman championed the 2021 legislation designed to lure major data centers to Connecticut. The Democratic lawmaker hoped to better compete with nearby states, bring in a growing industry, and provide pay ..read more