2021 Legislative Session

IPR Morning Edition host Clay Masters talks with IPR state government reporter Katarina Sostaric about what's keeping Iowa lawmakers from ending the 2021 Iowa legislative session.

Gov. Kim Reynolds proposed a wide-ranging tax plan Wednesday that would shift mental health funding from counties to the state. But House Republicans released a different tax plan as state GOP leaders are still trying to reach an agreement to end the legislative session.

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said last week on Fox News she wants to sign a new law before the end of this legislative session that would ban transgender women and girls from participating in women’s sports.

IPR Morning Edition host Clay Masters talks with IPR state government reporter Katarina Sostaric about issues at the Statehouse.

Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a bill into law that will allow landlords in three Iowa cities to resume rejecting potential tenants because they use federal Section 8 housing vouchers.

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a bill into law Wednesday aimed at expanding high-speed internet access across the state. Lawmakers approved $100 million to fund the grants.

A bill expanding Iowa’s public-funded charter school system passed in the Iowa Senate, sending the bill to Gov. Kim Reynolds. The proposal was one of her school choice priorities for the legislative session.

Government entities, schools and businesses in Iowa would not be eligible for state-funded grants and contracts if they require customers, clients, and others to prove they got a COVID-19 vaccine under a bill advancing in the Iowa Legislature.

IPR Morning Edition host Clay Masters talks with IPR State Government reporter Katarina Sostaric about some of the issues at the Iowa statehouse.

As the 2021 session comes to a close, changing Iowa’s bottle redemption system received a public hearing. Another large department budget passed out of an appropriations committee, and includes a controversial income verification qualification for public assistance programs. And a large bill about law enforcement passed out of the House.