Rod BoshartRod Boshart has been The Gazette’s Des Moines bureau manager since 1989 covering state government, the Legislature and political campaigns – both statewide and presidential elections. Boshart also worked for United Press International for eight years in the Des Moines and the Quad-City bureaus covering general assignment news, political campaigns and University of Iowa athletics. After graduating from the University of Iowa with degrees in journalism, history and political science, Rod worked for four years as a co-partner in a family farm operation with his father and brother in southeast Iowa. He is married and has four children. |
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Iowa officials increasingly worried about Medicaid shortfall
Iowa will be moving into uncharted budgetary waters next month if the split-control Legislature is unable to approve supplemental Medicaid money to finish out the fiscal year due to an impasse over taxpayer funding of abortion procedures, a top state official says. The state’s share of Medicaid funding averages about $3.5 million a day for [...]
Catch-all budget bill gets loaded down
DES MOINES — A fairly open-ended, catch-all budget bill has touched off a feeding frenzy among interest groups and lobbyists hoping for one last shot at getting their pet project or idea into state law before the Iowa Legislature’s 2013 session adjourns. The standing appropriations bill, Senate File 452, was formally sent to a House-Senate [...]
Iowa lawmakers eye local “reinvestment” districts
DES MOINES – Iowa communities would be able to designate special 25-acre development zones and use a share of sales tax and hotel-motel tax revenues to assist private projects of at least $10 million under legislation that’s getting bipartisan support. House File 641 would establish reinvestment districts designed to spur development of “big ideas,” said [...]
Negotiators try to narrow Iowa spending gaps
State budget negotiators Wednesday were trying to narrow differences on hundreds of millions of dollars worth of government spending for the fiscal year that begins July 1. An “apples-to-apples” comparison made by the Iowa Department of Management of fiscal 2014 spending plans offered by Gov. Terry Branstad, majority House Republicans and majority Senate Democrats indicated [...]
Iowa Speedway money part of wide-ranging Senate budget bill
The Iowa Senate passed a wide-ranging standings appropriation bill Tuesday night that included an $8 million, four-year commitment of state money to help the Newton-based Iowa Speedway bring a NASCAR Sprint Cup race to Iowa. Senators voted 26-24 along party lines to approve a revised Senate File 452 after turning back minority Republican amendments that [...]
2008: Plant faces 9,000 labor violations – Agriprocessors owner among 5 charged with putting minors in peril
[Editor's note: This story was originally published in The Gazette's Wednesday, September 10, 2008 edition.] DES MOINES — Agriprocessors Inc.’s owner and operators knowingly let minors run power equipment and exposed them to dangerous chemicals at the firm’s Postville meatpacking plant, state officials said Tuesday. The violations’ magnitude prompted Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller to bring [...]
Veterans Affairs leader to manage operations at Iowa Veterans Home
One day after a Senate hearing that raised leadership concerns at the Iowa Veterans Home, Gov. Terry Branstad announced Tuesday that retired Brig. Gen. Jodi Tymeson was resigning as head of the Iowa Department of Veterans Affairs to become chief operating officer at the Marshalltown home. “I am honored to serve in this new role, [...]
Lawmaker urges probe of Iowa Veterans Home allegations
DES MOINES – A state senator Monday called on Gov. Terry Branstad to place two top leaders at the Iowa Veterans Home on paid administrative leave while independent investigators probe allegations of intimidation, bullying, sexual harassment and other problems at the Marshalltown facility. Sen. Steve Sodders, D-State Center, said the charges brought during a lengthy [...]
Number of abused, neglected children cases down slightly in Iowa
The number of Iowa children who were abused or neglected declined slightly last year, according to the latest statistical report issued Monday by the state Department of Human Services. DHS officials reported that a total of 11,637 children were the subject of abuse or neglect last year, a drop of about 1 percent from the [...]
Gov. Branstad signs changes for Iowa drivers
DES MOINES – Beginning and novice drivers will face more restrictions designed to improve safety on Iowa roadways under legislation signed into law by Gov. Terry Branstad on Wednesday. Senate File 115 extends from six months to one year the time that a teenager with a learner’s permit will need to practice supervised driving with [...]
