DES MOINES — The director of the Iowa Department of Education says he’s unsure whether the state will pursue its waiver request to the U.S. Department of Education to free Iowa from some of the requirements of No Child Left Behind. “What the Legislature approved makes it very difficult in some instances to meet the [...]

CEDAR RAPIDS — Two Republicans seeking the nomination for a northeast Iowa congressional seat stuck to their talking points last night, emphasizing their conservative credentials and their ability to defeat a three-term incumbent. Dubuque businessman Rod Blum and Independence attorney Ben Lange squared off in a live, televised debate at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids [...]

Raising the state gas tax should be part of broader tax reform that could actually decrease what Iowans pay in taxes and fees, Gov. Terry Branstad said Friday. “I think next year’s the year to do it,” Branstad said on Iowa Public Television’s “Iowa Press.” Branstad has recognized the need for more revenue to meet [...]

President Barack Obama will return to Iowa on Thursday to meet with supporters, deliver an economic address in Newton and, perhaps, make an announcement about wind energy production. Few details have been released other than Obama will make a presidential visit to Newton and a campaign stop in Des Moines. It will be his first [...]

MOUNT VERNON — Karl Rove would be sleeping better if Hillary Clinton was president. Rove, widely considered the architect of George W. Bush’s presidential victories in 2000 and 2004 and nemesis of all things Democratic, offered a spirited endorsement of a Clinton presidency — as long as the alternative is a Barack Obama presidency. Not [...]

  A pair of Republicans who hope to challenge Rep. Bruce Braley are calling his support for a balanced budget amendment an election-year conversion. Braley, who is seeking a fourth term in the U.S. House, announced May 16 he is signing on to a Republican-authored plan to amend the Constitution to require a balanced budget. He [...]

Sen. Chuck Grassley isn’t alarmed by “what some might call upheavals” in Republican politics in Indiana, Nebraska and Iowa. He sees the recent victories by Tea Party-backed candidates in GOP Senate primaries in Indiana and Nebraska, as well as the success of Texas U.S. Rep. Ron Paul supporters in Iowa in electing a majority of [...]

The Republican Party of Iowa caught heat from news organizations for reneging on its own plan for releasing certified presidential precinct caucus results by giving them to the Des Moines Register before any other media outlets. One of the party’s critics at a public hearing held by the GOP in Des Moines on Tuesday was [...]

  On Tuesday in Iowa, Mitt Romney will deliver what’s being billed as a major policy address on the “out-of-control spending and debt” under the Obama administration, according to U.S. Rep. Steve King. Romney, who is hitting back on a new round of attack ads by President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign, will speak at 2:05 [...]

Iowa House Speaker Kraig Paulsen, R-Hiawatha, has announced that former state lawmaker Doug Struyk will become his executive officer. Struyk will replace Matt Hinch, who is leaving the speaker’s staff to join the Des Moines Partnership. Struyk, 41, served in the Iowa House from 2003 to 2011, including a stint as assistant minority leader. His [...]

Jobs and the economy, property tax relief, lower spending and education reform were winning issues for Iowa Republicans two years ago when they took a 60-40 majority in the House and picked up six seats in the Senate. “Thematically, not a lot has changed since 2010,” said House Speaker Kraig Paulsen, R-Hiawatha. “That’s still what’s [...]

CEDAR RAPIDS – The founder of the Cedar Rapids Tea Party has endorsed Dubuque businessman Rod Blum in the U.S. House 1 st District Republican primary. Blum is facing Independence attorney Ben Lange, who was the GOP challenger to Democratic Rep. Bruce Braley of Waterloo in 2010. Despite of Lange coming within 2 percentage points of [...]

DES MOINES – An Iowa legislative conference committee has reached an agreement on a mental health redesign policy, but details of how it will be funded have been left to another House-Senate conference committee. The conference committee report on Senate File 2315 must be approved by both chambers, but the committee chairs, Rep. Renee Schulte, [...]

DES MOINES — “Sharp differences” remain, but Iowa legislative leaders say the end of their overtime session is in sight. Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal, D-Council Bluffs, is predicting the Iowa Legislature can finish its work this week, including approval of a historic commercial property tax relief package that includes a break for renters and [...]

DES MOINES — “We’re making progress” if the oft-repeated mantra of leaders of the Iowa Legislature as they head into a third week of overtime in a game of legislative chicken. You’ll have to take their word because the progress, if there is any, isn’t happening in public. That’s not a problem, according to Senate [...]

DES MOINES — The only official action by the Iowa Legislature on Wednesday was approval of a resolution honoring the 1937 Melrose High School boys’ basketball state championship team. Like that Melrose team, which became known as the “Iron Men” after playing two consecutive state tournament games without substitutions, it appears lawmakers’ mettle will be [...]

  Two Republicans running for their party’s nomination in Iowa’s 1st Congressional District will meet in a debate May 21 in Cedar Rapids. Rod Blum, a Dubuque businessman, and Independence attorney Ben Lange will debate at 7 p.m. at Kirkwood Community College, room 234 in Cedar Hall, 6301 Kirkwood Blvd. SW. The winner of their [...]

DES MOINES — Special legislation the Iowa House approved to benefit a Cedar Rapids ophthalmologist likely will be axed when the Senate takes up the health and human services budget. “There’s no support” according to Senate Health and Human Services Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Jack Hatch, D-Des Moines, for an amendment to let Lee Birchansky circumvent [...]

“Don’t let the numbers fool you,” Duane Holub said as he looked around at a couple of dozen people at the Tea Party Express Rally in Des Moines Monday. “There’s still the fire,” he said as the rally near the Iowa Capitol was about to begin. “The Tea Party is still a force to be [...]

  DES MOINES – Iowa Senate Democrats would put on hold a decision by the Board of Regents to close Malcolm Price Lab School in Cedar Falls. The Senate Appropriations Committee approved $3 million to keep the research and development school at the University of Northern Iowa open for one year. In approving the one-year [...]