DES MOINES – The Iowa Executive Council on Monday approved a six-month health insurance coverage plan for about 600 unionized state police officers that calls for a 2.84 percent renewal increase with Wellmark to carry the bargaining unit through until the 2014 enrollment plan takes effect in January. Ed Holland of the state Department of [...]

DES MOINES – Millions of dollars and solutions to unfulfilled dreams were one elusive number away for three Iowans. For hordes of other Iowans, they have far less or nothing to show for their long-odds, high-stakes gamble. So it goes with lottery drawings. Officials with the Iowa Lottery said Sunday the final results showed that [...]

Uniformed peace officers from around Iowa joined Gov. Terry Branstad, Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds, public safety leaders and family members in adding three names to a state memorial that was recently moved and rededicated at a new location near the Statehouse Friday. The list of peace officers killed in the line of duty over the [...]

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. Terry Branstad made public his income tax returns Friday, showing that he and his wife earned $226,728 and paid $28,182 in federal and state taxes. Both figures were up from last year, when the Branstads reported $190,472 in earnings and $24,088 in tax payments. “This is an annual exercise that we go through. Every [...]

  DES MOINES – Iowa senators agreed Tuesday to pump nearly $43 million in additional state surplus dollars into mental health services in an effort to avoid service cuts or waiting lists for counties functioning under a newly redesigned regional service delivery system. Backers said the Iowa Senate’s 33-17 bipartisan passage would put majority Democrats [...]

The Iowa Senate voted 29-21 Monday to approve a $250 million commercial property tax credit plan targeted at small and Main Street businesses – action that likely moves the issue closer to a negotiated compromise with GOP forces led by Gov. Terry Branstad. Republican Sens. Rick Bertrand of Sioux City, Hubert Houser of Carson and [...]

An effort to help start-up businesses survive and thrive started under the Culver administration got rave reviews Monday from Gov. Terry Branstad and his economic development helpers. Results of a study on the economic and fiscal impact of the state’s demonstration fund found the $8.7 million and technical assistance provided to 79 companies between 2007 [...]

DES MOINES – The Iowa Senate voted 50-0 Tuesday to authorize the state Department of Transportation to issue special vehicle registration plates that will contain a space to place a DOT-approved decal produced, issued and sold by qualifying non-profit organizations. Sen. Chris Brase, D-Muscatine, said Senate File 371 is designed to address the demand for [...]

DES MOINES — The Democratic-controlled Iowa Senate, on a party-line 26-23 vote, approved a major expansion of Medicaid coverage for at least 100,000 needy Iowans last night over the objections of Gov. Terry Branstad and some of his GOP allies. Under the legislation, which was prompted by the federal Affordable Care Act, commonly known as [...]