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Under the Golden Dome

Government

The policymaking process in the Iowa Legislature can be complicated. Host John Pemble breaks it down and makes it easier to understand. Under the Golden Dome provides context, depth and a better understanding of the Iowa legislative session and the laws that come out of it. Learn about the elected officials, influencers, issues and bills working their way through the statehouse.

Location:

United States

Description:

The policymaking process in the Iowa Legislature can be complicated. Host John Pemble breaks it down and makes it easier to understand. Under the Golden Dome provides context, depth and a better understanding of the Iowa legislative session and the laws that come out of it. Learn about the elected officials, influencers, issues and bills working their way through the statehouse.

Language:

English


Episodes

Return and adjourn

5/25/2022
The 2022 Iowa legislative session ends after many weeks of little to no activity in the House or Senate. During a busy two days, final budget bills are approved. Most come revised from the Senate including the education appropriation that funds the public universities. Also a number of policy bills are eligible for the governor to consider, including one changing Iowa’s four decade old can and bottle redemption law. One of the final bills, known as the “standings bill” includes a section...

Duration:00:17:52

Retiring and waiting for Senate budgets

4/9/2022
Around this time, legislators who have announced they aren’t seeking re-election in the Iowa legislature are granted a “retirement” speech from the chamber floor. Between the House and Senate, around 35 legislators are not running for re-election. A few are seeking to run in the other chamber and there are some running for congressional seats. Some of these decisions are also due to redistricting. Also, many large budget bills have passed in the House, but so far the Senate has not taken...

Duration:00:11:26

Disagreement between the House and Senate

4/2/2022
Proposals about public schools pass in the Senate and House requiring online publishing of curriculums. Private schools are exempt from doing the same. Unlike the House version, the Senate’s includes millions of dollars in scholarships for students attending private schools. One Republican says this is necessary after accusing some public schools of promoting a “leftist agenda.” And the House passes a budget with no increase to the regents universities’ general fund. But the bill does...

Duration:00:19:05

Posting curriculum online, surplus vs failure to appropriate, and contentious debate about unemployment benefits

3/26/2022
A bill requiring teachers to post everything they use in a classroom online before a semester begins, advances. After a committee, it now has something that may let teachers update that information as they teach. Budgets are now starting to pass out of the House. Democrats say the $1 billion surplus should be used to provide more funds to state departments. And the longest debate so far this year is for a bill about unemployment benefits. It reduces the maximum number of weeks for...

Duration:00:22:30

First Department of Corrections budget and striking bills

3/19/2022
The Department of Corrections director lays out the condition of the prisons to a committee that determines its annual budget. The House reduces one budget item, makes it up with money from a previous fiscal year, then allocates 7 million new dollars for fiscal year 2023. The House passes a bill allowing midwifery to be licensed in Iowa, but the bill is derailed in a Senate committee. And a bill changing how Iowa’s four decades old container redemption system operates advances from a...

Duration:00:22:58

Changing confirmation, time, and property tax notifications

3/12/2022
A bill removing Senate confirmation for some of the governor’s appointees advances. Confirmation for those exempt appointees is still possible if 26 senators want it, but the 18 Democrats in the Senate say it isn’t fair. A bill that would overturn an Iowa Supreme Court ruling about police searching garbage without a warrant passes in the Senate. As it comes to a House committee, the bill’s potential to become a law that stays on the books is in question. There’s a proposal that would require...

Duration:00:19:52

Private scholarships, drug changes, and a ban becomes law

3/5/2022
Two of the governor’s priorities advance at the Capitol. First, a bill creating scholarships for private schools advances from a committee. It also requires teachers to publish online everything that will be used in the classroom. And, the Senate passes a bill banning transgender girls from playing on female sports teams at K-12 schools, colleges and universities in Iowa. The governor signs the bill into law. In the House, two drug-related bills pass. One is about experimental treatments for...

Duration:00:21:02

Israel, child care, and athletes

2/26/2022
There are state requirements for staff levels at child care facilities. A bill comes to the full Senate for debate that increases the ratio of staff for young children. In the House there are bills involving interests with Israel, including one related to Ben and Jerry’s ice cream. And a ban on transgender girls and women playing on girls’ and women’s sports teams passes the House.

Duration:00:19:52

Deadlines, taxes, and buying land

2/19/2022
The House passes a bill that will gradually lower income tax rates. It requires the state to consistently have a revenue growth of 3.5% for several years. Republicans say last year’s nearly billion dollar surplus should be used to reduce taxes. As school spending is approved by both chambers at a growth of 2.5%, Democrats say it should be higher especially with the recent surplus. Bills race to be passed out of committees during this funnel week, where most bills must pass out of one...

Duration:00:23:17

Curriculum and state standards

2/12/2022
There are two versions of a bill about equal treatment for religious and secular organizations. The Senate version contains language some say could invite discrimination and evasion of Iowa laws, but the House version does not. A Senate bill advances that would require the State Board of Education to create course standards for elective social studies classes about the Bible. And a House bill would prohibit transgender girl athletes from being on girls’ school sports teams.

Duration:00:18:22

Moving to the chambers

2/5/2022
There are still in excess of 100 bills a week being considered by subcommittees and some have also passed a full committee. That makes them eligible for a chamber to consider passage. The first bill to do so expands biofuels in Iowa. Unlike similar legislation that didn’t advance last year, this builds in exemptions for some fuel stations that don’t have the infrastructure for biofuels. It passes in the House with bipartisan support. Many education proposals have passed through a committee...

Duration:00:20:49

Returning bills

1/29/2022
Every year bills that didn’t pass in previous legislative sessions get another shot through the subcommittee process. In 2022 bills that would restrict or further regulate traffic enforcement cameras advance through Senate subcommittees. Governor Reynolds has written a bill that would increase biofuels options at gas stations, that is less aggressive than her renewable fuels bill from last year. A proposal allowing Iowa schools to go year-round stalls. And a new bill advances that would...

Duration:00:20:56

Subcommittees lay session groundwork

1/22/2022
It’s the first of several full weeks of subcommittees. Not all bills advance from their first subcommittee hearing. Last year a large bill passed in the Senate about eligibility requirements for many public assistance programs. It did not advance in the House. Now part of the Senate bill dealing only with SNAP benefits comes to a House subcommittee. Also in subcommittees is proposed amendment to the state constitution that would expand and reinforce victims rights. There's a proposal to...

Duration:00:21:39

Opening priorities: taxes, workforce and school libraries

1/15/2022
The first week of the second half of the 89th Iowa General Assembly is mostly filled with legislators announcing their priorities for this planned 100-day session. With a billion dollar surplus from the last fiscal year, Republicans have suggested various tax reductions. But the first proposal comes during Gov. Kim Reynolds’ Condition of the State address, with a flat income tax and the elimination of taxes on most pensions and retirement accounts. Another one of her proposals is to reduce...

Duration:00:22:45

Taxes, Masks, & Sine Die

5/20/2021
Last day of the 2021 legislative session featured a surprise amendment to a bill prohibiting schools and cities from implementing mask mandates stricter than state policies and code.

Duration:00:26:05

Bottle Redemption, More Budgets And A Large Law Enforcement Bill

4/23/2021
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.

Duration:00:21:54

Counter Proposal

4/16/2021
A week after House committees presented appropriations budgets, the Senate followed. There are a few differences between the two chambers and they must be resolved for the budget bills to pass. Two of the governor’s appointees are in danger of not being confirmed by the Senate. Confirmation requires two-thirds majority and if Democrats unite in opposition, an appointee will be removed from their position.

Duration:00:20:41

Booze, Broadband And Budgets

4/9/2021
This week, the Iowa House of Representatives passed a bill allowing third-party services to deliver beer, wine, or liquor to a customer’s home. Grants to increase faster internet service received unanimous support in the Senate and House, and the House appropriations committee advanced budgets to be debated in the chamber.

Duration:00:27:09

Robot Delivery And Trespassing Penalties

4/2/2021
Autonomous personal delivery devices may start operating in residential areas of Iowa communities. The House has passed a bill allowing for these robot deliveries and now a Senate committee has modified the bill. The House has also passed a bill adding penalties for those who trespass and take animal, plant, or land samples from an agricultural-producing property. It also includes penalties for taking a photograph while trespassing.

Duration:00:21:55

First Signs Of New Budget And Tax Changes

3/26/2021
Legislators are beginning the sprint to the end of the legislative session. Budgets are starting to form in the Senate and House. So are more tax reduction proposals, including one that would change funding for mental health to come from the general fund instead of local property taxes. Some of those other divisions would eliminate backfill payments to cities and counties.

Duration:00:25:20