Page 39 - Study Bill News Today

DES MOINES — Legislation to ease some gun restrictions and make Iowa the 19th state to adopt a permit-less constitutional carry approach drew cheers Monday from advocates as striking a

State legislators are looking at lowering the penalty for possessing small amounts of marijuana to a simple misdemeanor on a first offense, but Republicans say legalization is not an option.

CEDAR RAPIDS — A proposal to ban traffic cameras throughout Iowa — except on the dangerous S-curve on Interstate 380 by downtown Cedar Rapids — got the green light Thursday from the Iowa Senate Judiciary Subcommittee. Senate Study Bill 1176 seeks to bar Iowa communities from using automated traffic enforcement systems, reviving lawmakers’ on-again, off-again attempts for years to regulate or eliminate them. Some lawmakers see the cameras as traffic safety tools that reduce p...

The Iowa GOP is the party of big local government.

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A roundup of legislative and Capitol news items of interest for Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2021:

Des Moines Register Unemployed Iowans would receive less money from Iowa Workforce Development if a bill working its way through the Legislature is approved and signed into law by Gov. Kim Reynolds. The Iowa House Labor Committee approved House Study Bill 203 early Tuesday. The debate was contentious and lasted more than 5 hours. "If you think this was a fight, wait until it gets on the floor," said Rep. Bruce Hunter, D-Des Moines, the partys ranking member on the committee.  The legislation ...

Letters to the editor: Iowa GOP wants to fast-track voter suppression Letters to the editor Iowa GOP wants to fast-track voter suppression Our governor avoids mask mandates because, as she keeps repeating, Iowans do the right thing. I sure wish she would tell her Republican legislative colleagues that, because they seem unconvinced. The Republican legislators believe many of us are intent on doing the wrong thing, spending our time creating ways for people to vote fraudulently. In 2017 Secretar...

The legislation, which is now eligible for a vote on the House floor, would decrease the maximum weekly benefits that claimants can receive and require workers to wait a week after losing their jobs to begin getting unemployment compensation. It also would require them to accept lower-paying jobs than those they formerly held, potentially moving them off benefits faster. In addition, the bill would cut a provision that allows claimants to receive standard unemployment insurance for 39 w...

Des Moines Register Iowas law enforcement officers would get more information in complaint investigations, including the names of people who file complaints against them, if a Senate bill becomes law. The bill, which lawmakers advanced through a subcommittee meeting Thursday, would also add a definition of "qualified immunity" to Iowa code, spelling out the protections officers have from civil lawsuits. Senate Study Bill 1178 has the support of some law enforcement groups, whose representa...