DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa House Republicans have announced a new chairman for a key tax-writing committee. House Speaker Linda Upmeyer on Tuesday named Rep. Peter Cownie, a West Des Moines Republican, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. Cownie replaces Rep. Guy Vander Linden, an Oskaloosa Republican who is not seeking re-election.

Cownie was the floor manager for the tax cut legislation passed by lawmakers in the final hours of the session earlier this month. He has been the chair of the House Commerce Committee since 2013. He was first elected in 2008.

Cownie will face Kristin Sunde, a West Des Moines Democrat, in the November general election. Neither faces a primary opponent. If Democrats win control of the House, they would appoint their own members to chair committees.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials have arrested 78 people in a five-state immigration sweep in the Midwest. Officials say the arrests happened over six days. Iowa and Nebraska each saw 25 arrests, while there were 15 arrests in Minnesota, 10 in South Dakota and three in North Dakota.

ICE says the operation targeted those who have criminal records, are public safety threats or violated immigration laws. Sixty-two of the people arrested had prior criminal convictions; 31 had illegally re-entered the United States after having been previously deported.

Most of the people arrested are from Mexico. The arrests also included people from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Kenya, the Ivory Coast and Sudan. They will remain in ICE custody pending additional proceedings.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Abortion-rights groups said Tuesday that they had filed a lawsuit challenging the nation’s most restrictive abortion law, an Iowa provision that bans most abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected, around the sixth week of pregnancy. The state’s attorney general said he would not defend the law, which was slated to take effect July 1. Democrat Tom Miller said he based his decision on a belief that the measure “would undermine rights and protections for women.” Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union are seeking an injunction that would put the law on hold during the lawsuit, a process that could take years.

Republicans want any legal challenge to reach the U.S. Supreme Court in hopes of overturning the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling. The law is the latest to test the legality of abortion restrictions. GOP lawmakers in Mississippi earlier this year passed a 15-week abortion ban. It was signed into law by Mississippi’s Republican governor and quickly put on hold after a court challenge. Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, who signed Iowa’s ban earlier this month, indicated she expected the measure to face litigation.

The law is evidence of the state’s conservative shift after the 2016 election, when Republicans gained control of the Legislature and the governor’s office for the first time in nearly 20 years. Last year, they approved a 20-week abortion ban and required women to wait three days before they could have an abortion. The waiting provision is on hold because of a separate lawsuit filed by Planned Parenthood and the ACLU.
Iowa Republicans last year also gave up millions in federal dollars to create a state-funded family planning program that prohibits participation from abortion providers like Planned Parenthood.

The Harlan Police Department reports two, separate arrests. On Sunday, 31-year old Joseph Schuemann, of Harlan, was arrested on an active Shelby County warrant. Schuemann was transported to the Shelby County Jail where he was also charged with possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia, and interference with official acts.

And, on May 10th, 33-year old Aaron Robert McCutcheon, of Harlan, was arrested on an active Shelby County warrant following a traffic stop. McCutcheon was transported to the Shelby County Jail, where he was also charged with possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.

A new state law gives county assessors authority to shift some of their official activity into the digital age. The legislation will allow property assessments and notices from a county assessor’s office to be sent via e-mail or text message. “Provided that the recipient authorizes that the notices be sent from the assessor’s office via electronic communications.” That’s Representative Greg Heartsill, a Republican from Columbia. County assessors have been sending paper notices via the mail of property tax assessments for homes, apartments and farms as well as commercial and industrial property. Assessors may continue to do use the U.S. Postal Service, but now have the option of shifting to deliver those documents electronically — IF the property owner prefers that method. Representative Amy Nielsen (NEEL-sun), a Democrat, is the former mayor of North Liberty.

“This is a really good, thought-out bill,” Nielsen said during House debate. “It will save our counties some money,” Nielsen said. County assessors determine the value of property every two years. County assessors do NOT collect property taxes, however. County treasurers do. According to the American Bankers Association, 40 percent of Americans manage their bank accounts electronically.

(Radio Iowa)