(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds has approved the property tax changes that cleared the legislature this week. “Legislation as complex and important as local property taxes only happen when policymakers are willing to dig into the weeds and get the details right,” Reynolds says. “This bill’s near unanimous passage through both chambers of the legislature is a testament to their long hours of work on behalf of the people of Iowa.”

The new law requires cities and counties to lower property tax collections based on a new formula that kicks in next year. It’s designed to limit property tax revenue growth after this spring’s assessments showed farmland and home values skyrocketing — which could lead to higher property tax bills in September of 2024. The plan includes more generous property tax benefits for veterans and elderly Iowans.

“All tolled, this bill will deliver $100 million in savings,” Reynolds said, “the most significant property tax reform in state history.” Reynolds signed the bill into law Thursday afternoon, shortly after the 2023 legislative session concluded. Senate Republican Leader Jack Whitver says lawmakers are listening to property owners.

“This spring they were shocked, appalled and concerned with the drastic assessment increases to their property and extremely concerned about what it would mean for their property taxes,” Whitver says. “We promised on the opening day of this session that we would address this issue and today we keep that promise.” Senator Dan Dawson, a Republican from Council Bluffs, led development of the bill.

“The historic building blocks being put into place here will start the long-term process of rebuilding our property tax system,” Dawson says. “Ultimately we are asking local governments to do what we have been doing at the state level: fund your priorities, but pass along some of this excess assessment valuation back to the taxpayers.” House Speaker Pat Grassley says the bill provides certainty as well as relief to property owners.

“This bill shows, as well as everything else that we’ve been able to accomplish…the ability for the governor’s office, the House and Senate to identify problems that Iowans have brought to us,” Grassley says, “and be able to take true action that provides true levels of reform.” Every Republican present and all but one Democrat in the legislature supported the bill. Senate Minority Leader Zach Wahls says Democrats are thrilled middle class families are getting relief and will listen to local officials who are worried about how to implement the changes.

House Minority Leader Jennifer Konfrst says Democrats want to make sure seniors and veterans don’t get smaller property tax bills, but wind up losing local services they depend upon.

(Harlan, Iowa) – The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office reports one person was taken into custody Wednesday evening on a charge of Indecent Exposure. The Sheriff’s Office was made aware at around 3:41-p.m., Wednesday, of a male subject possibly exposing himself in public in the area of 8th and Walnut in Harlan.

A vehicle description was given by a witness, and deputies began looking for the vehicle that had left the area upon arrival. A vehicle was located matching the description in the Northeast portion of the county. The suspect matching the description was located at approximately 5:05pm, taken into custody, and is currently being held in Shelby County Jail. According to online court records, the suspect arrested for Indecent Exposure on May 3rd, was 41-year-old Chad Ewing. A preliminary hearing in his case was set for May 23rd, in Shelby County.

An Indecent Exposure charge is a serious misdemeanor.

*All suspects are innocent until proven guilty.

(Radio Iowa) – A University of Iowa study finds some pregnant women in rural Iowa quit getting prenatal care when their local hospital closes its birthing center, even if prenatal care is still available. Tom Gruca, a marketing professor in the U-I’s Tippie College of Business, says they studied the impact of the recent closures of labor and delivery units at seven rural Iowa hospitals and found women seeking prenatal care fell from 83- to 79-percent.  “You might say, ‘Well, that’s only four-percent,’ but remember, every one of those is a pregnancy, and every healthy baby’s a miracle,” Gruca says, “so that’s a significant drop.”

The hospitals studied were in Clayton, Emmett, Hamilton, Hardin, Lucas, Osceola and Van Buren counties and they were the only labor and delivery unit in those counties before the closures. Gruca says prenatal care is exceptionally important. “A lot of prenatal care is preventative,” Gruca says. “We’re trying to ward off problems with the baby and with the mother. If you have inadequate prenatal care, you’re more likely to have a premature baby, low birth weight, and then there can be problems for the mother herself.”

In a worst case scenario, those problems can result in death for the baby, the mother, or both. In recent decades, Iowa has seen birthing centers close at dozens of hospitals, which Gruca calls “striking.” “We have 99 counties in Iowa, 77 counties in the year 2000 had at least one labor and delivery center. By 2020, that number had dropped to 46,” Gruca says. “So we have lost 31 counties in the last 20 years or so.”

The majority of those counties are rural, which means expectant mothers often face a long drive to get professional care. There are multiple reasons as to why a hospital may close its birthing center, but Gruca says most of them revolve around money.”Rural counties are sparsely populated, so you don’t have a lot of babies being born there, and it’s very expensive to do so,” Gruca says. “Iowa has one of the lowest proportion of OB-GYNs per capita in the entire nation. The last time I looked, we were ranked 49th in the nation.”

As for the reduction in women seeking prenatal care, Gruca says one possible solution would be to set up a central source of information those mothers-to-be could access. Ideally, it would be a place where they could find health care professionals who provide the care they need, and who also accept their insurance.

(Radio Iowa) – The 2023 Iowa legislative session has ended. The Republican majority approved a series of G-O-P priorities like state funding for private school expenses and curbs on what books are allowed in public school libraries, A bipartisan property tax relief plan cleared the legislature this week. Senate Republican Leader Jack Whitver says those issues were at the top of the G-O-P’s list for 2023.

“We wanted to work on school choice. We wanted to work on parental empowerment,” Whitver says. “…We really wanted to work on property taxes knowing that the huge assessments were coming. I think we were able to get all of those things accomplished, so it was a very, very successful year.” House Speaker Pat Grassley began talking about school choice in 2020 and he says with 24 new Republicans in the Iowa House this year, the plan came together.

“We try to make commitments and follow through with those things that we tell Iowans we’re going to do,” Grassley says, “whether it’s on the campaign trail or whether it’s when we show up here for the first day of session,” Grassley says. Democrats say Republicans have left two BILLION dollars in the taxpayer relief fund and even more tax revenue remains unspent and House Democratic Leader Jennifer Konfrst says it could have been used on key priorities, like water quality.

“We could be investing in public schools. We could be doing more for mental health in this state. We could be doing more for the issues that Iowans can about with those resources,” Konfrst says. “Instead, they’re sitting in an account, so that the governor can brag about having a big account.” Senate Democratic Leader Zach Wahls says the G-O-P pursued divisive policies this year.”Republican poured gasoline on the flames of the culture war by undermining and politicizing Iowa’s public schools…banning books from school libraries,” Wahls say,” and attacking the freedoms of parents and the LGBTQ community.”

This (Thursday) afternoon, Governor Kim Reynolds is signing the property tax changes that passed the legislature this week with the support of Republicans and nearly all Democrats. Lawmakers say the goal is to ensure this spring’s assessments don’t lead to massive property tax increases in September of next year.

(Glenwood, Iowa) – Police in Glenwood report a woman was arrested Wednesday for Domestic Abuse Assault and Criminal Mischief. 38-year-old Robyn Salmons, of Glenwood, was being held in the Mills County Jail on a $600 bond.

(Radio Iowa) – The co-owner of the central Iowa bar that’s home of this year’s “Best Burger” competition winner says their business has picked up dramatically since the announcement. Marianne and Matt Pacha opened their “Flight Bar and Grill” in Huxley one year ago, and were hoping that milestone would help them plan. “We said, as soon as we hit the year mark, we’ll be able to know, like, usually the season is like this or that. And then this kind of threw things out the window — it’s gonna be a whole new data we’ll have to figure out — but all for good reason. We are thrilled about this,” Pacha says.

She says they had been 200 to 300 burgers in a week and Tuesday they sold 260. The couple didn’t have any background in running a restaurant, but she says her husband worked in grocery retail, and they knew there was a need for the establishment in the community. “We were a young couple have built a house here. And after we moved in, we were like let’s go grab a drink. We’re tired from the day. And there wasn’t really a place to do that at the time,” she says.

The name of the establishment comes from the Ballard school district, which mascot is the Bombers, and then they have flights of beer too. They donate one dollar from every burger sold to the Ballard Education Foundation to help support the school district. Pacha says their foundation is a double burger with several ingredients. “Lots of love and lots of fresh ingredients. We source our beef exclusively from Midwest farms. They’re also smash burgers. So cooked in their own fat, a crisp outside, but nice to see inside. We use a really high-quality brioche bun and we also have in-house aoli we use on all of our burgers,” she says.

The Foundation burger at the Flight Bar & Grill, in Huxley.

The contest is held ever year by the Iowa Cattlemen’s Association and Iowa Beef Industry Council. Pacha says seeing all the extra people come in great because it puts more eyes on the community. “It’s exciting to get more people into Flight — but Huxley as a whole, it’s such a wonderful community we have so much to offer. We have new people come in, say ‘We didn’t even know this was here. We didn’t know there were so many new houses going up. We didn’t know you know, insert fact here.’,” Pacha says. “So it’s really exciting that people are learning that actually has more to offer than just you know, small town I am. Well, we have a great school district.”

You can find Flight just off Highway 69 on the south side of Huxley. They are open Sunday-Thursday from 11 a-m until 10 p-m, and Friday, Saturday from 11 a-m until 11 p-m.

(Des Moines, Iowa) – Iowa Governor Reynolds has announced that applications for Students First Educations Savings Accounts (ESAs) will be accepted starting May 31, 2023. The Students First Act was signed into law earlier this year and will provide state funding for eligible students who attend accredited nonpublic schools starting in the 2023-2024 school year.  Additionally, the State Board of Education today adopted administrative rules that specify definitions for the program, eligibility requirements for participation, parameters for the application process, and program administration and accountability.

“As we prepare to accept applications later this month for Iowa’s landmark Students First ESA program, the rules approved today will provide families with the details they need to consider their options and prepare to apply,” stated Governor Reynolds. “We are one step closer to providing choice in education for Iowa families regardless of income or zip code.”

All incoming kindergarteners and all K-12 students currently enrolled in a public school district are eligible for the ESA program. Families whose children currently attend an accredited nonpublic school are also eligible for ESAs based on their annual income during the first two years of the program. For the 2023-2024 school year, income eligibility is 300 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL); and 400 percent FPL for the 2024-2025 school year. Beginning in the 2025-2026 school year, all K-12 students in Iowa will be eligible for an ESA regardless of income.

The following rules specify some eligibility requirements for students currently attending an accredited nonpublic school:

• Parents or guardians of students currently enrolled in an accredited nonpublic school will verify their income eligibility using “net income” from their 2022 state tax form.
• Household size will be determined by the number of people who reside together and are related by birth, marriage, adoption, legal guardianship, or by placement in the home through a state agency. “Household” includes parents, student applicants, and other children who share at least one parent by birth, adoption, a parent’s current marriage, or placement in the home through a state agency.
• Students must be enrolled full time at an accredited nonpublic school.

The administrative rules are posted in their entirety on the Iowa Department of Education’s ESA webpage, along with answers to frequently asked questions about the program. Parents interested in applying for an ESA are encouraged to sign up for notifications when information is updated on the website.  Parents will complete and submit applications through an online system which the Department of Education, Office of the Chief Information Officer, and other state agencies are now implementing with Odyssey, the vendor selected to administer the ESA program. Webinars will be offered to assist parents with the application process when the system launches on May 31.

Applications will be accepted from May 31 through June 30, 2023, for the 2023-2024 school year.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa’s 150 legislators have gathered at the Capitol for the final day of the 2023 legislative session. Representative Gary Mohr, of Bettendorf, is the Republican who led development of the state budget. “This is a wonderful day, absolutely,” Mohr says. “We had a great session, but it’s time to go home.”

A handful of bills remain on the list for votes in the House and Senate. Governor Reynolds will host a ceremony this (Thursday) afternoon to publicly sign the property tax relief plan the legislature

May 4, 2023 (DES MOINES) – Gov. Kim Reynolds marked the start of National Small Business Month with the announcement of a chance for Iowa communities to showcase their support for small businesses through the third annual #IowansUnite Community contest. The winning community will be awarded a custom mural.

The contest invites cities, municipalities and economic development organizations to submit creative and inspirational videos showcasing how their community members support small businesses and celebrate the businesses’ importance to the community. Communities that submit a video have the chance to win a one-of-a-kind mural designed and installed by Iowa artist Ben Schuh that welcomes visitors to their shopping district or downtown area.

“Small businesses are not only important economic drivers, but they also serve as cultural pillars in our thriving communities,” Gov. Reynolds said. “This contest is an opportunity for communities to showcase their support for their small businesses by entering for a chance to win custom art for their downtown and I look forward to seeing the creative entries.”

To enter the contest, communities must create a short video and submit it through the official entry form found on the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) Facebook page through June 23, 2023. Creativity is encouraged, but all submissions must feature local residents and small businesses and must incorporate elements reflecting each community’s unique brand of hometown spirit. Examples include storefronts, main street districts, notable landmarks and people shopping or eating. Videos may be created by an individual or group representing the community, but the video must be submitted by the city, municipality or economic development organization.

Following an online voting period (June 26 through June 29), the communities whose videos meet the designated vote threshold for their community size will become finalists. Small communities, cities with a population of 15,000 or less, must have at least 500 votes. Large communities, cities with a population of 15,001 or more, must have at least 1,000 votes.

The finalists will receive an assignment to showcase their community spirit. An independent panel of judges will review and score all assignments submitted along with the video submitted with the official entry form. The community with the highest score will win the contest and a custom mural. IEDA and IFA officials will meet with designees from the winning community to facilitate the mural project.

“Both small businesses and community art add life and vibrancy to our downtown districts and this contest provides the unique opportunity to celebrate the importance of both,” said Debi Durham, executive director of IEDA and IFA. “One community will win a custom mural that will serve as both a local tribute and a visitor attraction and I wish all entrants the best of luck in the competition.”

The 2023 #IowansUnite contest is the third annual contest in conjunction with National Small Business Month. Previous winners include the communities of Knoxville and Washington, photos of their murals are available on IEDA’s Facebook page.

For more information about the #IowansUnite Community Contest, including official rules and the submission process, visit https://woobox.com/oqhd3r

(Radio Iowa) – Areas of Iowa that have suffered through months of drought may see some relief soon with the development of an El Nino weather pattern, as the Climate Prediction Center has issued an El Nino Watch for this summer. Doug Kluck, the Central Region climate service director for the National Weather Service, says the El Nino would come after three years of a La Nina. “If this does turn into an El Nino, and it turns into a moderate and/or strong one, it is the opposite of what we expect from a La Nina,” Kluck says. “In the wintertime, El Nino brings warmer-than-normal temperatures in the northern states, cooler-than-normal temperatures in the southern states, and wetter conditions along the south and drier conditions along the north.”

An El Nino occurs when Pacific Ocean surface temperatures rise above normal, and for Iowa, it typically means moderate temperatures and better chances for precipitation. Kluck says weather patterns change under an El Nino. “It tends to have a split jetstream, meaning, that the southern part of the U.S. gets more activity. The northern part, is sort of the northern jet, if you will, splits over the top, it stays in Canada. We don’t get as many arctic air pushes, it doesn’t get as cold and we have a relatively warm winter.”

Kluck says the El Nino is expected to develop rapidly this summer. Parts of Woodbury and Monona counties are in the worst categories of drought: exceptional, extreme and severe, while moderate to severe drought extends across wide sections of western Iowa. Large areas of central and eastern Iowa are considered extremely dry by the U-S Drought Monitor.