(Radio Iowa) — The 2019 Iowa legislative session starts this (Monday) morning, with Republicans in control of the debate agenda for the third consecutive year. Republican Governor Kim Reynolds was just elected to a full, four-year term and Republicans won a majority of seats in the Iowa House and Senate. Senate Republican Leader Jack Whitver of Ankeny says the G-O-P accomplished a lot over the past two years and they must keep challenging the “status quo” on a variety of fronts. “Just because it’s been done a certain way for 20 or 30 or 40 years doesn’t mean it needs to be done the that way for the next 20 or 30 or 40 years,” Whitver says.

Three new Republican senators will be sworn into office today (Monday), so Republicans will occupy 32 of the 50 seats in the state senate. Republicans will hold 54 of the 100 seats in the HOUSE. A dozen Democrats and 10 Republicans will be sworn in as new members there. Republican House Speaker Linda Upmeyer of Clear Lake has appointed new committee leaders for the 2019 session. “So we’ve got fresh ideas aplenty and I think that’s a great thing for people to take fresh looks at things and bring that energy and innovation into the legislature,” Upmeyer told Radio Iowa, “so I’m excited.”

Todd Prichard of Charles City. the new House Minority Leader, says he and other Democrats consider increased state spending on public schools to be the big priority for 2019.  “We’ll be there to remind the legislature and the governor that if we are serious about building a workforce for the future economy, we need to invest in education,” Prichard says, “at all levels.” Senate Democratic Leader Janet Petersen of Des Moines anticipates more clashes over the private “managed care organizations” that are running the state’s Medicaid program.  “If we continue to see Iowans shoved to the back of the line, putting out of state corporations like the MCOs first…we will be loud and fierce in our opposition,” Petersen says.

The House and Senate will begin their day at 10 o’clock. A special committee will be appointed in the House to begin reviewing the challenge of a northeast Iowa legislative race. Democrat Kayla Koether of Decorah is asking that absentee ballots without a postmark that were mailed in time be counted. About a month ago, Republican Representative Michael Bergen of Dorchester was certified the winner in the race – by a nine-vote margin.

(Radio Iowa) — Two University of Iowa students, one of them from Harrison County, will be flying to far northern Norway for “rocket school” later this month, the only American students taking part in the prestigious program. David Miles, a U-I professor of physics and astronomy, says they’ll design, build, launch and recover a nine-foot-long, carbon fiber science rocket, all in less than a week.

“It’s quite an intense program,” Miles says. “Basically, they do all of the pieces of one of these experimental science missions where you launch a rocket and use the instruments on the rocket to study something, but instead of doing it in about three years, which is how long it would take us to do a research rocket, they do it in about four-and-a-half days.”

The two U-I students selected for the program are Emily Silich, of Epworth, and Danny Tallon of Mondamin. Miles says they’re prepared for the challenge, though it won’t be a cakewalk. It is, after all, rocket science. “It’s very broad,” Miles says. “It’s intended as an introduction and the students are well-supported in the things they have to do, never the less, there’s a lot of tasks that have to happen and everything has to be ready when you press the button to launch, because you don’t get a second try on a rocket. It’s a pretty busy week for the students.”

It’s difficult to recruit students to pursue careers in space-related fields, according to Miles, but it’s a promising, rewarding avenue. “For some of them, that might be continuing on to graduate school, doing research, working for NASA, working for a university,” Miles says. “It also might be working for an aerospace company or any of the related high-technology engineering, mathematics and science disciplines you need to participate in a space-active workforce.”

Silich and Tallon, both U-I physics majors, will be in Norway for the course January 21-25. The students’ trip is funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation. This is the 6th year for the Canada-Norway Student Sounding Rocket (CaNoRock) exchange program. It’s a partnership among higher-education institutions and space agencies in Canada and Norway — and Iowa. Miles is a native of Canada who took part in the rocket school as a graduate student at the University of Alberta. After joining the U-I faculty in 2017, he lobbied to get the Iowa City institution included.

An extensive investigation into the delivery of Morphine and other prescription medications in Fremont County, resulted in the arrest Sunday night, of a man from Nebraska. Fremont County Sheriff Kevin Aistrope reports 26-year old Spencer Wesley Ham, of Bellevue, NE., was taken into custody at around 9:30-p.m., after he was found to be in possession of numerous Morphine and hydromorphone pills.

Spencer Ham, of NE

Ham was transported to the Fremont County Law Enforcement Center where he was charged with two counts of unlawful possession of prescription medication and two counts of failure to affix tax stamp. His cash bond was set at $12,000.

One person was injured during a single-vehicle accident a little before 6-p.m. Sunday, in Mineola. The Iowa State Patrol reports 66-year old Kenneth J. Kleffman, of Glenwood, was driving a 1994 Ford Explorer southbound on 4th Street, near the intersection with Maple Street in Mineola, when the SUV went out of control.

It entered the south ditch off Maple Street before coming to rest. Kleffman, who was not wearing a seat belt, suffered serious injuries and was transported by Silver City Rescue to Jennie Edmundson Hospital in Council Bluffs. The accident remains under investigation.

The State Patrol was assisted at the scene by the Mills County Sheriff’s Office.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CST

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — After months of speculation and secrecy, the 2020 presidential primary season is about to explode into public view. With more than three Democrats already in the race, a half dozen more are making final travel, staffing and strategy preparations to launch White House bids in the coming weeks. The announcements are expected to come in waves, with the first featuring a group of ambitious, but lesser-known Senate Democrats and the second led by political heavyweights.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The 2019 legislative session begins today (Monday), with Republicans who retain majorities in the House and Senate eager to continue achieving a variety of conservative goals. Topics include property tax reform, choosing judges and feeding the need for more workers. The session may be defined by how willing Republican leaders are to push policies strongly supported by their conservative base but less enthusiastically by a majority of Iowans. Gov. Kim Reynolds appears open to many of the ideas.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Errors in Iowa’s list of felons cost at least 20 people the right to vote in November’s midterm elections, and officials have known about problems in the list since 2012. The Des Moines Register reports the list of roughly 69,000 people who aren’t allowed to vote wrongly includes some people who were charged but not convicted of a felony and some who received a deferred judgment, which means their records were expunged after they completed probation.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The amount of water being released into the lower Missouri River will remain elevated at the start of the year, but should return to normal levels throughout 2019. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says the amount of water being released from Gavins Point Dam on the Nebraska-South Dakota border was recently increased to help clear out excess water collected last year.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Errors in Iowa’s list of felons cost at least 20 people the right to vote in November’s midterm elections, and officials have known about problems in the list since 2012, according to a newspaper investigation of six counties’ records.

The list of roughly 69,000 people who aren’t allowed to vote wrongly includes some people who were charged but not convicted of a felony and some who received a deferred judgment, which means their records were expunged after they completed probation, the Des Moines Register reported .

The American Civil Liberties Union, NAACP and other civil rights groups say they are worried. “This is a concern we’ve had for a while, that the list itself is not accurate,” said Daniel Zeno, policy director for the ACLU of Iowa. Jessica Bensley said she didn’t learn she was on the list until her ballot was rejected in November, but Bensley has never been convicted of a felony.

“Why was I not contacted telling me my voter’s rights were being taken away?” Bensley asked. Iowa agencies blame each other for the problems in the list. The Secretary of State’s office has urged county auditors to verify each felony conviction before rejecting a ballot, but the auditors say that’s not possible with their resources.

In 2012, the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation reviewed several ballots that were rejected because voters’ names were on the state’s felon list. Cerro Gordo County Auditor Kenneth Kline said in a memo to then-Secretary of State Matt Schultz that having an experienced investigator with access to state databases was important in verifying voting rights.

One person died and two others were injured during a collision Saturday evening between two SUV’s. The accident happened at around 5:10-p.m. southeast of Fort Dodge, in Webster County. According to the Iowa State Patrol, a 2003 Jeep Liberty driven by 63-year old Paul Ross, was southbound on Webster County road P-59 just north of Highway 20, when, due to icy road conditions, the vehicle crossed the center line and collided with a northbound 2006 Nissan Murano driven by 56-year old Laurie Mullen.

A passengers in the Jeep, 54-year old Sheila Ross, died at the scene. Both drivers were injured and transported to Trinity Hospital in Ft. Dodge. All of the victims were from Ft. Dodge. The crash remains under investigation. The Webster County Sheriff’s Office, Otho and Ft. Dodge Fire and Rescue assisted at the State Patrol at the scene.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The amount of water being released into the lower Missouri River will remain elevated at the start of the year, but should return to normal levels throughout 2019. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says the amount of water being released from Gavins Point Dam on the Nebraska-South Dakota border was recently increased to help clear out excess water collected last year.

Those higher winter releases will help generate more power and clear out space for this spring’s rain and melting snow.

The 49.9 million acre feet of water that flowed into the Missouri River’s reservoirs last year was the third-highest level on record. This year, officials expect the amount of water to be close to the average amount of 25.3 million acre feet.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Republicans have succeeded in enacting a wish list of conservative goals since winning a legislative majority in 2016, and as lawmakers return to the state Capitol for a new session Monday, the question is whether they will take a similar approach or back measures with a broader appeal.

In the last two sessions, Republicans used their sizable majorities in both chambers to approve bills prohibiting abortions when a fetal heartbeat could be detected, cutting funding to Planned Parenthood, eliminating most collective bargaining rights for public workers, cutting taxes and banning local governments from raising the hourly minimum wage higher than the state-backed level.

This session, Republicans will consider a wide range of issues, from limiting property taxes to changing the judge-selection process, and it appears GOP leaders are eager to continue reshaping state government. Gov. Kim Reynolds has said she’s willing to at least consider many of the ideas.
“If there’s one word that I could use to describe the last two years it would be reform,” said Senate Republican leader Jack Whitver. “That’s really in general what we want to continue to do is change the way things are done in government, to look holistically at some of the ways we do business in the state of Iowa and try to find a better way.”

Democratic leaders said they were willing to work with Republicans but would fight back when they felt proposals would be harmful. “I certainly hope it’s not as contentious as it has been over the past two years. I’d like to see more bipartisan atmosphere at the statehouse and civility,” said Senate Democratic leader Janet Petersen.

Here are some of the priorities leaders are discussing as the session begins:
PROPERTY TAXES
Whitver says it’s a top priority to determine whether to retain all services paid for through property taxes. Local governments, including cities, counties, school districts and community colleges, rely on property taxes for revenue. “We are a high property tax state and we haven’t taken a comprehensive look in a long time,” he said.

In 2016, Iowa ranked 13th in property taxes paid as a percentage of a homeowner’s home value. Iowans paid 1.44 percent, according to the Washington-based Tax Foundation, an independent tax policy nonprofit that used U.S. Census data to calculate the rankings.

Petersen said her biggest fear is that state money promised to local governments when commercial property taxes were cut in 2013 will be reversed by Republicans. Some Republicans have said that promise wasn’t intended to be forever and have proposed ending the so-called backfill payments.
Rep. Todd Prichard, the House Democratic leader, said the state shouldn’t micromanage cities, counties and schools. “We need to make sure local governments have resources,” he said.
Reynolds said she’s willing to consider changes.

WORKFORCE
Whitver said the state’s biggest challenge is finding enough workers for Iowa businesses. Solutions include recruiting more people to move to Iowa and retraining existing residents for jobs that need workers. A more controversial idea Whitver proposed was to move people “off the welfare safety net program into the workforce.”

Petersen said Democrats support workforce training initiatives, including Reynolds’ Future Ready Iowa policy approved last year with little funding. “We’re hoping the governor will match her interest in the policy by putting dollars behind it to give Iowans an opportunity to skill up and improve their ability to get high paying jobs,” Petersen said.

MEDICAID PRIVATIZATION
The state continues to pour money into the $5 billion health care program for disabled and poor Iowans. When Gov. Terry Branstad in 2016 placed the program under the control of for-profit companies, he argued the state would save millions of dollars, but it’s unclear if those promises have panned out. Lawmakers will consider putting another $140 million for the current fiscal year into the program. Besides the issue of state savings, critics have said hospitals and other health care providers aren’t getting paid and patients have complained of inadequate care.

“My goal as the governor is to make sure we have a sustainable system moving forward today, tomorrow and into the future and that we’re really getting the outcomes that I believe we can,” Reynolds said. Prichard said one of his party’s priorities is to fix the Medicaid system which “left lot of chaos.”

PICKING JUDGES
Whitver said Republicans are interested in changing Iowa’s judge-selection process, which would likely include reducing the clout lawyers currently have in the nominating process.
Currently, eight members of the judicial nominating commission are chosen by the governor and eight are chosen by lawyers. Over the decades, Whitver said the courts have become “more and more activist,” prompting a need for “having more public input into the nomination than only attorneys.”

Whitver rejects assertions that it’s a politically motivated effort by conservatives to get a more favorable judiciary. Petersen said: “Iowa should not take a step backward in our process.”
Upmeyer said the House is willing to consider changes but Prichard said Iowa’s system is viewed as a model of a nonpartisan selection system. “The worst thing you can do is politicize our judiciary,” he said. Reynolds said it makes sense to look at the issue.

Other top topics will likely include further limits on abortion, expansion of gun rights, water quality funding and mental health programs for children. The session begins Monday at 10 a.m. Reynolds delivers her Condition of the State on Tuesday and Chief Justice Mark Cady delivers his Condition of the Judiciary on Wednesday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The top House Republican says he and Rep. Steve King will discuss King’s future in the party following the Iowa congressman’s remarks in defense of white supremacy. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy tells CBS’ “Face the Nation” he intends to have a “serious conversation” with King on Monday. The California Republican says King’s “language has no place in America.”

The New York Times recently quoted King saying, “White nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization — how did that language become offensive?”

Recently re-elected to a ninth term, King has since insisted he is an advocate for “Western civilization,” not white supremacy or white nationalism. King said it was a “mistake” to use phrasing that “created an unnecessary controversy” and he denied being racist.