DES MOINES, Iowa (KCRG) – The 2025 Iowa legislative session starts today with property taxes to be the top issue for lawmakers. State lawmakers have already cut individual income taxes and corporate taxes and are now turning their attention to property taxes. Those decisions by state lawmakers will have a big impact on how local governments operate. In 2023, Iowa lawmakers introduced changes to the state’s property tax system that, in effect, limit property tax growth. As state Republicans say further property tax limitations are a top priority, city governments are busy figuring out the future of their budgets. But one group says the state needs to cut more, not less. Iowans for Tax Relief supports a 2% hard cap on local government spending year over year. But since property taxes fund most of local governments, this coming session at the State Capitol will renew the debate over who spends tax dollars better: local governments or the state.
LINN COUNTY, Iowa (KCRG) – Just after 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, the Linn County Deputies, Linn County Sheriff’s Rescue, Center Point Fire, and Center Point Ambulance went to the 4900 Block of Alice Road due to a crash involving one car. Once officials arrived at the scene, they found a Gray 2007 Nissan Murano upside down. The officials deduced that the car had been heading north on Alice Road when the driver, 29-year-old Logan Moran, lost control and entered the east ditch. The vehicle was able to get back onto the road, but then entered the west ditch before rolling back onto the roadway, coming to a rest upside down. Both the driver and the passenger, 22-year-old Hunter Stolba, were taken to a hospital by Center Point Ambulance for minor injuries. Morgan was cited with Failure to Maintain Control.
DES MOINES, Iowa (KCRG) – A new state law restricting the sale of vaping products has been put on hold. The Iowa Department of Revenue decided to postpone implementation. This comes after several companies filed a lawsuit against the new law a few weeks ago. The new law bans the sale of vaping products that don’t meet the new law requirement to have FDA marking authorization. The Iowa Department of Revenue recently announced it would be holding off on the new regulations. The Iowa Attorney General’s Office agreed with the pause, saying it needed “time to understand the new requirements”. The American Cancer Society, which warns of the dangers of vaping, does not support this law.
DES MOINES, Iowa (Gray Media Iowa Capitol Bureau) – An Iowa congressman says politicians in Washington are getting rich off their service and he wants to stop it. Rep. Zach Nunn (R-IA03) says when he served in the Iowa Legislature, no one got rich off of doing it. He now wants his colleagues in D.C. to be held to the same standard. At a news conference Friday, Nunn introduced the No Corruption in Government Act. Nunn’s bill would ban members of Congress and their spouses from trading individual stocks. He says they shouldn’t benefit from getting insider information. Nunn is also proposing tripling the length of time senators and representatives must wait before they can become lobbyists once they leave office. Nunn is proposing ending automatic pay raises for members of Congress as well. The No Corruption in Government Act Nunn is a collection of three bills that he introduced last year. None of them made it out of a committee and thus weren’t able to be voted on by the House. Also Friday, Nunn introduced a bill that would require federal employees to spend 60% of their time at work physically in the office. The bill also prevents federal employees who work remotely from receiving high cost of living stipends. He says this legislation is needed because of a Government Accountability Office report shows 17 federal agencies are using less than a quarter of their headquarters building capacity.
