DES MOINES, Iowa — An Iowa Senate judiciary subcommittee voted to unanimously move a bill that lowers the age to own and purchase a handgun to the full committee level on Tuesday morning. WHO-TV in Des Moines reports  The bill was voted through the full Iowa House chamber last week by a vote of 79 to 18. The wording in the legislation changes the age from 21 to 18-years-old to purchase, acquire or carry a pistol or a revolver in the state.

All three state senators signed off on moving the bill forward, with the one democrat on the subcommittee wrestling with his vote. The chair of the subcommittee, State Senator Scott Webster (R), District 47 shared that his daughter had just turned 18 and is a real estate agent. He signed off on the bill saying that this gives him more comfort that she will be able to properly defend herself.

Federal law does not allow someone to purchase a handgun under the age of 18 from a federally licensed dealer, but the state is able to change Iowa code to allow for an 18-year-old to purchase a gun from a private dealer, or have a parent or guardian purchase it and gift it to the individual; along with allowing the person to carry the handgun as well.

The bill must be passed through the Iowa Senate Judiciary committee before Friday, April 4 to be considered ‘funnel-proof.’

(Iowa News Service) – Educators at Iowa State University are creating a new major to meet what they see as a new and growing demand in the health care field: pairing medical knowledge with business and “people skills.” Iowa State is launching an integrated health major, which goes beyond the so-called hard, science-based skills medical professionals usually get to include the “softer skills.”

Yanhai Yi, professor and chair of the Department of Genetics, who helped develop the curriculum, said there is a tremendous need. “The health care occupation is projected to grow by 15% from 2021 to 2030,” Yi pointed out. “There’s a strong need. In the United States, health workers need to be increased by about 1 million in the next 10 years.”

The integrated health major will focus on wellness from multiple angles, with classes in life sciences, behavioral and social sciences, data gathering and the humanities. According to Yi, it is designed to create more well-rounded health care professionals, something he argued the medical field has been lacking.

Yi noted there has been so much interest in the new program, some Iowa State students are switching majors to take advantage of the future demand created by meshing the traditional hard sciences with the people skills health care professionals need to be compassionate, as well as training them to be business savvy. “That not only understand the scientific part of health, but also understand the social aspect, ethical aspect of human health,” Yi explained.

There appears to be high demand for the new major, not just in Iowa but nationwide. Only a handful of universities offer integrated health majors and all of them are relatively new.

Support for this reporting was provided by Lumina Foundation.

(Radio Iowa) – Insurance company executives and agents who sell insurance gathered at the Iowa Capitol yesterday (Tuesday) to urge legislators to pass one of the governor’s priorities. The bill is a collection of ideas developed in response to last year’s natural disasters. For example, it would require insurance umpires, appraisers and independent adjusters to be licensed by the State of Iowa in order to work in Iowa. Governor Reynolds says insurance plays a vital role in protecting families, businesses and communities.

“Insurance is more than just policies and premiums,” she said. “It’s security, it’s stability and it’s opportunity whether it’s safeguarding our homes, ensuring access to health care or helping businesses recover from unexpected challenges.” The governor signed a proclamation yesterday (Tuesday) honoring Iowa’s insurance industry.

“Here in Iowa we’re proud to have a strong and innovative insurance sector that provides jobs, it drives economic growth and it delivers peace of mind to millions,” Reynolds said, “but as our world evolves through technology advancements, Mother Nature and regulatory changes we must continue to advocate for smart policies that protect consumers while fostering a competitive and thriving marketplace.”

Nearly 200 insurance companies are headquartered in Iowa and over 90-thousand people work directly or indirectly in the state’s insurance industry. That’s about three percent of the entire private sector workforce in Iowa.

(Radio Iowa) – A Democrat who has represented Cedar Rapids in the Iowa House since 2023 has been appointed to fill a vacancy on the Linn County Board of Supervisors. Democrat Sami Scheetz  — a union organizer — is the first Arab American elected to serve in the Iowa legislature. Scheetz told reporters in Cedar Rapids he has resigned from the House to take on his new role as a member of the Linn County Board of Supervisors.

The governor has five days to set the date for a special election in Cedar Rapids for the now vacant House seat Scheetz had held.

There have already been two special elections this year to fill vacancies in the Iowa legislature. One was for a state senate seat held by Chris Cournoyer who resigned just before Governor Reynolds appointed her lieutenant governor. The other happened after a southeast Iowa lawmaker died unexpectedly and that House seat was just filled last week. While Scheetz has been appointed to the board of supervisors, there could be a special election for the board seat if voters in Linn County gather the required number of petition signatures in the next two weeks.

Scheetz is among 17 who applied to fill the vacancy created when 44-year-old Ben Rogers resigned from the Linn County board to take a position with UnityPoint Health.

(Radio Iowa) – About a dozen people rallied outside the Iowa Capitol today (Tuesday), criticizing a bill shielding some farm chemical makers from lawsuits alleging product labels failed to warn of cancer risks. The bill narrowly won approval in the Iowa Senate last week and is eligible for consideration in the House. Ava Auen-Ryan of Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement Action says the legislature’s time would be better spent finding ways to lower Iowa’s rising cancer rate. “Not working on bills that provide immunity to giant corporations,” she said.

Jenny Turner’s husband died in 2018 of a type of lymphoma she says has been linked to Roundup. “He wasn’t a farmer. He was a school band director, but he used Roundup in our yard and he had summer landscaping jobs and he lived in Iowa where we have high concentrations of pesticides and nitrates in our air and water.” Turner, who is from West Des Moines, says the bill is being pushed by lobbyists to benefit Bayer, not farmers.

“Now I know that glyphosate is useful for some farming, but everything has its pros and cons and Roundup has a cost. Bayer would like to pretend that there is no cost,” Turner said. “Our state legislature must not help them silence people’s right to redress that cost in court.”

Bayer — the maker of Roundup — says the litigation industry has unfairly targeted glyphosate, the main ingredient in Roundup. The company says glyphosate minimizes the need for plowing and increases the productivity of crop land.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa’s economy saw a significant upward bounce during the past month, but analysts fear the volatility of the current international trade climate will mean a big drop is likely for the month — and months — ahead. The latest Creighton University survey of supply managers in Iowa and eight other Midwestern states during March showed the best overall numbers since July of 2022, but Creighton economist Ernie Goss says fears over a looming trade war cloud everything.

“Twenty-five percent indicated that they had advanced their purchases from abroad or from outside of the U.S. in anticipation of higher tariffs,” Goss says, “and fully one-third said they had reduced imports because of the anticipation of tariffs.” Goss says he’s not supportive of the threatened tariffs, the latest of which are expected to be announced by President Trump on Wednesday, as Goss says tariffs are “really, really causing issues for the manufacturers.”

Ernie Goss

The survey gauges the economy on a zero-to-100 scale, with 50 being growth neutral. The overall index for Iowa in March exceeded 56, a tremendous jump from around 44 in February.  “What we’re seeing is extreme volatility in our surveys, up and down, but this is a big jump upward,” Goss says, “and I expect us to have to pay for it in the next month when it comes down.” Goss says recent declines in the value of the dollar helped make American-made goods more competitively priced abroad, which pushed new export orders up. For the first time in a long time, Goss says a large number of supply managers across the Midwest reported having more applicants than openings.

“Hiring was very strong for March. The number was 67.6 and that’s well up from February’s 51.2, so it’s also the highest since July of 2022,” Goss says. “We’re seeing some really good numbers, but again, this is for the month of March and I just don’t think we’re going to see it replicated in months ahead.”

According to U.S. International Trade Administration data, Goss says the Iowa economy began the year with $1.1 billion in manufacturing exports, compared to $1.2 billion for the same period in 2024, for a 7.6% reduction.

(Atlantic, Iowa) -Firefighters in Atlantic Fire were called to a possible residential fire at 1308 Chestnut Street late this (Tuesday) morning. The incident was reported at about 11:54-a.m.

Atlantic Fire Chief Tom Cappel…

Cappel said the fire was apparently caused by “Improperly disposed smoking material.” Despite the home being occupied when the fire was first observed, there were no injuries to the residents or firefighters. Atlantic Police were on the scene for traffic and crowd control. Firefighters were on the scene for about 30-minutes.

(Audio courtesy Jennifer Nichols, Atlantic News Telegraph)

Public Notice: The Montgomery County Auditor’s office will be closed beginning at noon on Tuesday April 8th and all of Wednesday April 9th for all staff attending out-of-town training.

Please email auditor@montgomerycountyia.gov or call the office at 712-623-5127 and leave a voicemail.  Their staff will respond and get back to you in a timely manner upon their return Thursday April 10th.

(Radio Iowa) – Emergency officials are recommending that residents of the south-central Iowa town of Otley evacuate or shelter in place due to a smouldering fire at a co-op. The fire at the Two Rivers Cooperative fertilizer storage facility started early Monday afternoon and officials say it could smoulder for several days. The main concern is burning sulfur, which can cause respiratory issues. The facility had 265 tons of sulfur when the fire started, plus even larger amounts of other farm chemicals like potash and urea.

About 800 people live in Otley and emergency officials say people who live near the town should consider evacuating or remaining inside due to air quality concerns.