(Des Moines, Iowa) – A Senate subcommittee moved forward a bill Monday allocating $42 million from the Opioid Settlement Fund to the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services to combat the impacts of the opioid crisis. According to the Iowa Capital Dispatch, Senate Study Bill 1226 would provide a $12 million grant for Community and Family Resources, an addiction recovery and treatment center in Fort Dodge and $30 million to Iowa HHS for efforts to “abate the opioid crisis in the state,” taking into account recommendations from the seven district behavioral health advisory councils throughout the state.

Moving forward, the bill states 75% of unobligated money from the settlement fund will go to HHS and 25% will go to the Attorney General’s office, to be disbursed “in accordance with the requirements of the master settlement agreements.” Each year, the two entities will have to submit their recommendations on appropriating the funds for the next fiscal year to lawmakers as a bill, again with consideration for regional behavioral health advisory council recommendations. Sen. Tim Kraayenbrink, R-Fort Dodge, said this bill will not necessarily be the final version of the legislation, but that he wanted to get the conversation started early to ensure that opioid settlement funding is distributed.

There is currently more than $56 million in Iowa’s Opioid Settlement Fund, received as settlement in lawsuits brought by states against opioid manufacturers, distributors and pharmacies for their roles in the opioid epidemic. Iowa will receive more than $325 million from these settlements between fiscal years 2021 through 2039, according to the AG’s office. The funds are split, with half going to local governments and half to the state — with both levels of government obligated to use at least 85% of the funds received for opioid addiction treatment and prevention services. Lawmakers set up the Opioid Settlement Fund in 2022 to collect and distribute this money given to the state. However, the Legislature has not dispersed any of the fund’s money in the past two sessions — disagreements between the House and Senate on how to allocate these funds were not resolved before the session ended in 2024.

Opiods

The House had moved in 2024 to designate money to go to specific nonprofits — $3 million to Youth and Shelter Services and $8 million to Community and Family Resources. In the Senate proposal this year, $12 million was allocated for Community and Family Resources. Executive Director Michelle De La Riva told lawmakers at the subcommittee meeting the funding would go toward a new campus providing resources like a detox program and adolescent residential program. When asked if other programs could be given direct funding in the 2025 bill, Kraayenbrink said more allocations could be made as negotiations occur between the two chambers. Amy Campbell with the Iowa Behavioral Health Association praised the measure for including input from the district behavioral health advisory councils in the distribution of the funds. She said these councils will be able to see funding needs in their communities as disbursement begins from local governments and through the state.

The House had offered an amendment creating a grant program for settlement funds through HHS in addition to establishing an advisory council to oversee and make recommendations about funding these grants each year. The advisory council was not approved by the Senate, leaving the settlement funds undistributed last year. Kraayenbrink said he was not sure if House members would pursue this oversight component again, but said he wanted to ensure that negotiations begin on the Opioid Settlement Fund. Sen. Janet Petersen, D-Des Moines, said she supported starting the conversation on the settlement fund.

The bill moves to the Senate Appropriations Committee for further consideration.

(Des Moines,Iowa) – The Iowa Senate voted Monday to set residency requirements for classes enrolling in University of Iowa medical and dental programs, despite concerns from some lawmakers that it would create an unfair, affirmative action program in highly sought-after fields. The Iowa Capital Dispatch reports House File 516, which would require that 80% of students accepted to the UI doctor of medicine or dentistry programs be residents of Iowa or fulfill other qualifications, passed the Iowa Senate with a vote of 34-11.

Sen. Sarah Trone Garriott, D-West Des Moines, filed an amendment that would have barred the UI from lowering its admission standards and the Iowa Board of Regents from penalizing the university if it doesn’t reach the 80% mark. Trone Garriott said these changes would ensure that lower-quality candidates are not chosen over their peers because the university needs to meet a quota. “The most qualified applicants should be our priority for Iowa’s medical school, but the majority party is going to mandate quotas give special status to one group of students over others based on identity rather than merit,” Trone Garriott said. She was joined by Sen. Tony Bisignano, D-Des Moines, and other Senate Democrats in calling the proposed requirements an affirmative action program, as it gives preference to a certain group of people based on an aspect of their identity. The debate comes as Republican lawmakers and the governor-appointed regents have been purging programs and policies from state universities related to diversity, equity and inclusion.

To make exceptions for certain applicants because they’re from Iowa would put a stain on all others enrolled in the programs, Bisignano said, and a codified requirement to maintain standards would help push against the possibility of giving Iowans special treatment. “We’re not talking in those terms, but it’s an affirmative action program. We’re going to weight it towards Iowa applicants,” Bisignano said. “But that doesn’t work in medicine, because not only do you want the best and the brightest, but that’s what draws your investment money in your research, is the quality and the level of your doctors and your research scientists.”

At least 80% of students enrolled in UI medical and dental programs would have to be Iowa residents or have a connection with the state under a bill that passed the Iowa Senate on Monday. (Photo by Brooklyn Draisey/Iowa Capital Dispatch)

The amendment failed to pass. Sen. Mike Klimesh, R-Spillville, also filed an amendment that would have applicants state whether they are an Iowa resident, have graduated from an Iowa high school, have family in Iowa or who graduated from an Iowa high school or college, or have lived in a rural community with similar characteristics to Iowa communities. If none of these qualifications apply to the applicant, Klimesh said they can express interest in completing their medical residency or practicing in the state after graduation. The amendment passed. “The additional questions we’re asking an amendment 3069 now put Iowa in the same league as other states like North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, who ask very specific questions of their incoming applicants to ensure they’re getting the mix they need to provide health care in those specific states,” Klimesh said.

The bill returns to the House for consideration of the Senate changes.

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa – The Iowa housing market showed clear signs of spring and its transitional increases in activity in March. While economic uncertainty resulted in fluctuations of many markets, the housing market across the state proved that buyers and sellers remain optimistic and ready for their next move.  Iowa REALTORS® President Travis Bushaw says  “Despite economic uncertainty and shifting market dynamics throughout the state, overall Iowa’s housing market through March is showing continued signs of a strong spring in real estate. The first quarter ended with rising inventory, faster sales, and  an increase in median sale price, supporting the conversation that there is a renewed confidence from buyers and sellers.”

Les Sulgrove, Iowa REALTORS® statewide housing analyst, said single-family homes entering the market, “Remained mostly flat in March compared to the same time in 2024, tallying a 0.1% increase with 3,861 new listings added during the month. The largely unchanged figure is likely a result of sellers waiting out the heavy winter months and lingering cold weather before officially listing properties. Monthly, new listings jumped 37.9% from the 2,800 new listings of February, proving that while cold temperatures may have kept many on the sidelines, inventory is blooming for the spring market.  Active listings saw a 22% increase with 7,411 properties listed statewide compared to March 2024. The increase was more stable monthly, rising 2.5% from February’s 7,228 active listings.

Median sales price increased 6.2% from last year’s metrics to $239,000. A similar fluctuation was seen month-over month.  Sulgrove says “Perhaps the clearest sign that the housing market is picking up as we enter the spring months is the dramatic shift in days on the market. Homes are spending a median of 12 days on the market in March, a 45.5% drop from 22 days recorded in February. As with previous metrics, the monthly decrease is a contrast to that of the market a year ago when homes spent a median of 9 days on the market.”

The “golden child” of the housing market during covid, condo-townhome inventory he said, has begun to see a drop in closed sales. In March, 341 properties sold, a decrease of 5% from the 359 sold a year ago.  Sulgrove notes that the slip is indicative of increasing single-family home inventory. Inventory continued to increase for condo-townhomes, however. New listings climbed to 611 properties, a jump of 10.7% from a year ago, and active inventory came in at 1,764 a 28.1% increase from a year ago. Days on markets outpaced single-family homes, with properties seeing a median of 26 days on market, an increase of 160% from the same time in 2024. Median sales price was in-line with single-family homes at $238,000.

(Radio Iowaa) – A petition campaign is being launched in an effort to save the highly popular Insect Zoo at Iowa State University, which officials plan to close at semester’s end after three decades in operation. Ginny Mitchell says in her 13 years as the educational program coordinator, the Insect Zoo has reached more than 500-thousand Iowans, mostly children, through the Ames campus and during visits to schools, libraries and other facilities across the state. “We need somebody to sponsor the Insect Zoo, to become a yearly endowment for the Insect Zoo,” Mitchell says, “so that it can continue reaching the hundreds of thousands of Iowans, specifically children.”

The Insect Zoo is home to more than 175 species of arthropods, as well as spiders, scorpions and all sorts of other creatures. Mitchell’s job is being eliminated, along with those of ten I-S-U students from the Department of Plant Pathology, Entomology and Microbiology who help run the zoo and take it on the road.  “The Insect Zoo does not just belong with Iowa State University. It belongs to the children of Iowa,” Mitchell says. “These are the foundational humans of our state, of our country, and it is very important, it’s very vital, especially as an agricultural state, to have information, knowledge and a lack of fear for insects, and that’s what the Insect Zoo does.”

While I-S-U’s Reiman Gardens may be able to add some of the insects from the zoo to its collection in the butterfly habitat, the future remains uncertain for the many dozens of other rare, living specimens. The petition on the website Change-dot-org is collecting digital signatures and supporters’ stories about the Insect Zoo, while donations can be made to help with its deficit through the I-S-U Foundation. Mitchell remains hopeful I-S-U officials will change their minds about their decision to shut down the Insect Zoo.”I just want to make sure that the public knows that they can write a letter or send an email to Wendy Wintersteen, the president of Iowa State University,” Mitchell says. “I do believe that this is the only way that we can change that and if they would share comments, share stories on our change.org petition.”

The deficit started to mount during the shutdowns of the COVID-19 pandemic and snowballed, according to Mitchell, and the Insect Zoo is now about 150-thousand dollars in the red. The facility is slated for closure on June 30th.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – Sheriff’s deputies in Montgomery County arrested a Red Oak man Monday night. 37-year-old Jose Alfredo Perez-Gomez was arrested at around 9-p.m. in the 1000 block of Corning Street, on an active Montgomery County warrant for OWI/1st offense. Gomez was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $1,000 bond.

DES MOINES, Iowa [KCCI]  — Morel mushroom hunting is underway in Iowa. The Iowa Morel Report posted an update Friday on social media, showing where morels have already been found.

Iowa Morel Report on Facebook

As of Friday, they’ve been reported in 10 counties, including Pottawattamie, Mills and Page Counties in southwest Iowa.

FORT DODGE – The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is investigating a fish kill at the South Branch of Lizard Creek in Fort Dodge.

On Monday, April 14th, the DNR Field Office in Mason City received a call from CJ Bio America in Fort Dodge regarding a leak at their facility. A fertilizer byproduct created in the process of making lysine had emptied into a stormwater channel on the east side of the plant.

Plant staff believed the byproduct was contained, but later discovered a breach in the berm of the storm water channel. An unknown amount of the byproduct flowed from the breach into surface intakes in an adjacent field, which outlets to the South Branch of Lizard Creek.

Brown, murky water flowing at the South Branch of Lizard Creek in Fort Dodge

DNR field staff responded to the incident, and upon arrival observed the byproduct in the South Branch of Lizard Creek several miles downstream from the plant. Dead fish were also observed in the creek for several miles.

The leak has been stopped, however due to flow and access restrictions, placing berms in the creek is not an option at this time. Water samples have been collected, and the investigation is ongoing. Downstream users are advised to stay out of the creek at this time.

To report a release after hours, please call the DNR’s emergency spill line at (515) 725-8694. Quick reporting can help DNR staff identify the cause of an incident. The DNR website has more information about spill reporting requirements.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Senate has sent the governor a bill to set new guidelines for election recounts. Republican Senator Ken Rozenboom of Pella is chairman of the senate committee that reviews election-related bills. “Fair elections are the absolute bedrock of our system of government,” Rozenboom said. “This legislation will correct flaws in our current system.” Rozenboom says one of those flaws is that there are no CURRENT limits on which candidates can ask for a recount.

“Now, under today’s laws, a candidate can request a recount whether an election is decided by five votes or 15%,” Rozenboom said. The bill says candidates in statewide or federal races may only request a recount if the margin between the two leading candidates is 15-hundredths of a percent (0.15%). For all other races, the difference between the candidates would have to be less than one percent or 50 votes — whichever is less.

The bill would only allow recounting ballots by hand in extraordinary circumstances — so all or nearly all ballots would be recounted by the same tabulation machines used on Election Day. That change has been sought by Secretary of State Paul Pate after there was no uniformity in how counties conducted recounts in a 2020 congressional race — the one Mariannette Miller-Meeks won by six votes.

“We’re a bit polarized in elections. We’ve got some that are really, really close and it keeps happening over and over and over, so I don’t think it’s going away,” Pate says. “We really want to make sure the recount thing is under control.” Another change in the bill puts county auditors and their staff in charge of recounts. Under current law, the two candidates in a recount each choose a person to serve on a recount board and then agree on who a third board member should be. Pate says those three-member recount boards wind up being observers anyway.

“The auditors are the ones who actually process the ballots, puts them through the tabulators,” Pate says. “…I don’t think that’s a big change.” Democrats who voted against the bill say they’re concerned about county auditors who might be in charge of recounting the ballots in their own election. Senator Sarah Trone Garriott of Waukee has faced two recounts in her three successful races for a senate seat.  “Taking out the candidate’s representtives and the neutral party, putting it on a partisan elected official and the staff who are supervised and employed by them does not make it more fair,” she said.

Secretary of State Pate says Iowa is the only state which does not have election officials in charge of recounts. Under the bill each campaign would be able to have up to five observers in each county where a recount is being conducted.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Senate has voted to make a passing score on the U-S citizenship test a requirement for getting a high school diploma. Republican Senator Jesse Green of Boone says the requirement would start for high school graduates in the 2026-27 school year. “Civics is one of the things that can help bring us back together and not be so divided within our country,” he said, “a greater appreciation for what we have and what makes us unique and special.” A bipartisan group of 38 senators supported the bill.

Senator Tony Bisignano of Des Moines is one of the Democrats who voted for it. He recited something his father, who left Italy to escape fascism, told him years ago. “He said: ‘You know, Americans are lazy and they think they’re entitled to democracy, but they’re not,'” Bisignano said, “‘and some day this country is going to be challenged to protect it and most of the people aren’t even going to understand it.'” Senator Dan Dawson, a Republican from Council Bluffs, says it’s a non-partisan bill.

“Our youth and the people graduating from high school these days just don’t have the understanding of how our government functions, the layout that we used to back in the day,” Dawson says. “…I think it’s a great thing that we make civics a priority because the better that we understand our government and the way it works, the better we can make informed choices in developing and safeguarding this democratic republic.”

Senator Zach Wahls, a Democrat from Coralville, says every Iowa student should graduate with a knowledge of the values and principles of our democracy.  “Civics education is at the heart of our public education. It’s why we have public schools not just in this state, but in this country,” Wahls says. “It is important that every Iowa student is reminded of the importance of civics education throughout their career and I think culminating with a test in high school, which is how we evaluate knowledge, makes a lot of sense.”

Seven Democrats in the Senate opposed the bill. Senator Art Staid (like “stayed”) of Cedar Rapids is a retired teacher and school administrator. “Students should not have to pass an immigration test to graduate as these exams rely on rote memorization with minimal critical thinking,” Staid said. “This approach does little to prepare young people for thoughtful civic and political engagement.” Senator Molly Donahue of Cedar Rapids, a teacher who works with at-risk students, says bill backers are looking for a quick fix, but aren’t addressing the deeper problem.

“Social studies has been treated as an after thought. We’ve lowered the standards for who can teach it. We’ve devalued its role in shaping well-informed, engaged citizens,” Donahue said. “The result? A generation of student who lack deep understanding of history, government, economics and their place in our society.”

The bill must be passed by the House, too, before it goes to the governor — who backs the requirement that students score at least 60 percent on the citizenship test in order to graduate. There are 100 questions on the citizenship test, ranging from “who is the president?” to “Name one of the authors of the Federalist Papers.” At least a dozen states require passage of some version of the citizenship test to earn a diploma.

(Radio Iowa) – University of Iowa Health Care unveiled its new medical center in North Liberty between Cedar Rapids and Iowa City at a ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday. U-I vice president of medical affairs, Denise Jamieson, says the 469-thousand square foot facility was designed with a special focus on orthopedic care. “This facility offers a new level of comprehensive orthopedic care that has not previously been available in the state. We’re really excited, and we’re really proud,” Jamieson says.

U-I Healthcare chief executive officer Bradley Haws says they hope to make new developments in the field. “We view this as an ideal place where we can innovate and actually challenge and develop orthopedic care into an even more renowned service that we provide. And this will provide us a learning laboratory from which we can do that.”

The new hospital will have a walk-in clinic, emergency room, pharmacy, laboratories, and a state-of-the-art physical therapy center. It will have 700 employees. Construction for the new hospital began in October 2021. It is scheduled to open later this month.