(Radio Iowa) – A report by Common Sense Institute Iowa finds Iowa has one of the most affordable housing markets in the country. Institute spokesman Ben Murrey says the state ranks eighth in the country when factoring in property taxes, and 11th for affordability relative to what its residents earn.

“There are states that are very affordable in absolute terms, but wages are very low, and affordability doesn’t help them as much, whereas in Iowa, we have pretty good earnings relative to what housing costs here in Iowa,” he says. The report also found through September, the average Iowan needs to work 38 hours a week to be able to afford a mortgage payment for a single family home. That’s 14 hours a week less than the national average.

Murrey says the report also found Iowa is on track to eliminate its housing shortage by the end of 2028. “Price is a function of supply and demand. So in order to keep affordability up, we want to see a healthy growth in housing supply, and a lot of what’s driven housing prices so much higher around the country is just demand outpacing supply,” Murrey says.

The report estimates Iowa will have a deficit of nearly 16-thousand homes by the end of this year.

DES MOINES — Officials with the Iowa Democratic Party have announced the locations of the 2026 in-person precinct caucuses. The in-person caucuses will take place on February 2, 2026 at 7 p.m.

The current list of caucus locations is available at https://iowademocrats.org/caucus-locations/. The list will continue to be updated between now and February 2 as the 99 county party organizations complete their preparations. In a news release, Iowa Democratic Part Chair Rita Hart said “In 2025, Iowans showed they are ready for change with Democratic candidates overperforming by an average of 22 points in six special elections. In 2026, the Caucuses are the first opportunity to get involved in our campaign for change. If you think Iowa is going in the wrong direction and are ready for new leadership, join your local Democratic Party and get involved the evening of February 2.”

Along with planning for organizing in 2026, the Iowa Democratic Party will conduct traditional party business at the in-person precinct caucuses including electing delegates and alternate delegates to county conventions, electing county central committee members and submitting platform resolutions for county conventions.

(Radio Iowa) – State Treasurer Roby Smith is recommending that the legislature update Iowa tax law to match recent federal changes for the so-called five-29 (529) accounts — accounts created to save and pay for college costs as well as expenses for private K-through-12 schooling. “We have a good amount of people that are saving from obviously from birth or just a year or two old, so they can choose to use it when they want,” Smith says. “They can use it for K-12 expenses…curriculum materials, books, those types of things or they can leave it in there all the way for college if they’d like.”

The One Big Beautiful Bill President Trump signed in July doubled the amount people can withdraw annually for a student enrolled at a private or religious K-12 school. It had been 10-thousand dollars a year — but it’s 20-thousand per student, starting this year. The money may also be spent on different things, including tutoring and fees for tests like the A-C-T. “So we just want to codify that in code to make sure it’s clear that Iowans can use their 529 money for those expenses and not have to pay any additional taxes on them,” Smith says.

There’s no federal limit on how much a person can save in a five-29 account, but each state sets limits on the amount that’s tax deductible. In 2024, the Iowa legislature raised that amount to 55-hundred dollars a year that can be deposited tax-free into a five-29 account.

(Radio Iowa) – The 2026 Iowa legislative session starts Monday — and one of the top Republicans in the Iowa House is predicting there will be pressure to wrap things up as quickly as possible. Representative John Wills of Spirit Lake is Speaker Pro Tem, the third ranking Republican in the Iowa House. “We’ve got a lot of legislators who are running for higher officer…for congress and for governor,” Wills said. “…I think there’s going to be some desire to get out of Des Moines this year — and that’s good thing.”

Three state senators and five representatives are running for federal office, plus another member of the Iowa House is running for governor. Wills expects bills to emerge on the use of eminent domain for the carbon pipeline and to limit property tax increases, but beyond that, Wills says legislators will deal with a bunch of smaller issues. “I don’t think it’s going to be that robust of a session,” Wills said. “There’s just not a lot of appetite for a lot of discussion, any talk about big ticket items.” Wills has served in the Iowa House since 2015 and is seeking re-election in November.

Here are legislators who are running for higher office, seeking to represent, or are from, western/southwest Iowa:

• State Senator Sarah Trone Garriott of West Des Moines is running in the Democratic Primary in Iowa’s third congressional district
• State Representative Josh Turek of Council Bluffs is running in the Democratic Primary for the U.S. Senate.
• State Representative Matt Windschitl of Missouri Valley is running in the Republican Primary in Iowa’s fourth congressional district
• State Representative Jennifer Konfrst of Windsor Heights is running in the Democratic Primary in Iowa’s third congressional district.

(Radio Iowa) – Inmates at the state prison in Newton began building homes in 2019 –and the program has reached a major milestone. The 150th modular home built on a 100-acre site inside the prison complex was delivered to Mason City this week. Melissa Schoneberg is executive director of Habitat for Humanity of North Central Iowa, the organization that received the nearly move-in-ready house. “All we have left to do now is to hook it up with the water and sewer and things like that, electrical, and then get the flooring and appliances in, a few touch-ups. It did go across the state, so there’s a few things they come and fix a little drywall, but it’s in awesome shape. A little dirty from the road, you know,” she said, laughing, “but other than that it’s going to be ready as soon as the homeowner gets her hours done, the sweat equity hours that they are required to do, and then we can get her in there.”

Iowa’s Department of Corrections and Prison Industries works with Habitat for Humanity programs throughout the state on the “Homes for Iowa” program. Schoenberg says it’s the first time one of the houses has been provided to her organization — which serves Cerro Gordo, Franklin, Hancock, Winnebago, and Wright Counties. “It’s wonderful because we typically do one to three houses a year, and right now we have 11 house projects going at the same time,” she says, “so this helps to fill the gap of one house for us to get done.” Schoneberg says there is a housing crisis in Iowa and this program is not only addressing it, but giving inmates at the Newton prison work skills they can use when they’re paroled.

“The cost of construction is so high now…It’s hard to find subcontractors that have time,” Schoneberg said. “With the Homes for Iowa program, they train people that are incarcerated job skills, so that they can become contractors and subcontractors when they get out of prison…and it also helps those prisoners to learn skills so they don’t go back into the system.”

So far, over 160 of the inmates who’ve gone through the program have become certified in one of the construction trades, like carpentry or welding. Each house built in the “Homes for Iowa” program has three bedrooms and two bathrooms. The program has placed homes in more than 50 counties in the past five years.

(Creston, IA) – Two men from Creston were arrested on separate Harassment charges, Thursday. According to the Creston Police Department, 45-year-old Timothy Allen Giggar was arrested at around 5:12-p.m. at his home. Giggar was charged with Harassment in the 3rd Degree. He was taken to Union County Jail and held without bond until making his initial court appearance.

And, a little after 9-p.m., Thursday, Police in Creston arrested 31-year-old Austin Allan Jones at his residence. Jones was charged with Stalking, and Harassment in the1st Degree. He was taken to Union County Jail and also held without bond until making an initial court appearance.

(Radio Iowa) – One of the four Republicans who represent Iowa in the U-S House broke with their party and joined Democrats to pass a bill that would revive the Obamacare subsidies that expired December 31st.
Third District Congressman Zach Nunn of Ankeny was one of 17 House Republicans to support a three-year extension of the health insurance subsidies. Nunn says his number one priority is to bring down health care costs for all Iowans and congress shouldn’t leave 100-thousand Iowans who’d use those subsidies behind because of prior policies that were bad.

First District Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Ottumwa says the Obamacare subsidies go directly to insurance companies and don’t lower healthcare costs for all Americans. Second District Congresswoman Ashley Hinson of Marion says it’s time for a real bipartisan solution and she’s encouraged senators are talking about an extension that would be linked with new income limits. Fourth District Congressman Randy Feenstra of Hull has not issued a statement on his vote.

Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart says with their no votes, Feenstra, Hinson and Miller-Meeks have shown they’re more concerned about providing billionaires with tax breaks than they are about addressing Iowans’ skyrocketing health care costs.

DES MOINES, Iowa (IOWA CAPITAL DISPATCH) – Iowa House Democrats said Thursday they plan to propose a constitutional amendment during the upcoming legislative session to prevent future changes to the Iowa Public Employees’ Retirement System. Concerns about potential changes arose during discussions by a task force appointed by Gov. Kim Reynolds aimed at saving taxpayer dollars. Representative Sean Bagniewski, House minority whip, and Senate Majority Leader Janice Weiner answered questions from reporters about their plans and expectations for the 2026 legislative session at the Iowa Capitol Press Association legislative preview forum Thursday. Republican leaders, House Speaker Pat Grassley, Senate Majority Leader Mike Klimesh and Reynolds, were invited but declined to attend.

The discussion of retirement plans was started by the Iowa DOGE task force, which suggested in August the state might move the public employees’ retirement system from a defined benefits program to a defined contribution program, where both the employee and employer would contribute to the retirement fund. This proposal was met with significant backlash from public employees and advocates who said the change could endanger IPERS’ solvency. In the task force’s final list of recommendations submitted to Reynolds, the proposal was changed to suggest Iowa conducts an ongoing study of of public employees’ benefits — which would include examining the viability of a defined contribution plan. If feasible, the task force suggested public employees be allowed to decide if they want to stay on IPERS in its current form or move to a defined contribution plan, while not making changes to IPERS for current public employees.

Several Republican lawmakers have stated there is currently no interest in making changes to IPERS. But Democrats said Thursday that does not mean Iowans should stop paying attention to the issue. Janice Weiner said she keeps hearing from Republican colleagues, ‘They don’t have the appetite for it this year. So my question is, does that mean they’ll have the appetite for it next year, or the year after that? IPERS is a well-run system. It is essential for recruiting and retaining employees for the state of Iowa, for our correctional system, for our law enforcement, our teachers, and we should not meddle with it, period.” Representative Bagniewski said House Democrats have similar concerns. He pointed to Republicans’ approach in 2017 to changing public sector collective bargaining law and the 2023 Education Savings Account program as examples of policy where Republicans said, “there’s just a proposal, we’re just talking about it, we’re not going to do it. And then all of a sudden, they’re doing it.”

Because Democrats are concerned about Republicans deciding to later move forward with a proposal to change IPERS, Bagniewski said the House minority party plans to introduce a constitutional amendment to “protect IPERS.” Bagniewski said the proposed constitutional amendment would bar the Legislature from making major changes to the current set-up of IPERS — particularly preventing future changes like the task force’s proposed opt-in or opt-out from the defined benefits program structure. He said this proposal is necessary in order to prevent the Legislature from taking actions that could threaten IPERS stability for both future and current employees. “The whole system is built on the people who are currently in, paying for the people who retire,” Bagniewski said. So once you take that out, and then you have a deficit, the whole system explodes. So we want to preserve it in its current form by the Constitution.”

Amendments to the state Constitution must be passed by the Iowa Legislature in two consecutive general assemblies, and then go before voters on the next general election ballot. If approved by a simple majority as a ballot measure, the amendment will be adopted.

(Radio Iowa) – Senator Joni Ernst supports an investigation into Wednesday’s incident in Minneapolis, when an ICE agent shot and killed a woman, but Ernst says the video she’s seen indicates the agent’s actions were justified. “We know that ICE agents are out there, they are using legal authorities to apprehend those that should not be in the United States,” Ernst said. “…There should always be an investigation. You know, this is the worst of the worst possible outcomes to any situation is when a life is lost whether it’s an ICE agent or whether it’s someone who is engaged in activities, whether against ICE — it doesn’t matter. Any time a life is lost, there needs to be an investigation.”

The Department of Homeland Security alleges the woman was shot while attempting to run over ICE agents. Ernst says the woman had been stalking federal agents who’re in Minnesota conducting immigration enforcement. “What we saw then demonstrated in this particular incident was a woman who had been tracking these ICE agents all day,” Ernst said, “and she did try to intervene in their jobs.” Ernst says people need to take a step back and acknowledge ICE are enforcing federal laws. “It’s really unfortunate we see a lot of protests now in Minnesota. There are, I’m sure, protests all across the United States because of this, but again these ICE agents are following the law. They are doing their jobs and when we have people that try to stop them from doing their jobs or, you know, trying to intervene or commit violent acts against those agents, then there are repercussions.”

Minnesota officials say the federal government has blocked their ability to investigate Wednesday’s incident. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz  has urged protestors at the scene of the shooting and elsewhere to remain peaceful. Walz says throwing anger at federal authorities only inflames the situation.

(Radio Iowa) – There will be a new floor leader in the Iowa House for the 2026 legislative session that starts Monday. Representative Bobby Kaufmann of Wilton was selected by his fellow Republicans to be House Majority Leader. He’s predicting lawmakers will complete their work earlier than usual.

“I think this is an edict that my caucus gave me when they elected me was for us to really get out of the gate quickly. Get bills going. Get things done. Get momentum,” Kaufmann said, “and not spend as much time here when the lawn mowers are going and the grass is green outside.” Kaufmann has held powerful positions in the past. He was chairman of the House Oversight Committee in 2018 when it investigated whistleblower complaints about 380-thousand dollars being misspent by a state agency.

“I think that the fact that we are raising this egrgious act into such a high profile should scare the living daylights out of anybody else that may be acting nefariously,” Kaufmann said. Kaufmann more recently led the House panel that drafts tax policy and he’s been a vocal critic of giving Summit Carbon Solutions eminent domain power to seize land along its proposed carbon pipeline.

“There’s a lot of four letter words I could use to describe that and I will not do that,” Kaufmann said three years ago. “I’ll just simply call it B.S.” Kaufmann worked on Governor Terry Branstad’s 2010 campaign and in 2024, Kaufmann was a senior policy advisor to President Trump’s re-election campaign. “My style is definitely much like the president’s,” Kaufmann said, “and I will never shy away from that, ever.” Kaufmann says his new role inside the legislature is listen to the other House Republicans and build consensus among the group.

“We are a 67-member team and my job is to steer that team on the floor and my job is to take all their opinions,” Kaufmann said, “and do my best to make sure that those views are represented in legislation.” Kaufmann, who is 41, raises livestock and operates a steel hauling, construction and demolition business. He’s been a member of the Iowa House since 2013. He won the seat that had previously been held by his dad, Jeff Kaufmann, who’s been chairman of the Iowa Republican Party since 2014.

“He and I actually don’t talk about politics as much as people think,” Bobby Kaufmann said. “I always tell him he’s one of 30,000 constituents and he has to get in line like everybody else.” The Kaufmanns farm together in Cedar County. The 2026 Iowa legislature convenes Monday at 10 a.m.