Many Iowa Republicans remain committed to Donald Trump, but the former president is seeing his support erode as campaigning begins to heat up ahead of Iowa’s 2024 presidential caucuses, a new Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll shows.
The percentage of Iowa Republicans who say they would “definitely” vote for him if he were the nominee in 2024 has plummeted by more than 20 percentage points since June 2021.
Meanwhile Florida Governor Ron DeSantis visited Davenport this morning and arrives in Des Moines this afternoon. The new Iowa Poll shows the Republican governor is viewed favorably by 74% of Iowa Republicans — nearly on par with the 80% who view Trump favorably. But a greater share of Iowa Republicans views Trump unfavorably: 18% compared with DeSantis' 6%.
The Iowa House has unanimously voted to set new rules to prevent prescription drug switches that aren’t done for medical reasons.
The rule change would not apply to substituting a less expensive generic drug for a brand name medication with the same active ingredients.
Representative Gary Mohr of Bettendorf said it’s about insurance plans denying coverage or requiring a higher co-payment in the middle of a health plan’s year.
A bill to set up a new, quicker routes for getting a license to teach in Iowa cleared the House this week, reports Radio Iowa. Republican Representative Henry Stone Forest City, said it would help ease the teacher shortage.
The law would allow people with a college degree to be hired as teaching interns while they complete their training for a license. The bill would also let a college graduate take an online course to get a temporary teaching license rather than enroll in a teacher prep program at a college or university.
Sixty-one Republicans voted for the bill. Two Republicans and all the Democrats in the House voted against it. Representative Molly Buck, a Democrat from Ankeny who’s a teacher, said there should be a required period of student teaching under the direct supervision of an experienced educator before someone leads a class on their own.
Nebraska State Sen. Steve Erdman of Bayard presented a plan Thursday to replace Nebraska's one-house Legislature with two houses, including a Senate that would provide geographical balance to help counter growing urban representation based on population, according to the Omaha World Herald. His proposal would require a constitutional amendment to implement that change.
The Senate would be composed of 31 senators appointed by county board members to represent three contiguous counties; 63 House members would be elected to four-year terms by district.
Erdman said Nebraska's population has dramatically shifted to three eastern urban counties, causing the loss of rural representation in the Legislature.
Although current language in the bill provides for partisan elections, Erdman told the Legislature's executive board that is not his intention.
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources has finalized its state drought plan. DNR hydrology coordinator, Tim Hall, says the plan is a resource for state, county, and local use.
The plan divides the state into five regions. Hall says northwest Iowa does still have some drought challenges. Right now there are eight counties in northwest Iowa in drought region one that are classified as being in drought watch.
The report shows the area is drier than elsewhere in the state and the intensely agricultural region relies heavily on groundwater from shallow aquifers. Hall says relying on shallow groundwater sources makes the region more vulnerable to water supply shortages during drought.
