Governor Kim Reynolds on Tuesday signed a disaster relief proposal that would set aside more money for fixing homes and buildings and help the state better prepare for future disasters.
The bill sets aside nearly $14 million for fixing damaged homes and for demolishing hazardous buildings. It also adds more regulations for the people who review insurance claims and sets up a fund for preparing for future disasters.
In a statement, Reynolds cited the tornadoes and flooding from 2024 that devastated communities across the state as a reason the new measure was needed. Reynolds said it will make it easier for Iowans to get help faster.
*Additionally, a recreation trail connector could be coming to Sioux City, with the $1 million cost to come from a planning agency.
The Sioux City Council in their Monday meeting approved getting the $1 million award for Phase One of the Viaduct Connector Trail. The aim would be to improve the local trail system to enhance quality of life pieces.
The project would be carried out by 2029.
There are also ongoing plans to reconstruct the Gordon Drive viaduct that is an important city thoroughfare.
The city council members on Monday also approved a design agreement with the Iowa Department of Transportation and HDR Engineering to rework the viaduct from Rustin Street at the east to Virginia Street at the west.
The cost for that design work is $216,000.
The viaduct project will cost more than $150 million, and the estimated starting year is 2028. The current viaduct is almost 90 years old, and it spans decades-old railways beneath.
*A Republican state senator and some Democrats are publicly calling on Republican leaders to let them vote on a House bill aimed at limiting the use of eminent domain for carbon capture pipelines.
Republican Senator Lynn Evans, of Aurelia, asked his colleagues in a speech Tuesday to push their leaders to allow the full Senate to publicly vote on a bill aimed at protecting private property rights.
Democratic state Senator Tony Bisignano, of Des Moines, says he’d be happy to vote for the bill immediately. He accused Republicans of playing games with the issue, contending it should be debated and that the outcome of a vote would be passage.
For the past few years, the House has passed bills in response to concerns about the use of eminent domain for carbon capture pipelines. This is the first year that the Senate has advanced one of those bills through a committee
*In other related news, the shifting landscape of South Dakota Republican politics has influenced state laws and elections.
It also could have ramifications for economic development and the role that party leadership plays in fundraising and candidate recruitment, according to South Dakota News Watch.
The populist surge of the Republican Party was made official in Pierre in February, when county leaders selected property rights advocate Jim Eschenbaum, of Hand County, as the new chairman of the state party’s central committee.
Property rights issues were prevalent in the South Dakota Legislature session that just concluded in March. One example was passage of a measure prohibiting the use of eminent domain for carbon pipelines.
Additionally, Aberdeen businessman Toby Doeden has used President Trump-tested tactics to try to trounce the South Dakota Republican establishment.
Doeden’s Dakota First Action PAC helped boost populist candidates in last year's legislative primaries, using resources from his car dealerships and real estate holdings. Doeden flirted briefly with a U.S. House run in 2024 and is now exploring a possible run for South Dakota governor in 2026.
He has ruffled feathers with frequent criticisms of Republican officeholders, such as saying that Congressman Dusty Johnson “acts like a liberal, talks like a liberal and, worst of all, votes like a liberal.”
A campaign spokesperson for Johnson told News Watch that Doeden “peddles fear and anger” and that there is limited traction for his approach.
