DES MOINES, Iowa — Iowa Democrats flipped 11 House seats, ending the GOP’s supermajority, with one race still uncalled.
Republicans retained majorities in both chambers of the Iowa Legislature, but Democrats’ House gains and Governor-elect Rob Sand’s victory will reshape the balance of power at the Capitol.
State GOP Chairman Jeff Kaufmann, though, emphasized that Republicans’ remaining majorities give them the power to check Sand.
Kaufmann
“There's still a red wall out there, and the red wall is called the Iowa Legislature. If there is any kind of, call it whatever you want, blue wave, a historical trend that manifested itself, it will come crashing against the Iowa Legislature.”
Sand takes office in January, bringing Iowa’s first divided government in a decade. Senate Republicans so far hold a 32-17 majority in the Senate and a 55-44 lead in the House with one outstanding race in each chamber.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The federal office in charge of awarding funds for the Rural Health Transformation Program missed its second-year deadline.
According to a report from KFF Health News, state leaders received an email about the delay on October 30. That's the day before the deadine for the announced secon-year funding amounts.
The federal director of the Office of Rural Health Transformation said the delay was due to "additional administrative process requirements."
The RHTP will distribute $10 billion across the nation over the next five years. Iowa was awarded $209 million, Nebraska received over $218 million and South Dakota won $189 million for the first year of the program.
