With the signing into law of three bills yesterday, Iowa Gov. Kim
Reynolds officially and completely closed the books on the 2022 session of the Iowa
Legislature.
When all was said and done, Reynolds signed into law everything
state lawmakers sent her way with one exception: she vetoed a proposed change
to the state’s district court judicial nominating commissions. Her beef with
that proposal — it would have kept each district’s senior-most judge on the
commission but would have eliminated the automatic appointment of that judge as
commission chairperson — in her view did not go far enough.
The final bills to earn Reynolds’ signature included a couple of
agriculture-related bills and the standings bill, which included a couple of
contested policy provisions. If you haven’t already, check out my story here.
Also, be sure to check out my colleague Tom Barton’s look ahead to
Thursday’s meeting and national Democrats’ hearing in which Iowa Democrats will
make their case as an early voting state.
Obviously Thursday is a big day for Iowa Democrats, especially
those who hope the party is able to hang onto its first-in-the-nation
presidential nominating status, or at least remain one of the early voting
states as the national party reorganizes its nominating calendar.
(Personal sidebar: It feels great to say “my colleague Tom Barton.”
He’s an outstanding journalist and I’m so happy to have him on The Gazette’s
politics and government reporting team. You’ll be seeing a lot of his work here
in the newsletter. So watch for his stuff here, and follow him on Twitter.)
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