Wed Apr 24, 2013 at 07:55:00 AM CDT
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Former State Representative and State Senator Swati Dandekar is reportedly considering a bid for the open first Congressional district seat.
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Tue Mar 05, 2013 at 07:10:00 AM CST
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President Barack Obama announced two new cabinet appointments yesterday: Ernest Moniz as secretary of Energy and Gina McCarthy as Environmental Protection Agency administrator. Bleeding Heartland posted background on Moniz and McCarthy here; I've added more information after the jump.
McCarthy has served as the EPA's top air quality official since 2009. Because she is well-qualified for the position and committed to making the country's air cleaner, environmentalists are excited about this choice. I hope that Obama is not merely "promoting a climate change champion" to soften the blow when he approves the KeystoneXL pipeline. The State Department's draft report on KeystoneXL whitewashed the impact that project would have on the environment.
Also yesterday, Obama formally nominated Sylvia Matthews Burwell to be the new director of the Office of Management and Budget. The White House announcement notes, "She served as Deputy Director of the OMB from 1998 to 2001, as well as Deputy Chief of Staff to the President and Chief of Staff to the Secretary of the Treasury during the Clinton administration." UPDATE: I should have added that Burwell is a former president of the Gates Foundation's Global Development Program, and that her most recent job was running the Wal-Mart Foundation.
The president has not yet announced his picks to run the departments of Labor, Transportation, or Commerce.
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Sun Feb 24, 2013 at 10:42:06 AM CST
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What's on your mind this weekend, Bleeding Heartland readers? This is an open thread.
To get the conversation started, I've posted some scary or disturbing news after the jump.
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Thu Feb 21, 2013 at 10:55:00 AM CST
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The future of Iowa's Congressional representation is not encouraging, judging from the latest League of Conservation Voters' scorecard.
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Mon Sep 24, 2012 at 11:45:07 AM CDT
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MidAmerican Energy is considering two possible locations for a new nuclear reactor in Iowa, Perry Beeman reported for the Des Moines Register on Friday.
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Thu Sep 06, 2012 at 08:50:00 AM CDT
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Here's a lede I didn't expect to read in any newspaper: "It can be good to have a nuclear power plant nearby if you have a flood disaster."
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Thu May 24, 2012 at 08:54:17 AM CDT
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Catching up on news from last week, the U.S. House approved the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2013. Details on how Iowa's five representatives vote on that bill and on important amendments are after the jump.
I also enclose the statements released by members of Iowa's Congressional delegation. Not surprisingly, several self-styled deficit hawks bragged about supporting a bill that prohibits various cost-saving measures and mandates spending on some items the military doesn't even want.
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Thu May 10, 2012 at 11:12:10 AM CDT
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UPDATE: Governor Branstad signed Senate File 2342 on May 25.
Iowa lawmakers always cram so much action into the last few days of the legislative session. Instead of writing one long news roundup on the final decisions by the Iowa House and Senate, I'm covering specific issues in separate Bleeding Heartland posts this year.
Rod Boshart posted a good, comprehensive list here on what bills did and didn't pass during the 2012 legislative session. Follow me after the jump for details on a good renewable energy bill, which made it through at the eleventh hour, and some thoughts on the nuclear power bill, which for the second year in a row didn't make it to the Iowa Senate floor.
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Thu Mar 29, 2012 at 12:12:00 PM CDT
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Democratic opponents of a bill designed to promote nuclear power in Iowa have drafted a dozen amendments to House file 561, in case the bill comes up for debate in the Iowa Senate. The bill squeaked through the Iowa Senate Commerce Committee earlier this month. After the jump I've posted summaries of the proposed amendments, which would strengthen consumer protections and possibly deter MidAmerican Energy from pursuing a new nuclear reactor project.
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Sun Mar 18, 2012 at 19:35:00 PM CDT
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The Iowa legislature's second "funnel" deadline passed on Friday, which means that most non-appropriations bills are dead unless they have been approved in one chamber and in at least one committee in the other chamber. It's time to catch up on the most significant bills being debated in the Iowa House and Senate.
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Wed Mar 14, 2012 at 06:25:00 AM CDT
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Republicans saved the day for Iowa Senate Commerce Committee Chair Matt McCoy, providing most of the votes he needed to drag the nuclear energy bill over the line on Tuesday.
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Tue Mar 13, 2012 at 22:41:14 PM CDT
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The Iowa Senate voted to confirm former Senator Swati Dandekar to the Iowa Utilities Board this evening by 43 votes to 6 (pdf).
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Mon Mar 12, 2012 at 09:01:08 AM CDT
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Expanding nuclear power is again a hot topic at the Iowa statehouse. It's not clear whether Iowa Senate Commerce Committee Chair Matt McCoy can find the votes he needs to advance House File 561. McCoy announced last week that new language in the bill would protect consumers and satisfy a majority of his committee members. However, opponents say the changes address only one of many problems in a bill that would primarily benefit MidAmerican Energy at the expense of its ratepayers. McCoy was forced to delay consideration of House File 561 on March 8, but he is expected to bring up the bill before his committee sometime this week--if he has the votes.
Follow me after the jump for analysis on the prospects for passing House File 561 and the merits of the bill.
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Mon Feb 27, 2012 at 07:43:24 AM CST
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Christie Vilsack toured Iowa's new fourth Congressional district late last week to roll out an energy plan "geared towards bringing a new prosperity to Iowa's small cities and rural communities by creating layers of economic opportunity."
The five-point plan is more of a political statement than a detailed policy document. Like some of Vilsack's previous proposals, it embraces some Republican talking points.
Upon closer examination, the energy plan looks like two parts bipartisan no-brainers, two parts conservative buzzwords, and one part fairy dust.
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Tue Feb 21, 2012 at 19:44:51 PM CST
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The Des Moines Register's latest statewide poll conducted by Selzer & Co included more than a dozen questions about issues Iowa legislators are considering this session. Proposals to raise the gasoline tax and allow a large utility company to bill its customers up front for a nuclear power plant were among the most unpopular ideas polled.
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Mon Jan 09, 2012 at 09:00:25 AM CST
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The Iowa legislature's 2012 session begins today with several major policy reforms on the agenda. Making progress on even one of those issues would be daunting under any circumstances, but particularly during an election year when different parties control the Iowa House and Senate. Lots of links are after the jump.
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Tue Nov 01, 2011 at 14:00:31 PM CDT
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Governor Terry Branstad promised during last year's campaign to transform the Iowa Department of Economic Development into a public-private partnership. Yesterday he named 18 leaders of Iowa companies to two new state economic development boards.
The list of appointed board members are after the jump, along with background and the full text of Branstad's executive order creating the Iowa Partnership for Economic Progress board.
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Sun Sep 25, 2011 at 17:49:35 PM CDT
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At the Moving Planet climate change event in Des Moines on Saturday, I heard a few activists talk about organizing against former State Senator Swati Dandekar's confirmation to the Iowa Utilities Board. The Iowa Senate will consider her nomination during the 2012 legislative session.
I would advise environmentalists not to waste their time on that particular hopeless cause. Senate Democrats may be unhappy that Governor Terry Branstad jeopardized their control of the chamber by nominating Dandekar, but they are not going to block her confirmation.
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Fri Sep 16, 2011 at 15:57:50 PM CDT
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Democratic State Senator Swati Dandekar is stepping down from the legislature in order to accept an appointment to the Iowa Utilities Board, the Des Moines Register reported today. Her resignation forces a special election this fall in Iowa Senate district 18, which covers suburban and rural areas in Linn County.
Democrats currently hold a 26-24 Iowa Senate majority, so a Republican victory in the special election would deadlock the upper chamber for the 2012 legislative session. Follow me after the jump for a district map and first take on the race to replace Dandekar.
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