Good morning from Iowa Capital Dispatch.
“America’s farmers, ranchers and producers have always answered the call to do more to feed the nation. Farm Bill 2.0 is built to support the backbone of our food system.” — Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee, in remarks on the Senate floor about the farm bill draft introduced this week.
The U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry released its 2026 Farm Bill draft.(Photo from USDA)
Nearly two months after the U.S. House passed a farm bill proposal, the Senate Agriculture Committee has released an initial draft of the omnibus legislation that covers everything from crop insurance to nutrition assistance.
The farm bill draft, dubbed the Agricultural Act of 2026 and put forward by Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., expands crop insurance coverage, shifts funding in conservation programs and maintains changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program made in Republicans’ 2025 spending bill.
Hy-Vee Inc., a multistate grocery store chain, has been accused in a proposed class-action lawsuit of violating federal labor laws by failing to pay overtime for department managers. (Photo by Google Earth)
A proposed class-action lawsuit has been filed against Hy-Vee Inc., alleging the grocery store chain violates federal labor laws by failing to pay overtime for department managers.
The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa on behalf of former employee Dawn Nicosia and other Hy-Vee workers. It seeks to recover what it claims are unpaid overtime wages, plus penalties and interest for violations of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.
THIS WEEK'S TOP STORIES
The federal government is taking an Iowa dog breeder to court, seeking a court order that will allow inspectors onto the property for the first time since 2024.
State courts cannot find liability for labeling shortcomings in pesticides and related products because such products are covered by federal law, the U.S. Supreme Court said Thursday in a decision backing agricultural giant Monsanto.
Inspectors have cited Iowa restaurants and stores for hundreds of food-safety violations during the past several weeks, including unsanitary kitchens, insects inside bottled beverages and ice cream mix stored on the same cooler shelf as fishing bait.
The Iowa Department of Management is asking the state auditor’s office to amend a report that found Gov. Kim Reynolds had improperly used federal COVID-19 relief funds to pay for staff in 2020 after the U.S. Treasury Department determined this finding was unsustained.
Reynolds calls ruling ‘short-sighted’ that blocks SNAP restriction on junk food
Gov. Kim Reynolds on Tuesday called a federal judge’s decision to stop Iowa from restricting the purchase of soda and candy through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) program “short-sighted” and said it “does nothing to improve the health of our country.”
U.S. Department of Energy Deputy Secretary James Danly was in Iowa Tuesday, speaking on the virtues of data centers while calling for a “nuclear renaissance” in relation to the nation’s growing electricity demands.
A judge has ordered the federal government to state why it has jailed, for almost two years, an immigration detainee now being held in the Muscatine County Jail.
The Trump administration illegally overhauled a U.S. Department of Homeland Security computer program in its hunt for noncitizen voters, a judge ruled Monday in a stinging decision that laid into federal officials for violating the privacy of millions of Americans.
Wildfires have reversed years of progress toward mitigating ozone pollution, worsening air quality and causing premature deaths, University of Iowa researchers have found.
A UI research team produced a recently published report stating ozone reductions made between 2003 and 2015 were reversed in the following nine years due to wildfire emissions.
In 1996, Tony Singh began rewilding a plot of land in LeClaire, hoping to restore its oak savanna, native prairie, woodlands and wetlands.
Democrats are growing hopeful they can recapture the U.S. Senate in this fall’s midterm elections amid President Donald Trump’s plummeting approval ratings.
Summertime recreation in Iowa’s outdoor landscape can be a catalyst for spreading invasive species, according to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.
NEWS FROM THE MIDWEST AND IOWA'S NEIGHBORS
Illinois is experiencing more tornadoes — but receiving less federal disaster aid | Capitol News Illinois
Trump’s DOJ sues Kansas to block in-state tuition for immigrant students | Kansas Reflector
Michigan lawmakers, local officials and residents renew push for statewide data center moratorium | Michigan Advance
Kansas City’s gun violence problem looms over World Cup | Missouri Independent
North Dakota Supreme Court tosses ballot measure, finding term limits proposal unconstitutional | North Dakota Monitor
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine vetoes bill requiring mail-in voters show a copy of their ID to vote | Ohio Capital Journal
Great Plains tribes focus on a different anniversary as US celebrates its 250th | South Dakota Searchlight
Wisconsin officials, voting rights advocates address fears about election security | Wisconsin Examiner
FEDERAL FALLOUT
States Newsroom relentlessly reports on how changes at the federal level are affecting people at the state level — and how state governments are responding in this volatile political climate. We post new stories each day; here are just a few:
Ohioans rally to support Haitians living with temporary protected status after Supreme Court ruling | Ohio Capital Journal
US Supreme Court further erodes Voting Rights Act by declining Arkansas case, advocates say | Arkansas Advocate
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