Good morning from Iowa Capital Dispatch.
“If you make hunger the number one priority, then I can guarantee you that governors will have to listen, corporate CEOs will have to listen, nonprofits will have to listen.” — Former Iowa governor and former U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, speaking at the Iowa Hunger Summit.
Gov. Kim Reynolds spoke on changes Iowa is making to Social Security survivor benefits for children in the state’s foster care system in a news conference at Foster SQUAD in Ankeny July 22, 2026. (Photo by Robin Opsahl/Iowa Capital Dispatch)
Gov. Kim Reynolds announced Wednesday that Iowa will change how the state manages Social Security survivor benefits for foster children with deceased relatives, allowing the child to retain this money for the future.
Reynolds said the change to survivor benefits comes as Iowa seeks to work on the national initiative led by First Lady Melania Trump to provide more support to foster families and help children in the system live independently and successfully as adults.
From left: former U.S. Ambassador to Cambodia Kenneth Quinn, former Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad and former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack speak on a panel at the Iowa Hunger Summit July 22, 2026. (Photo by Cami Koons/Iowa Capital Dispatch)
Twenty years after writing an opinion editorial calling for the establishment of the Iowa Hunger Summit, former governors Terry Branstad and Tom Vilsack and former U.S. Ambassador Kenneth Quinn celebrated the legacy of the summit Wednesday.
Through the 20 years the leaders have seen the Iowa Hunger Summit, they said they have witnessed the state government, federal government, religious groups, companies and nonprofits work together on the issue of hunger.
U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley criticized the WNBA Wednesday, saying former University of Iowa women’s basketball star Caitlin Clark has been treated “unfairly” since joining the league in 2024.
Iowans for Tax Relief, an organization that advocates for lower taxes and “less government,” announced the launch of a campaign Wednesday to educate Iowans about an amendment to the state’s constitution that will be on the ballot this November.
Iowa State University researchers are contributing to a new, national consortium with their efforts to integrate artificial intelligence with different areas of study and development.
Republicans in the U.S. House on Wednesday approved their outline for the third party-line budget measure of the second Trump administration, though they won’t be able to begin work on that package until they reach agreement with their Senate colleagues on a plan forward.
U.S. House Republicans passed a measure to curb stock trading by members of Congress that was packaged with an unrelated voter ID bill, part of President Donald Trump’s push for major federal involvement in elections.
The U.S. Senate on Wednesday moved one step closer to confirming the first administrator for the Federal Emergency Management Agency since President Donald Trump took office last year.
A federal commission voted Tuesday in favor of a Trump administration proposal to rescind requirements that larger employers report the demographics of their workers — information that’s used to help enforce racial and gender antidiscrimination laws, Stateline reports.
A supermajority of the U.S. Senate Democratic Caucus has asked Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin to deploy body cameras to all federal immigration officers, following deadly shootings of immigrants in Texas and Maine.
Former career Department of Justice officials and a survivor of abuse by the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein sounded the alarm Wednesday on acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s fitness to lead the Department of Justice, one day ahead of a scheduled committee vote to advance his nomination to the full Senate.
Education experts and advocates warned Wednesday that the recent federal student loan system overhaul stemming from the GOP’s mega tax and spending cut law will drive borrowers to private lenders and could derail their higher education plans.
Advocates and public health experts urged Republicans in Congress on Wednesday to implement a two-year delay on requiring states to begin sharing the costs for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits.
New data reveals the number of women running in the 2026 elections is slightly up from 2024, but experts say there is still progress to be made with women’s representation in public office overall.
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