Government Policy and Law

The Iowa Supreme Court has approved more than $321,000 in grants to nonprofit programs that provide legal assistance to low-income Iowans with civil legal problems. The grants were funded by the Interest on Lawyers’ Trust …

Revenues for state and local governments rose 4.7 percent in the first quarter of 2011, owing to higher taxes and a partially recovered private sector, according to U.S. Census Bureau data, MarketWatch reported. Tax receipts …

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said today that the United States supports French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde’s bid to become head of the International Monetary Fund, breaking its silence on the controversial decision just as …

Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann officially launched her campaign for the Republican presidential nomination on Monday, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Bachmann spoke to a crowd in Waterloo, and declared herself the voice for Americans disillusioned …

Legislation to overhaul the U.S. patent system for the first time in nearly 60 years made it way through the House of Representatives on Thursday, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Despite disagreements about a provision …

Gov. Terry Branstad yesterday announced he has appointed San Wong as director of the Iowa Department of Human Rights. Wong currently works as the director of workforce and education initiatives at Des Moines Area Community …

The Rotary Club of Des Moines and Greater Des Moines Partnership will host Thomas Hoenig, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, for an “Economic Leadership: Choosing Our Future” event on June 30. …

New figures released this morning by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) show the nation’s debt rising to 190 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) by 2035.

The annual long-term budget outlook forecasts a surge …

Big cigarette makers could recoup $2 billion under a proposed deal with state attorneys general to resolve a long-running dispute over payments required by the landmark 1998 tobacco settlement, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Negotiators …

After three years of coordinating disaster-relief efforts, the Rebuild Iowa Office (RIO) will officially close tomorrow. The RIO was created in June 2008 by executive order in response to the historic floods, storms and tornadoes …