BW INSIGHTS

2025 Government Relations Legislative Update - Week Four

New This Week. Week 3 (last week) ended on a sad note with the sudden passing of Representative Martin Graber (R) on Friday, January 31st. The House didn’t gather in Des Moines on Tuesday of week 4 so that members could attend Representative Graber’s funeral. Graber, from Fort Madison, represented House District 100. He was first elected to serve... Read More

2025 Government Relations Legislative Update - Week Three

Capitol Update New This Week. After Tuesday’s special election, a new State Senator will take the oath of office in Des Moines. Democrat Mike Zimmer, the Central DeWitt School Board president, won the seat for Senate District 35 in eastern Iowa. The district includes Clinton County and parts of Jackson and Scott Counties. Zimmer succeeds in the... Read More

Trump Removes NLRB General Counsel and Fires Acting Democrat Chair

President Trump fired acting chair of the National Labor Relations Board, Democrat Gwynne Wilcox Monday night. Additionally, he removed General Counsel of the Board, Jennifer Abruzzo, who had become a strong advocate for unionization. The general counsel of the Board has sweeping authority to determine what types of cases are prosecuted by the... Read More

2025 Government Relations Legislative Update - Week Two

Capitol Update Monday was a very busy day in D.C. with the inauguration of our 47th President, Donald J. Trump (and former 45th President). It was also Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and celebrations honoring Dr. King were held in Iowa and around the country. Hands-Free Legislation Passes First Subcommittee. Both the Senate and House are considering... Read More

2025 Government Relations Legislative Update - Week One

First Day. The first day of the 91st General Assembly began on Monday, January 13, 2025. The State Constitution directs that session be held annually commencing on the second Monday of January and the Iowa Code directs that the general Assembly convene at 10:00 a.m. It was an exciting day for the newly-elected and reelected legislators who took... Read More

Workplace Illnesses Exposure & Workers’ Compensation: A Key Iowa Case for Employers

As workplaces navigated the challenges of COVID-19, a critical question emerged: when is a workplace liable for employees contracting the virus? Iowa's workers’ compensation system addressed this question head-on. A recent Iowa Court of Appeals case affirmed the Commissioner’s original decision that proving a workplace connection to COVID-19... Read More

Breaking: Nationwide Preliminary Injunction Back in Place for CTA

In a huge turn of events, on December 26, 2024, a separate panel (the “merits” panel) of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision vacating the original panel (the “motions” panel) of the Fifth Circuit’s stay of the nationwide preliminary injunction halting enforcement of the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA), effectively meaning that... Read More

Breaking: Nationwide CTA Injunction Stayed; CTA Reporting Obligations Reinstated With Some Extensions

As anticipated in our previous blog, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued a decision implicating the nationwide preliminary injunction previously issued by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas in Texas Top Cop Shop v. Garland et al., No. 4:24-cv-478 (E.D. Tex. Dec 3, 2024) that temporarily blocked... Read More

CTA Update: 5th Circuit Poised to Issue Decision; Congress Likely to Weigh-In

As our previous blog highlighted, numerous small businesses were relieved of their quickly approaching New Years Day deadline to submit beneficial ownership information to the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) under the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) when a federal district court in Texas issued a nationwide... Read More