2017

Funnel Week has come and gone at the Iowa Statehouse, but that doesn’t mean every piece of legislation that made it through committee will become law. And there’s certainly plenty of Iowans who want to voice their opinion on what has already passed. Once again, legislators will host forums and listening sessions throughout Iowa this…

The national group Indivisible has surged across America like a progressive tsunami. Beginning in mid-December with the circulation of the “Indivisible Guide: A Practical Guide to Resist the Trump Agenda,” the progressive movement’s membership has skyrocketed. Iowa Starting Line first wrote about this new group bursting into the Iowa political scene in mid-January. Since that…

Once again, Iowa is back in the national news. This time it’s thanks to our lovely state senator from Ottumwa, Mark Chelgren. NBC News revealed that Chelgren mischaracterized holding a business degree from Forbco Management school that was actually a six-month management class certificate. Forbco only operated a Sizzler restaurant, which led to immediate ridicule all…

Guest post from Ruth Thompson The “Running with Scissors Administration” is striking fear in the hearts of everyone but fetuses and the NRA. In Iowa, so far this session we’ve seen our Republican friends introducing a bill that if passed would force people who file suit and lose to pay the legal fees of the party…

Guest post from House Leader Mark Smith According to the special interests running the show for Republicans at the State Capitol these days, the next priority of the Iowa Legislature will be vouchers that siphon funding from public schools and give it to home schools and private schools. They convinced a Republican State Senator to…

Secretary of State Paul Pate’s voter suppression bill is making its way through the Statehouse this week. It passed through a House committee late last night after Democrats attempted to overwhelm Republicans with amendments, dragging the vote to just before midnight. Iowa’s college students have been particularly concerned about how it will impact their right…

Guest post from Tim Urban In an Op-ed in the New York Times titled “Trump Voters Are Not the Enemy,” Nicholas Kristof cites three reasons why “it’s shortsighted to direct liberal fury at the entire mass of Trump voters, a complicated (and, yes, diverse) group of 63 million people.”  First, he asks, “many are Black,…

The 2017 Iowa legislative session has been disheartening for many Democrats, progressives and people who care about a fair, just Iowa. But there is one silver lining: tough people step up in tough times, and Democrats have had several leaders to rally behind in these fights. For a state party that has lacked a central, natural…

Guest post from Senate Leader Rob Hogg Today, I am writing to ask you to help us stop a dozen bad bills from advancing out of committee this week. Friday marks the “first funnel” under legislative rules, which is a first procedural hurdle that will stop some legislative proposals for the year. If we can…