2017

Guest post from Chelsea Lepley Progressives in Iowa and around the country have taken note of the energy and enthusiasm of citizen gatherings, the size of which has not been seen in the lifetimes of many of the people who have come together to march, protest and speak out for an America at risk. Iowans…

Guest post from Eric Saylor Statehouse Republicans have mounted several high-profile legislative attacks on their political opponents this session, Planned Parenthood and public sector unions chief among them. However, Republicans are also pursuing their goals through much quieter channels, though no less devastating ones. In some cases, poisonous measures are nestled within the text of a bill.…

Guest post from former Senator Dennis Black I served 12 years in the Iowa House and 20 in the Iowa Senate, basically parts of Jasper and Polk Counties.  I retired in 2015, with Senator Chaz Allen seeking and winning the seat. I thought I’d observed and experienced just about everything until watching the deliberations and…

The Republican-controlled Legislature is on track to reward gun-fanatics with their dream agenda!  Perhaps the most senseless piece of this legislation is the gun extremists’ goal of giving handguns to kids. This nutty and dangerous expansion would allow toddlers to use handguns with parental supervision. Current law allows children over age 14 to handle a…

Governor Terry Branstad’s bill signing ceremony for the most anti-labor bill in recent Iowa history was reserved for a very special guest. Drew Klein, the state director and lobbyist for the Koch-funded Americans for Prosperity (AFP) got an extraordinary front row seat at the private closed door signing. Branstad demanded a secret signing ceremony, shutting…

Guest post from House Leader Mark Smith The last two weeks have been the most contentious in my 17 years in the Legislature. In just 10 days, Republican lawmakers and Governor Branstad unraveled Iowa’s successful, bipartisan collective bargaining law. After watching the events unfold the last week and a half, what we’ve learned is that…

A Republican-sponsored bill, HF316, would replace the Des Moines Water Works (DMWW) and replace it with a regional water authority appointed by Des Moines and suburban municipalities. State Representative Jarad Klein (R-Keota), the bill’s sponsor, claims the utilities’ suburban customers don’t currently have adequate representation. It’s assumed that Klein’s real motivation is to punish the…

The party affiliation on your voter registration card could block you from employment at Iowa’s state universities were a newly proposed bill by Senator Mark Chelgren to become law. Senate File 288, proposed by the Ottumwa legislator, could bring about a Soviet-style purge of liberal-leaning college staff in Iowa. Chelgren wants to impose an ideological litmus…