2021

It’s been about six weeks since state Rep. Amy Nielsen tested positive for COVID-19, which she thinks she contracted at the Capitol, and she is still experiencing lingering symptoms. The North Liberty Democrat on January 30 became the first lawmaker to contract the virus this year (or at least the first to publicly report it),…

An Iowa Republican likened an abortion “pandemic” to COVID-19 as a bill that would create an abortion state information dashboard passed on Thursday through a legislative subcommittee. “COVID-19 has had a huge impact on a lot of Iowans, and unfortunately we’ve lost a lot of Iowans due to COVID-19. If you go to the state’s…

“If you decide you want to censor Iowans, then you forgo your special tax breaks. And they are rich tax breaks in this state,” warned Iowa Republican Sen. Jake Chapman during debate on a bill which would halt financial incentives for big tech companies that “censor” speech. The bill, which was met with significant opposition…

Des Moines City Councilman Josh Mandelbaum will be running for reelection this fall. The environmental attorney announced this morning he’ll seek another term on the council for his Ward 3 seat, which covers the southwest quadrant of Des Moines. In kicking off his reelection bid, Mandelbaum highlighted efforts he’s fought for on the council over…

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds received a newly-released, one-dose, Johnson and Johnson COVID-19 vaccine on Wednesday during a live press conference—a bittersweet action to some Iowans who appreciate her attempt to dispel vaccine misinformation amid the state’s continuation of lax pandemic mitigation efforts. Reynolds, who has been widely criticized for her attempts to undermine the pandemic…

After a summer filled with public activism on racial justice issues following George Floyd’s murder, an Iowa Senate subcommittee on Tuesday advanced a wide-ranging law enforcement protections bill meant to clamp down on future protests. “I think we all know that over the past several months, law enforcement here in Iowa and around the country…

While Iowa’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout started slow and has run into problems caused by poor planning, the state is seeing real results from the quickly researched and produced vaccines. The most noticeable difference between now and the worst days of the pandemic come from Iowa’s nursing homes, which have suffered the brunt of tragedy. As…

In one of the first floor speeches as an Iowa state senator, Sarah Trone Garriott breathlessly described the realities of COVID-19 she had seen in her own community. “Over the course of the past year I spoke with thousands of constituents of every political affiliation,” she began. “Educators told me of their exhaustion of trying…