2023
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New Legislators: Jerome Amos Jr. Wants To Be A Voice For Labor Movement
Rep. Jerome Amos Jr. was a career man at John Deere in Waterloo, but it was being an active member of the UAW local that inspired him to become involved in politics. During a union training session in Black Lake, Minnesota, a presenter told members in attendance to get involved in local politics. “There’s not…
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Rita Hart Elected As New Chair Of Iowa Democratic Party
The Iowa Democratic Party has a new chair: Rita Hart, a former state senator and farmer who was the party’s lieutenant governor candidate in 2018 and a congressional candidate in 2020. The party’s state central committee elected Hart in a three-way contest this morning. “My focus is squarely on helping our party win elections again,”…
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New Legislators: Izaah Knox Brings Community-Powered Service To Senate
For Sen. Izaah Knox, the new Democratic state senator for central Des Moines’ SD 17, his candidacy, his campaign and service in the Senate are a community-driven effort. “When redistricting happened for the Senate, a couple of people said, ‘oh, are you going to run for the Senate?’” Knox said. For a long time, he’d…
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Here Are the Departments Reynolds Wants to Cut
Gov. Kim Reynolds wants to reduce the number of state agencies and cut staff, but those who know and use the programs worry Iowans will suffer. Reynolds proposed a bill in the Iowa Legislature to slash Iowa’s 37 cabinet-level positions to just 16—a 56% decrease— saying it “will elevate the state’s services and programs to…
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GOP Senators’ Bill Would Ban Gender-Affirming Care For Trans Youth In Iowa
A bill introduced this week in the Iowa Senate would ban people under age 18 from seeking gender-affirming medical care and make medical practitioners legally and civilly liable for providing related treatment. Keenan Crow of One Iowa, a statewide LGBTQ advocacy organization, said SF 110 is a potential death sentence for trans kids in Iowa.…
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Legislators Get An Earful About Iowa GOP’s Controversial SNAP Bill
The vast majority of speakers at an Iowa House subcommittee hearing were against several sections of a new bill that would drastically restrict and burden low-income Iowans using food assistance and Medicaid. A provision to prevent the purchase of fresh meat had already whipped up a national firestorm of controversy. “There’s a number of harmful…
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Quiz: How Much Do You Know About Books With Iowa Connections?
The 1989 film "Field of Dreams" was based on a book written by an alum of the Iowa Writers' Workshop. What was it called? Shoeless Joe Field of Dreams Shoeless Joe Jackson Comes to Iowa Dream Field In which one of these Iowa towns does Sal not stop in Jack Kerouac's "On The Road"? Adair…
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CNHi Burlington Strike Over: Here’s What Members Won
After more than eight months on strike, Burlington CNHi workers will be heading back to work with a new contract. United Auto Workers (UAW) members who work at the CNHi plant in Burlington, as well as another 600-some who work at one in Racine, Wisconsin, jointly ratified their contract with CNHi on Saturday, ending a…
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Ingredion Strike Over: Here’s What Union Members Won
Through days topping 90 degrees with no shade and days at 11 degrees below zero coupled with dangerous wind chills, unionized workers in Cedar Rapids held the line for nearly six months despite the pressures of being out of work. On Sunday, after 175 days on the picket line, it all paid off. Eighty-eight workers…
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Republicans Said The Quiet Parts Out Loud During Voucher Debate
Most Iowa Republican officials who supported Gov. Kim Reynolds’ private school voucher plan stuck to the script as the bill was being debated Monday and then signed into law on Tuesday. They said the bill was about “school choice,” “parental rights,” and “educational freedom,” and that they wanted to “fund students and not systems.” But…
