Legislators came after her child’s specialized school, so Heather Sievers is running for office

Heather Sievers wasn’t planning to run for office, but then Republicans in the Iowa Legislature ignored the pleas and experiences of thousands of Iowans and changed how Iowa’s Area Education Agencies are run. The agency helps many families with students with special needs.

“When I found out in November of 2023 that [Republican legislators] were going to potentially do something negative to the AEAs, that’s when all of this really started,” she said.

Sievers’ 7-year-old daughter has a rare disability, and she needed a lot of help—from early in her life—to build strength to walk and learn how to communicate through technology and sign language.

“She has overcome so many barriers because of the early intervention that the AEA provided,” Sievers said.

Their care and training helped Sievers’ daughter keep up with her classmates and progress far more than she was expected to because of her diagnosis.

Before the legislative session, Sievers organized thousands of Iowans across the state to testify at the Capitol and tell legislators about how important AEAs have been to their families. They managed to improve small parts of the bill, but right before it was passed, the sections that had been removed were brought back.

“We ended up with the same bad bill that we started out at the beginning of the legislative session, and I felt thousands of families’ hearts break when that bill went forward—underfunding our schools again this year,” Sievers said.

“If our legislators aren’t going to listen to the voice of the people, then they don’t really deserve to be in that seat. And so I decided to step up to run.”

Her opponent, Republican Rep. Bill Gustoff, voted in favor of the voucher bill in 2023, but he wasn’t in the room when votes happened for the AEA bill. In fact, Gustoff wasn’t there for many of the votes taken in the 2024 legislative session.

Sievers said education has been a unifying issue among voters in her district. Many people don’t talk or think about politics, but she’s been able to have good conversations.

“When you start talking to people, they start to realize that everything really does tie back to politics. A lot of the things that they’re frustrated about, there are things we can do to work on through legislation,” Sievers said.

“The main thing that everyone is educated on, though, is what’s happening to our public education system and the AEAs.”

Fixing public education is only one of Sievers’ goals at the statehouse. Sievers also wants to increase access to health care, increase affordable housing, find ways to lower food costs by promoting regional and local farming as food sources for Iowans, and make sure elderly Iowans get the end-of-life care they deserve.

“I ran because I’m really tired of political games,” Sievers said. “I want to be able to make politics better by actually listening to the voice of the people and voting that way.”

So much of Iowa’s problems, she said, come from the fact that a lot of legislation—like the vouchers and the AEA changes—originate from think tanks outside of Iowa. Iowans aren’t asking for these changes. Sievers knows because she has experience bringing people together, from across the state, to advocate for policy. She’s been asking experts about what legislation would address the goals she sees as most helpful for Iowans.

“I really want to make sure that we are protecting our public services that continue to be privatized and making sure that energy goes into the basic needs of Iowans,” she said.   

Heather Sievers at a glance

Name: Heather Sievers

Position: Iowa House Representative for District 40

Residence: Altoona

Education: Iowa State University (one year), Cornell College, Naropa University (Master’s in counseling psychology), University of Iowa (Master’s in nursing)

Experience: Registered nurse, manages UnityPoint Health hospitals for improvements, founded Advocates for Iowa’s Children, a group that organizes parents and educators to share stories about AEAs and public education

Family: husband, daughter

What she likes to do with (limited) free time: yoga, dancing, anything outside (camping, bonfires, etc.)