From the Iowa Policy Project. Our 6th edition of The Cost of Living in Iowa finds that roughly 100,000 Iowa working households are unable to make basic needs. [1] Put another way, about 17 percent — or 1 in 6 — households cannot get by on their income alone. It is...
Guest piece from Caleb Gates, a refugee case manager and advocacy specialist in Cedar Rapids. He read this as a speech at a recent Families Belong Together Rally. We, the people of the United States, immigrants and descendants of immigrants, denounce the separation...
A guest post from Zack Davis, the state director for Jason Kander's Let America Vote organization in Iowa. Photo of a Let America Vote intern knocking doors for a state legislative candidate in West Des Moines. On May 5th, 2017, our state -- long seen as a leader...
A guest piece from Cody Woodruff, ISU student and school board member. “We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.” -Elie Wiesel Since the story about sexual misconduct...
Guest post via Josh Hughes, school board member and Drake University student. For years, Democrats did little to build the bench of their party by engaging with young people. When we did, the focus was always on college-aged voters. The investments were only made...
Guest post from ISU student Cody Woodruff. Like many other viewers of the first Democratic gubernatorial primary debate, I was disappointed with the lack of an actual debate. I may have made my decision of who to support long ago, but I still wanted to see how the...
This past weekend, my husband and I breathed a sigh of relief as we crossed the threshold of fetal viability: this is the point in gestation—23 weeks—at which a fetus can have a reasonable chance of surviving in a NICU should some series of complications lead to...
A guest post from Johnson County Supervisor Kurt Friese. Each year at the end of April, Labor organizers across the country hold a vigil of remembrance called “Workers Memorial Day.” Here in Johnson County, it was just this past Friday. We gathered to remember...
Guest post from former California Congressman Henry Waxman As a long-time member of the U.S. Congress and as Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, protecting the environment for current and future generations was one of my top priorities. Throughout...
Guest post via Johnson County Supervisor Kurt Freise. The Iowa Senate is considering a bill that would force Iowa’s 10 most populous counties (and only those 10) to use districts to elect Supervisors. Not only that, but supervisors would be elected only by the...
