News
-
VIDEOS: Discriminatory legislation hurts Iowa businesses
Iowa Senate and House Dems invited state business leaders to a press conference to speak about how discriminatory legislation negatively impacts Iowa businesses. “If we all work together and we stop placing hurdles, we’ll be so much more successful,” said Dan Jansen of the Iowa LGBT Chamber of Commerce. @iowastartingline Iowa Senate and House Dems…
-
‘Doomed to failure:’ Iowans speak out on proposed AEA changes
Stacey Warren was one of the first people on the scene of the Perry High School shooting on Jan. 4, but she’s not a first responder: She’s a social worker for the Heartland Iowa Area Education Association (AEA). “I went to Perry and we were there before 10 a.m. and we have continued to serve…
-
Iowa Teamsters head says statewide strikes possible to stop union-busting bill
Jesse Case, secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 238, said everything—including strikes—are on the table if that’s what it takes to stop a union-busting bill that has worked its way through the Iowa Senate. For about an hour on Wednesday, Teamsters members and their supporters circled the Iowa Capitol in various vehicles including semitrailers, and honked their…
-
VIDEOS: LGBTQ erasure bill would ‘rewrite’ Iowa code
At the Iowa Capitol for a public hearing on Gov. Kim Reynolds’ bill to legally define gendered terms like “man” and “woman,” Keenan Crow of One Iowa explains what the bill would do and the consequences for an untold number of existing Iowa laws. @iowastartingline At the Iowa Capitol for a public hearing on the…
-
Senate Republicans pass bill that could allow discrimination on religious grounds
Sen. Liz Bennett (D-Cedar Rapids)—Iowa’s only out LGBTQ senator—is fed up with seeing queer Iowans continue to be attacked by her Republican colleagues. “I am sick and tired of my community being the target of mean-spirited discriminatory bills written by Republican politicians,” she said during a Tuesday Iowa Senate debate over a bill she and…
-
Biden blasts Trump’s support of a nationwide abortion ban
President Joe Biden took Trump to task for his support of a nationwide abortion ban and his role in repealing Roe v. Wade, criticizing him for “taking away women’s freedom,” putting women’s lives in danger, and unleashing “cruelty and chaos all across America.”
-
VIDEO: Iowa bill to criminalize homelessness tabled for now
State lawmakers decided to table a bill to criminalize homelessness after hearing Iowans speak out against it. The bill would have made unauthorized sleeping in public places a misdemeanor punishable by fine or jail time and forced houseless people into designated camps and parking lots. Senate Study Bill 3175 was copied from a piece of…
-
Iowa Dems blast Republicans’ latest attack on auditor’s office
Iowa Democrats are accusing Republicans in the Iowa Senate of trying to reduce transparency in government after they passed yet another bill on Monday to dilute the power of State Auditor Rob Sand’s office—the only statewide office held by Democrats. “Governor Reynolds and Senate Republicans are making one of the best cases for why our…
-
‘Big shoes to fill:’ Johnson hopes to replace Abdul-Samad in Iowa House
Rob Johnson knows no one will truly be able to fill the footsteps left by Ako Abdul-Samad, but he hopes to continue to the longtime Des Moines lawmaker’s legacy as the next representative of Iowa House District 34. “People always say, ‘Those are big shoes to fill with Ako,’ and I always tell people, ‘We’re…
-
Iowa anti-abortion bills that survived funnel week
Bills requiring teaching children anti-abortion curriculum, pushing the idea of fetal personhood, explicitly disrupting Iowans’ access to health care, and other anti-abortion legislation survived the first legislative funnel to go on for further consideration and potentially make their way into law. Those bills are: HF 2518 would allow a civil wrong death action for the…
