Politics
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Rural Advocates Want to Take on Monopoly Power and Help Family Farmers
More than 50 advocates met in Omaha, Neb. last month to discuss their federal and state policy priorities to help rural communities across the United States. The 2023 Rural Policy Action Summit was hosted by several organizations whose work focuses on advancing the quality of life for those who live in America’s smaller communities, including…
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Federal Funds Will Help Protect Mississippi River Ecosystem While Also Speeding Up Barge Traffic
New federal funding is on its way to Iowa, where it will help protect local ecosystems. Earlier this month, the Rock Island District in Pleasant Valley hosted a groundbreaking ceremony for a $2.3 million mooring cell to be built in the Mississippi River. The cell will be located near Lock & Dam 14, south of…
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Iowa Senate GOP Approves Bill To Limit Auditor’s Ability To Audit
Iowa Senate Republicans—for the second time—voted overwhelmingly in favor of a bill that limits the ability of State Auditor Rob Sand’s office to monitor government funds. In a 33-16 vote, Senate Republicans approved SF 478, which they argued will protect Iowans’ privacy and keep the auditor’s office in line with standard government operating procedures even though…
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Biden Announces 2024 Presidential Re-Election Run
President Joe Biden announced Tuesday morning that he’ll be running for re-election in 2024. He made the announcement in a three-minute video that centered around the concept of “freedom,” and laid out how his administration has expanded freedom for Americans while “MAGA Republicans” were taking away fundamental rights. “When I ran for president four years…
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Students Protest Iowa Bill To Allow Guns On School Grounds
Valley High School Senior Luke Rowley remembers what it was like going to school the day after the Uvalde, Texas, school shooting in which 19 children and two adults were killed by a gunman. “I remember a sense of dread in the hallways, students at Valley were terrified for their life—students everywhere were,” he said.…
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Here’s Where the Jan. 6 Criminal Proceedings Stand
Before a jury in a Washington, D.C. federal court began deliberating last week on whether to hold five leaders of the far-right Proud Boys extremist group responsible for violence committed on Jan. 6, 2021, they were shown two videos. One depicted a Black woman being knocked to the ground by a Proud Boy during a…
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Deja Vu: GOP Senators Pass Anti-LGBTQ Education Bill A Second Time
Sen. Claire Celsi (D-West Des Moines) didn’t bite her tongue during the Iowa Senate’s second debate over Gov. Kim Reynolds’ education bill: “I’m ashamed of being a part of this body that has so callously cast our citizens aside.” Celsi’s frustrations were twofold. One, Reynolds’ education bill has been blasted by LGBTQ people and advocates…
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House GOP’s First 100 Days: Few Results, Lots of Unpopular Ideas
Friday marked 100 days since Republicans took control of the House of Representatives. It’s been a memorable, but unproductive time. Infighting within the Republican party began right away: it took a record 15 rounds of voting for Kevin McCarthy (R-California) to be elected Speaker of the House, which delayed the swearing in of hundreds of…
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Zach Wahls Accuses Iowa Republicans Of ‘Authoritarianism’
Iowa Senate Minority Leader Zach Wahls (D-Coralville) accused Iowa Senate Republicans of leaning into “authoritarianism” after they refused to answer questions during a debate on their child labor bill late Monday evening. “This is a really serious breach of tradition in the Iowa Senate and I think it marks a really sad development for the…
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Iowa Senate GOP Passes Child Labor Law Rollback
Iowa Senate Republicans have a solution for the state’s ongoing workforce shortage: Child labor. In a 32-17 vote just before 5 a.m. Tuesday morning, the Senate advanced SF 542, which relaxes Iowa’s child labor laws and allows teenagers to work in more hazardous job conditions, including some that contradict federal law. Sens. Charlie McClintock (R-Alburnett)…
