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Angry crowds of Iowans packed legislative forums and listening sessions across the state once again this Saturday. Opponents to Republicans’ far-reaching and fast-tracked agenda easily outnumbered supporters at close to a dozen events around Iowa. Emotions ran high as many attendees related their very personal stories of how the Republican legislation would affect them and…

The biggest battle at the Iowa Statehouse this year will likely center around collective bargaining rights for state employees. At issue is Iowa’s “Chapter 20,” the section in Iowa code that governs collective bargaining, and the sweeping changes the new Republican majorities want to make to it that would weaken or eliminate workers’ ability to…

If you turned on your TV in Iowa recently, you’d think we’re back in campaign season. Priorities for Iowa is running many TV ads in support of Republicans’ union-busting, anti-collective bargaining bill. The group’s other operations have been funded by giant corporate sponsors from outside the state. Why have giant corporate hedge funds, coal companies, real estate…

In the highly contentious battle to extinguish public worker rights, Iowa Republicans have attempted a divide-and-conquer approach to pit unions against each other. Their legislation splits public workers into two groups, one that’s “public safety workers,” and one that isn’t. The idea was to strip away nearly all collective bargaining rights from most public employees, but keep most…

Democrats and their grassroots supporters’ victory at blocking the Republicans’ Obamacare repeal provides a much-needed boost to morale. Since the election, national Republicans have been riding a wave of enthusiasm as they anticipated turning back the clock on everything Obama. Democrats needed a win and this is a giant one. The odds of saving Obama’s…

Editor’s note: Following the 2016 losses in rural America, Democrats are struggling to find the magic sauce that will bring these voters back to the Democratic Party. This article by a rural Iowan provides a snapshot at why Trump and the Republicans were so successful at appealing to rural voters. He also provides some answers…

Guest post from Matt Chapman on the workers compensation and minimum wage preemption bills that passed the Iowa Senate this week. At this point I don’t even see these as separate bills. They are all running together in a nightmare for the working class folks. No raise for the working poor. Busting unions in the…