State Governor
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Iowa joins lawsuit against feds over protections for LGBTQ students
New Title IX rules clarify that “sex discrimination” applies to discrimination based on gender identity. Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds and Attorney General Brenna Bird are suing the US Department of Education because of it Gov. Kim Reynolds announced Monday she was directing Attorney General Brenna Bird to sue the US Department of Education because…
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Department of Justice says Iowa immigration law violates US Constitution
The federal government is threatening to sue Iowa over its new immigration law.
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Iowa Latinos rally to oppose new ‘unjust’ law targeting their community
Iowa’s new anti-immigrant law is based on a Texas law that some argue is unconstitutional Jose Alvarado wasn’t shocked when Republicans in the Iowa Legislature passed a bill targeting Iowa’s immigrant community, or when Gov. Kim Reynolds signed it into law. “I wasn’t surprised because I know the governor doesn’t have a good feeling about…
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AEAs cutting workers in wake of Republican legislation
Iowa legislators said a new bill cutting money for agencies that help students with disabilities wouldn’t affect services. But area education agencies (AEAs) across the state are now beginning to cut their budgets, and staff, because of it. “This is a day of grieving,” one staffer at the Green Hills AEA wrote on Facebook last…
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Kim Reynolds finally decides to help feed some kids, but there’s a big catch
Gov. Kim Reynolds announced Wednesday that Iowa will start a competitive $900,000 grant program to feed Iowa children over the summer—this comes months after she declined $29 million in federal funds to feed kids via a different summer program. The new Summer Meal Program Expansion Grant will be launched through two existing federal programs and…
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Gov. Reynolds signs AEA bill ‘that no one really likes’
Story updated after the bill was signed by Gov. Kim Reynolds on Wednesday, March 27.
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As some Iowa lawmakers vilify birth control, here’s what it actually does
When Dr. Emily Boevers, an OB-GYN in Waverly, first sits down with patients for birth control consultations, she asks them a series of questions about why they want to use it, and for how long. “The thing that I think is really important to keep in mind about birth control is that these are hormonal…
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While Republican legislature obsesses over culture war, Iowa Dems pitch pocketbook policies
All Sami Scheetz wanted to do was feed kids. The Democratic representative from Cedar Rapids introduced HF 575 last session, which would allow 23,000 Iowa students enrolled in the federal reduced breakfast and lunch program to receive free meals at school. The state would use a small portion of its billion-dollar-plus surplus to pay the…
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How Iowa’s ‘religious freedom’ law could be used to discriminate
Legalized discrimination on religious grounds could be a major consequence of Iowa’s new “religious freedom” bill when Gov. Kim Reynolds signs it into law. During the Iowa Senate debate on this legislation, Sen. Janice Weiner (D-Iowa City), one of Iowa’s three Jewish legislators, said this legislation would be a “blank check for discrimination.” She is…
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House GOP pushes through bill aimed at undermining AEA services
Rep. Chuck Isenhart (D-Dubuque) can already see the writing on the wall for Iowa’s Area Education Agencies (AEAs), after Thursday’s Iowa House vote to move forward in implementing large-scale changes to the agencies. During the House debate on its amended AEA bill, Isenhart laid out exactly how he thinks Republicans will use this bill to…
