State Leaders
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Meet Lanon Baccam, candidate in Iowa’s 3rd District
Democratic hopeful Lanon Baccam’s origin story revolves around paying it forward and solving problems for others.
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AG’s office will resume Plan B payments for rape survivors but not abortions
Attorney General Brenna Bird’s office says it’s the will of Iowans not to fund abortion Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird’s office will resume payments for the emergency contraceptives rape survivors need after halting payments for more than a year. Bird made the announcement at a Friday press conference announcing the results of an audit that…
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Iowa AG still sitting on funds to help sexual assault victims
Nurses from across Iowa share why they’re worried about the Republican AG denying payments for emergency contraception for sexual assault survivors. Nurses across Iowa are worried that sexual assault survivors will have to shoulder a new burden. More than a year has passed since Iowa Attorney General (AG) Brenna Bird, an anti-abortion Republican, announced she…
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Iowa legislators benefit from government subsidies while blocking assistance to others
About a fourth of the 150-person Iowa Legislature benefits from some form of farm subsidies. Here’s who they are and how much they are getting from the federal government.
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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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Biden campaign blasts Iowa bill that could limit IVF access and ties it to Trump
The Biden-Harris campaign said in vitro fertilization (IVF) services could be jeopardized in Iowa under a new bill that was supported by nearly every Republican member of the Iowa House. “IVF is at risk across the country and there’s one man to blame: Donald Trump. Donald Trump proudly brags he was able to ‘kill’ Roe…
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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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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…
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Reynolds says her bill to erase LGBTQ Iowans in legal code is ‘necessary’
One day after LGBTQ advocates celebrated a trans discrimination bill dying in an Iowa House subcommittee, Gov. Kim Reynolds introduced a new culture-war-driven bill on Thursday aimed at legally erasing queer Iowans. HSB 649 would create a new code in Iowa to legally define “sex,” “male,” “female,” “mother,” and “father” and require all governmental entities…
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Iowa Senate Dem bill would guarantee access to birth control
Thousands of Iowans have told Iowa senators that protecting reproductive rights is their biggest issue. “I see a great deal of concern when I’m out door knocking,” said Sen. Sarah Trone Garriott (D-West Des Moines). “One fellow, he’s a registered Republican and he was so upset about attacks to abortion access. He has three daughters,…
