State Politics
-
Former Trump staffer one step closer to leading Iowa schools
McKenzie Snow’s critics note she has never taught inside an American classroom and that her only degree is in political science; however, some prominent education officials in Iowa believe she is qualified to lead the Iowa Department of Education. The Iowa Senate held a subcommittee on Snow’s confirmation as director of the Iowa Department of…
-
Opinion: I was an Iowa legislator. Where’s the substance to today’s bills?
In today’s hyper-partisan, emotion-fueled political environment, where policy proposals are seemingly presented and defended with facile slogans and tribal appeals, how can any citizen differentiate between the truly good and beneficial ones and those that either serve only a few or harm or denigrate others? I would like to advance a modest proposal based upon…
-
Fox News seems to think it’s all white people getting laid off in Perry plant closure
Fox News Host Jesse Watters was irate when he found out about Tyson Foods closing its pork plant in Perry. Not because 1,276 people were losing their jobs, but because he seemed to think that white people were losing their jobs to be replaced by undocumented migrants. In a recent segment on his show, Watters…
-
Cancer survivor presses Nunn to commit to protecting Affordable Care Act
Laura Packard wanted to ask Rep. Zach Nunn (R-Iowa) what she thought was a simple question: Would he protect the Affordable Care Act? Packard is a stage IV cancer survivor and health-care activist from Virginia. Saving the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is one of her biggest priorities because the landmark legislation that turns 14 on…
-
Iowa pauses on most anti-LGBTQ bills, but advocates not letting their guard down
Cautious relief might be the best way to describe how some of Iowa’s most prominent LGBTQ organizations feel after a majority of the anti-LGBTQ bills in the Iowa Legislature stalled out after the second legislative funnel last week. “Out of the ones that directly targeted LGBTQ folks, there were 40 of those and 39 of…
-
VIDEO: Iowans oppose template anti-immigrant bill
During an Iowa Senate subcommittee last Tuesday, immigrants and allies heavily and passionately opposed HF 2608, a new bill from the corporate lobbying group the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). The bill would make transporting undocumented immigrants a felony, sparking major concerns about racial profiling, accessible migrant shelters, the separation of families, and even religious…
-
Iowans like AEAs, but Republicans are ramming through controversial reforms anyway
Sen. Molly Donahue (D-Cedar Rapids) questioned her colleagues on why they were moving forward with enacting major legislative changes to Iowa’s Area Education Agencies (AEAs), a plan most Iowans don’t see the need for. “Nobody wanted this bill. Nobody asked for this bill. No one campaigned on this bill all across the state,” Donahue said…
-
VIDEOS: Iowa House and Senate debate ban on basic income programs
UpLift—The Central Iowa Basic Income program has reported making strides in studying the impacts of no-strings-attached monthly income for Iowans needing it most, but Iowa Republicans aren’t hearing it. HF 2319 is a bill to ban local governments from participating in such programs without state permission, and it passed the House after much debate around…
-
Iowa Republican blocks bill to expand firefighter cancer coverage
Sen. Jason Schultz (R-Schleswig) declined to advance a bill that would provide Iowa firefighters with more comprehensive disability coverage for cancer treatment. “In highly emotional situations like that, somebody has got to be the taxpayer’s watchdog and remove emotion and think logically about the situation,” Schultz, a former small-town fire chief, told the Iowa Standard.…
-
Republican senators to poor Iowans: Work harder to escape poverty
According to two Republican state senators, participants in the UpLift—The Central Iowa Basic Income Program, just need to work harder and pull up their bootstraps to escape poverty. “It’s not the first job that gives you a raise to maybe $15 an hour that leads to the uplift for the rest of your life and…
