State Politics
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Bills to support anti-abortion centers, expand postpartum Medicaid set to be law
Two bills affecting Iowans’ reproductive health passed out of the Iowa House Wednesday afternoon and could soon become law. Postpartum Medicaid SF 2251 passed the House 70-25, and it would restrict the number of people who qualify for postpartum Medicaid coverage in order to expand coverage to a full year. A fiscal note attached to…
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Former Trump staffer officially in charge of Iowa’s public schools
A former Trump administration official and advocate for using public funds for private school scholarships officially has Iowa’s top education job. The Iowa Senate confirmed McKenzie Snow’s appointment as director of the Iowa Department of Education in a 34-15 vote on Tuesday. Critics have questioned Snow’s credentials as she has never taught in an American…
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Sioux City Republican activist gets light prison sentence for 52 acts of voter fraud
A Sioux City Republican activist who was convicted of illegally filling in ballots escaped a far harsher punishment on Monday for her 52 acts of voter fraud, which could have carried a five-year prison sentence for each. Instead, Federal Judge Leonard Strand sentenced Kim Phoung Taylor to serve four months in federal prison as part…
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How Iowa Republicans used the AEA bill to play politics
Iowa Republicans are going to say Iowa Democrats don’t support teacher pay, but they won’t mention that it was part of the unpopular AEA bill.
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VIDEOS: Iowa Senate debates AEA overhaul bill
The Iowa Senate debated an amended Area Education Agency (AEA) bill on March 18, during which many Democratic legislators focused on the thousands of constituent emails, comments, and testimonies against the governor’s initiative to dismantle how the AEA system currently functions. Sen. Bill Dotzler (D-Waterloo) specifically called out Iowa Republicans’ repeated dismissal of public opinion,…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
