State Politics
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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.…
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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…
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Immigration attorney describes Iowa GOP anti-migrant bill as ‘redundant’
Immigration advocates noted there are a few issues with a new Republican-backed bill aimed at undocumented migrants that is working its way through the Iowa Legislature. HF 2608 would require the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to verify the citizenship status of anyone who applies for public assistance, something the agency already…
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How ‘fetal personhood’ laws can limit family-planning options like IVF
Enshrining the idea of life beginning at fertilization, before implantation, would threaten Iowan’s abilities to access certain kinds of contraceptives and to in vitro fertilization (IVF). It would also be a serious blow to reproductive freedom. Sally Frank, a law professor at Drake University, explained how the logic works. “If fertilization is the moment of…
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VIDEOS: Iowa Democratic representatives debate anti-abortion curriculum bill
Democrats may be in the minority in Iowa, but that doesn’t mean they’re sitting silently on a bill that would mandate Iowa’s public schools adopt an anti-abortion curriculum. Rep. Molly Buck (D-Ankeny) noted the concerns with the group behind the anti-abortion curriculum Iowa schools would have to implement. @iowastartingline Rep. Molly Buck (D-Ankeny) notes the…
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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…
