State Politics
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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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‘Fighting every day’: Planned Parenthood hosts rally at Iowa Capitol
Danika Jacobsen, a senior at Valley High School in West Des Moines, has not learned much about reproductive health or anatomy in school science classes. Instead, Jacobsen said, she’s mostly taught herself. “Apparently, anything other than ‘vagina’ is taboo,’” she said Thursday at an Iowa Capitol rally hosted by Planned Parenthood. “Society has fabricated these…
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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…
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A handful of Iowa House Republicans trying to tie birth control to abortion
Some Iowa House Republicans are attempting to bog down a bipartisan bill to legalize over-the-counter birth control by adding amendments that compare birth control to abortion, limiting how long a person can receive birth control under the bill, and adding penalties for pimps. All the House Members who introduced the various amendments are on record…
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‘I’m not going to teach in Iowa’: UNI students explain why they’re not sticking around
She grew up in Ames and went to the University of Northern Iowa (UNI) in Cedar Falls to become a teacher. But Lydia plans to leave Iowa as soon as she graduates. “Here at UNI, there’s so much emphasis in our classes on social-emotional learning and inclusion and talking about issues of diversity,” she said.…
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Senate Republicans pass bill that could allow discrimination on religious grounds
Sen. Liz Bennett (D-Cedar Rapids)—Iowa’s only out LGBTQ senator—is fed up with seeing queer Iowans continue to be attacked by her Republican colleagues. “I am sick and tired of my community being the target of mean-spirited discriminatory bills written by Republican politicians,” she said during a Tuesday Iowa Senate debate over a bill she and…
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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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‘Big shoes to fill:’ Johnson hopes to replace Abdul-Samad in Iowa House
Rob Johnson knows no one will truly be able to fill the footsteps left by Ako Abdul-Samad, but he hopes to continue to the longtime Des Moines lawmaker’s legacy as the next representative of Iowa House District 34. “People always say, ‘Those are big shoes to fill with Ako,’ and I always tell people, ‘We’re…
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Rob Sand says GOP bill to let state agencies bypass auditor’s office could lead to corruption
Iowa State Auditor Rob Sand doesn’t want Iowa to be like Illinois when it comes to anti-corruption work, and he doesn’t think anyone else should want that either. At a Thursday press conference, Sand went into detail about his opposition to a proposed bill—Senate File 2311, authored by Republican State Sen. Mike Bousselot of Ankeny—which…
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Iowa teachers could bring their own guns to work under GOP bill
Teachers or school staff members would be allowed to use a personal firearm and the identities of armed staffers would be concealed—per a suggestion from the NRA—under a new bill being considered in the Iowa House. These and other changes were clarified during a Wednesday morning Iowa Hosuse Public Safety Committee meeting over HSB 675,…
