State Senate
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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 high school senior says bill to arm teachers makes him feel ‘unsafe’
An Iowa school student questioned state senators about a Republican proposal to arm Iowa teachers and staff in an attempt to deter school shooters. “This bill, for me, makes me feel unsafe, it means that this bill is going to put more guns into the hands of students and, frankly I find that profoundly nonsensical.…
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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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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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1,300 Iowa moms, 400 babies could lose health coverage under postpartum Medicaid bill
Thousands of Iowa women and hundreds of babies could lose Medicaid coverage under a bill that passed through the Iowa Senate. On Monday, the Iowa Legislative Services Agency released a fiscal note for SF 2251, a bill that would expand postpartum Medicaid coverage but limit eligibility for pregnant people. The agency notes that the Iowa…
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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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‘Doomed to failure:’ Iowans speak out on proposed AEA changes
Stacey Warren was one of the first people on the scene of the Perry High School shooting on Jan. 4, but she’s not a first responder: She’s a social worker for the Heartland Iowa Area Education Association (AEA). “I went to Perry and we were there before 10 a.m. and we have continued to serve…
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Iowa Teamsters head says statewide strikes possible to stop union-busting bill
Jesse Case, secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 238, said everything—including strikes—are on the table if that’s what it takes to stop a union-busting bill that has worked its way through the Iowa Senate. For about an hour on Wednesday, Teamsters members and their supporters circled the Iowa Capitol in various vehicles including semitrailers, and honked their…
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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…
