This story originally appeared in LV Daily, Little Village’s Monday-Friday email newsletter. Sign up to have it delivered for free to your inbox. Iowa State Auditor Rob Sand calls SF 478, passed by the Senate on Wednesday, “the greatest pro-corruption bill and the worst perversion of checks and balances in Iowa’s history.” It’s a bill […]
Gov. Kim Reynolds
Posted inCommunity/News
Iowa Legislature OKs Reynolds’ remaining education restrictions
A bill containing Gov. Kim Reynolds’ remaining education policy priorities passed the Iowa Senate with just support from Republicans on Wednesday. The governor’s top priorities this year include: requiring written permission from parents before a teacher or school can do anything to acknowledge a transgender or nonbinary student’s identity; preventing teachers from acknowledging LGBTQ people […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Iowa Supreme Court rejects Gov. Reynolds’ attempt to have open records lawsuit thrown out
On Friday, the Iowa Supreme Court rejected Gov. Kim Reynolds’ attempt to have a lawsuit alleging violations of the state’s Open Record Act dismissed. The justices rejected the governor’s argument that the law’s requirement to respond to requests in a timely manner cannot be enforced when a governor ignores it. The court also found that […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Set to close after 181 years, Iowa Wesleyan University is ‘disappointed in the lack of state support’; Gov. Reynolds rebuffs blame
Iowa Wesleyan University announced on Monday it will permanently close at the end of the current semester. In a statement posted on its website, the 181-year-old private university in Mount Pleasant cited financial problems, including a decline in donor support and Gov. Kim Reynolds’ refusal to provide assistance using American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds. […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Iowa governor says ‘it’s not easy for me either’ as she signs laws considered life-threatening by trans care providers
After not making any public comment on the bill to ban prescribed gender-affirming medical care for transgender Iowans under 18 passed by the Republican majorities in the Iowa Legislature, Gov. Kim Reynolds confirmed on Tuesday she will sign the bill. Responding to questions from reporters, the governor compared the medical care to health- and safety-threatening […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Students across Iowa walk out of class to protest anti-LGBTQ bills: ‘We want to keep our friends alive’
Students at schools across Iowa walked out of class on Wednesday to protest against more than two dozen anti-LGBTQ bills Republican members of the Iowa Legislature have introduced this year. The bills include sweeping so-called “education reform” bills. One would prohibit teachers and schools from mentioning any gender-related issues to younger students, force all Iowa […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Gov. Reynolds boasts about her anti-LGBTQ school policies, calls for new law restricting students’ access to books conservatives don’t like
Speaking at a gathering of conservative activists on Thursday, Gov. Kim Reynolds expressed her opposition to schools offering support to transgender students and called for a new law to restrict student access to books some conservative parents find objectionable. The governor characterized these proposals as part of her agenda of “parental rights,” a term she […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Gov. Reynolds: Admin costs, accountability standards for ESA plan unknown until after it’s approved, ‘parental rights bill’ will only affect public schools (Updated)
Update: Despite the lack of details regarding how the governor’s program would be administered, the Iowa Senate approved the education savings account bill shortly before 12:30 a.m. on Tuesday. The House approved the bill earlier on Monday night. In the Senate, three Republicans joined all the Democrats in voting against the bill. Nine Republicans in […]
Posted inCommunity/News
‘Our public schools are not failing, elected officials are failing them’: Iowans opposing voucher bill flood legislature with comments
Since Gov. Kim Reynolds used her Condition of the State address to promote plans to divert funding from public schools to tuition vouchers in the form of “education savings accounts” (ESAs) for students attending private schools, the legislators expected to approve her proposed reforms have been inundated with messages from constituents. Under Senate Study Bill […]
Posted inStatewide
In Condition of the State speech, Gov. Reynolds boldly pushes for changes unpopular with most Iowans
During her Condition of the State Speech on Tuesday night, Gov. Kim Reynolds called on the newly expanded Republican majorities in both houses of the Iowa Legislature to ignore critics, including the media and “so-called experts,” and push to eliminate state regulations and agencies she considers unnecessary, increase protection for doctors sued for malpractice and […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Republican leaders poised to eliminate gun regulations as new amendment is officially added to Iowa Constitution
On Friday, Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate held a ceremony to mark Public Measure 1 becoming the latest amendment to the state constitution. The new amendment requires courts to use “strict scrutiny,” the most stringent form of judicial review, when considering existing or future regulation regarding guns. It’s a higher level of scrutiny than […]
Posted inEastern Iowa
Iowa City students, now living in a state where gun reform is virtually impossible, reflect on psychological toll of mass shootings
Despite bitterly cold winds, more than 50 students from Iowa City schools gathered at the Old Capitol on the Pentacrest at noon on Thursday to protest against gun violence and demand new gun safety laws. The protest was organized by students from South East Junior High School and City High School. Both junior high students […]
