Starting in 2022, the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) began looking for a qualified independent third-party to administer a program that will use millions in tax dollars to fund privately run anti-abortion centers — which call themselves “pregnancy resource centers” — in the state. The More Options for Maternal Support (MOMS) program […]
Gov. Kim Reynolds
Posted inCommunity/News
Gov. Reynolds thanks AG Bird for suing the Biden administration to stop new greenhouse gas reporting requirements
On Wednesday, Gov. Kim Reynolds issued a news release praising Attorney General Brenna Bird’s work to overturn Biden administration rules that would inform the public about the amount of greenhouse gases being produced by large corporations. Reynolds called President Biden “a radical climate alarmist” because the Securities and Exchange Commission issued new rules last month […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Rep. Hinson, Rep. Feenstra and AG Bird push U.S. Supreme Court to restrict medication abortions
The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Tuesday on whether to allow a preliminary injunction suspending the FDA’s 2021 decision easing restrictions on the availability of mifepristone, a prescription medication used in medical abortions. The injunction, issued by a federal judge in Texas in April 2023 and subsequently narrowed by the Fifth Circuit Court of […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Iowa Poll finds 50% believe the state is headed in the wrong direction
A majority of Iowans say the state is headed in the wrong direction, according to the results of a new Iowa Poll published by the Des Moines Register. The poll also found an increase in the number of respondents who disapprove of the work being done by Gov. Kim Reynolds, Sen. Chuck Grassley and Sen. […]
Posted inCommunity/News
‘This is our legacy’: ICPL hosts banned book giveaway as attacks on books and libraries continue
Update: The pop-up event at ICPL on Saturday was postponed due to a winter weather advisory. The new event date has yet to be announced. The Banned Wagon is coming to the Iowa City Public Library (ICPL) on Saturday, as the library hosts a pop-up event where Annie’s Foundation will be giving away free copies […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Gov. Reynolds’ bill undermining transgender rights with new definitions of ‘man’ and ‘woman’ in state law will not pass this year
Gov. Kim Reynolds’ bill that would change how state laws and regulations are made in ways that would undermine the rights of transgender people will not pass during this legislative session. HF 2389 would have needed to be passed by a committee in the Iowa Senate this week, in order to remain viable. But the […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Reynolds endorses Trump, Trump ignores Reynolds
It was always obvious Gov. Kim Reynolds would endorse Donald Trump for president once Ron DeSantis’s floundering 2024 campaign collapsed. DeSantis gave up his bid for the Republican presidential nomination and endorsed Trump six days after his distant second-place finish in the Iowa Republican Caucus on Jan. 15. On Wednesday, Gov. Reynolds did the obvious, […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Poll shows opposition to Gov. Reynolds’ proposal to change transgender Iowans’ birth certificates
A plurality of Iowans oppose Gov. Kim Reynolds’ effort to change how the state issues birth certificates in order to identify transgender people, according to a new Iowa Poll. In the survey of 804 adults conducted by Selzer & Co. for the Des Moines Register and Mediacom, 49 percent opposed the proposed change, while 44 […]
Posted inCommunity/News
House Republicans pass bill to eliminate regular health and safety inspections of hotels and motels in Iowa
A decade ago, the Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing (DIAL) stopped following the requirement in state law that it inspect all hotels and motels in the state at least once every two years. The department didn’t inform the public or lawmakers that it stopped routine inspections in 2014. That fact didn’t come to […]
Posted inCommunity/News
‘Suspicious fire’ damages Iowa’s largest sycamore; Gov. Reynolds’ opposition to CAFO rules threatens waterways
Iowa’s largest sycamore tree, which is located in a state park near Burlington, was severely damaged by a “suspicious fire,” the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) said in a news release on Thursday. It’s not known if the tree, estimated to be about 350 years old, will survive. According to the DNR, a visitor […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Iowa House approves bill to prevent tracking of suspicious gun purchases on party-line vote
A bill to stop credit card companies from taking steps to help law enforcement agencies identify suspicious purchases of firearms and ammunition was passed by the Iowa House of Representatives on Tuesday. HF 2464 was approved on a party-line vote with House Democrats voting against it. The bill prohibits credit card companies from using transaction […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Hundreds declare ‘we will not go silently’ as supporters of Gov. Reynolds’ HF 2389 complain trans people ‘need to go’; bill advances
It’s funnel week at the Iowa Capitol, so by Friday a bill needs to be approved by a committee in either the House or Senate to be considered for passage this legislative session. It’s supposedly a fixed deadline, but it’s really just an observed custom, because there are existing exceptions for certain bills — such […]
