Republicans in the Iowa Legislature have rarely publicly disagreed with Gov. Kim Reynolds during her eight years in office. Even when they didn’t support her position on an issue, they would downplay any differences. That all changed on Wednesday, when Gov. Reynolds vetoed HF 639, a bill that would have added new requirements on projects […]
Iowa House Republican Caucus
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‘State mandated misinformation’: Republican lawmakers work to restrict medication abortion in Iowa
An Iowa House subcommittee advanced a bill Tuesday that would restrict access to abortion medication by mail, require physicians to inform patients about the potential to reverse a medication abortion and collect written consent of the patient seeking an abortion. HSB 186 references “recent developing research” that indicates medication-induced abortions are not always effective in ending […]
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GOP bill to eliminate rights of trans Iowans passes subcommittee and committee in less than a day
Hundreds gathered in the hallways and rotunda of the State Capitol to protest the attempt to strip transgender Iowans of civil rights and stop the state government from recognizing the existence of their identities via a bill Republicans are fast-tracking through the Iowa House. “Trans rights are human rights” and “Say no, fight back,” they […]
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‘Pointless, unnecessary and unbelievably cruel’: Rep. Steve Holt proposes bill eliminating civil rights protections for trans people
Iowa would make history by gutting protections enshrined in its Civil Rights Act for almost two decades to make discrimination against transgender Iowans legal, if a bill introduced in the Iowa House on Thursday becomes law. HSB 242 would also alter definitions used in state law to eliminate acknowledging the existence of transgender people as […]
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Iowa House Republicans advance bill making it a crime to allow minors to ‘view a drag show’
Over 100 protesters gathered in the hallways of the Iowa State Capitol on Tuesday, chanting, “Trans rights are human rights” and “Hey hey, ho ho transphobia has got to go,” as lawmakers on an Iowa House subcommittee considered the latest bill targeting transgender Iowans. According to the explanatory section of HSB 158, the bill is […]
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House Republicans vote to immediately ban guaranteed income programs in Iowa, before results from the first study are known
Less than a year after a program to study the impact of a guaranteed income in Iowa was launched in the Des Moines area, Iowa House Republicans approved a bill to prevent city or county governments from starting or supporting any basic income program in the future.
HF 2319 passed the House on Monday on a vote of 55-43. Seven Republicans joined all the chamber’s Democrats in opposing it.
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After being repeatedly denied press credentials by the Iowa House of Representatives, journalist Laura Belin files a federal lawsuit
Laura Belin, one of Iowa’s leading political journalists, filed a federal lawsuit on Friday after being denied press credentials by the Iowa House of Representatives for the sixth year in a row. “Refusing to credential journalists for arbitrary reasons — or because lawmakers may not like tough coverage or her point of view — is […]
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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 […]
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Speaker Grassley says the governor’s school voucher program won’t pass this year
Gov. Kim Reynolds’ attempt to pressure the Iowa Legislature into passing a bill that diverted public schools funds to private schools has failed. The governor made the creation of a school voucher program using education savings accounts one of her top legislative priorities this year, but on Monday morning Speaker of the Iowa House Pat […]
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AG Miller has to return a $50,000 campaign donation; Gov. Reynolds’ reelection fund surpasses $6 million
Attorney General Tom Miller violated one of Iowa’s few laws regarding campaign contributions when he accepted $50,000 from the the Democratic Attorneys General Association, a national political action committee. It’s not the size of the contribution (Iowa doesn’t set a limit on political contributions) that was a problem, or that it came from an out-of-state […]
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‘A middle finger to hardworking Iowans’: Iowa House and Senate approve bill to cut unemployment benefits
On Wednesday, the Iowa House and the Iowa Senate both passed versions of a bill that will cut unemployment benefits and is designed to force unemployed Iowans to take jobs that pay less than their former jobs more quickly than current law does. The bills passed both chambers with only Republicans voting for them. Cutting […]
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State senator calls COVID-19 vaccines ineffective before committee approves bill to ban vaccine requirements in schools and daycares
A Republican state senator falsely claimed COVID-19 vaccines are ineffective and called the idea of requiring them the “political belief of authoritarians who want to force their belief in… the hive-mindset,” just before the Iowa Senate Judiciary Committee approved a bill that bans COVID-19 vaccine requirements at schools, universities and child care facilities. Sen. Jason […]
