A bill banning transgender girls from participating in girls’ sports at school passed the Iowa House Education Committee on a party-line vote Monday, with all the committee’s Republicans voting in favor of it and all of its Democrats opposed. HF 2309 would restrict participation on all girls’ sports teams and in all athletic events for […]
Rep. Skyler Wheeler
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‘State-sanctioned bullying’: Iowa House Republicans advance bill to ban transgender students from playing girls sports
It was a forgone conclusion that a bill seeking to ban transgender girls from participating in girls sports at all Iowa schools would be approved by a subcommittee of the Iowa House Education Committee on Thursday, because the two Republicans on the three-person subcommittee are the bill’s co-sponsors. Rep. Skyler Wheeler and Rep. Henry Stone […]
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Only 19% of the state’s 5-11 year-olds fully vaccinated against COVID; Iowa Republicans advance bill to ban vaccine requirement in schools and childcare centers
The number of new cases of COVID-19 in the Iowa Department of Health’s weekly update declined for the second week in a row, possibly indicating the surge driven by the spread of the Omicron variant in the state is now receding. According to IDPH, there were 22,730 newly confirmed cases of the virus over the […]
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Bill to restrict discussion of ‘divisive concepts’ in schools, such as systematic racism and sexism, advances in state legislature
A bill that would restrict discussion of “divisive concepts” related to racism and sexism in Iowa schools and universities was passed by an Iowa House subcommittee on Monday. Both of the Republicans on the subcommittee voted for it, and the lone Democrat opposed it. HSB 258 would require that the instructor of any mandatory diversity […]
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Eliminating tenure, identifying Democrats, controlling spending: Republican lawmakers seek to change Iowa’s universities
An effort by Republicans in the state legislature to eliminate tenure at Iowa’s three public universities advanced this week, as the House Education Committee passed a bill to end tenure at the University of Iowa, Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa, and a Senate subcommittee approved the Senate version of that bill. […]
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Bill aimed at punishing Iowa City over immigration passes Iowa House
A bill that would strip so-called “sanctuary cities” of state funds was approved the Iowa House of Representatives on Tuesday, even though several Democrats speaking in opposition to the bill pointed out that no city in Iowa meets the U.S. Justice Department’s definition of a sanctuary city.
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Lawmaker wants to slash salaries of Iowa State Supreme Court Justices
A bill filed in the Iowa House of Representatives on Friday would cut the salaries of the justices of the Supreme Court by approximately 85 percent. HF 2036 would reduce the salaries of the court’s associate justices from $170,544 to the current pay level of state legislators, $25,000.
