“Cancer is not an abstract problem in Iowa,” oncologist Richard Deming told the people gathered in the Harkin Institute’s auditorium. “It’s not rare, it’s not declining and it’s not evenly distributed. Cancer affects everybody, but it doesn’t affect everybody equally.” Eighty percent of the 25 counties with highest cancer rates in Iowa are rural, according […]
RoundUp
Posted inCommunity/News
Debates over property taxes, eminent domain and cancer rates expected during 2026 legislative session
Iowa lawmakers are heading into the 2026 legislative session with several new leaders — but many of the issues expected to take top priority are subjects left unresolved in 2025, namely eminent domain and property taxes. Lawmakers presented legislation on both of these issues during the 2025 legislative session, but neither became state law. Republican […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Pesticide manufacturer Bayer spent more than $200K lobbying in Iowa
Bayer, the biotech company and manufacturer of Roundup, has substantially increased its spending on lobbying in Iowa since the introduction of a pesticide labeling bill in 2024. In 2025, according to client reports published by the state, Bayer paid lobbyists $123,250. Reports for 2024 show $86,099 spent. Between 2021 and 2023, years before the pesticide […]
Posted inCommunity/News
No vote on bill protecting pesticide manufacturers from cancer lawsuits as Iowa House Republicans balk
The Iowa House will not vote on a bill passed by the Senate that would have provided new protections against lawsuits for corporations that produce pesticides, Speaker Pat Grassley said on Thursday. Even though Republicans control 67 of the 100 seats in the House, there was not enough support for the bill to guarantee passage. […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Iowans protest bill to give pesticide manufacturers greater protection from cancer lawsuits
Iowans gathered in the State Capitol rotunda on Monday to remember family members who have died from cancer and protest a bill in the Iowa Senate that would create new protections against lawsuits for companies that produce pesticides. “What our legislators should be doing is working on bills that lower the risk for Iowans rather than […]
