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Legislative Update for February 22, 2019
Things are picking up at the Iowa Statehouse. Bills are being introduced (over 100 on Thursday alone), sub-committees and committees are starting to meet, discuss, and debate, and groups are holding their lobby days (see our “Attend an Event” section below). Our bill establishing a single-payer healthcare system for Iowa was introduced (House File 96)! Here are a few more GOOD bills that caught our eye this week: Establishing a “Crude-Oil Fee” on pipelines (like DAPL) to help cover the costs of future spills (House File 44);Establishing Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) for food (House File 58);Getting rid of Iowa’s (Steve King’s) “English Only” law (House File 70) and introducing an Iowa Dream Act (House File 101);Several bills expanding voting (electronic registration, automatic registration, vote-by-mail, and restoring voting rights);Repealing Iowa’s pre-emption of local wage and worker ordinances...
read moreWeekly Update: Feb. 22, 2019
What a week! Yesterday, I got to spend the day with 75 clean water fighters at the Capitol. It was great to stand beside so many people, from across the state, to lobby for our shared future. Our big push of the day was lobbying for House File 203, our factory farm moratorium bill. Together we lobbied over 15 key legislators and held a press rally with two of our bill sponsors and Des Moines Water Works’ Bill Stowe. And, over 100 of you weighed in from home by calling Rep. Dean Fisher (R- Tama Co) asking him to assign HF 203 to a sub-committee. Thank you! Tuesday was a big day for members in Story County. In the afternoon, we supported Story Co. Supervisor’s appeal of a factory farm permit before the DNR’s Environmental Protection Commission (EPC). In the evening, 150 of you turned out to a meeting where the Board of Supervisors voted to become the 25th county in the state to pass a resolution calling for changes to how Iowa...
read moreWeekly Updates for February 15, 2019
Things really picked up this week at the Statehouse. With three weeks until the first funnel, we saw more than 1,000 files and study bills introduced. Among the issues legislators are looking at over the next few weeks are traffic cameras, sports betting, and those nasty Medicaid and SNAP work requirements we told you about last week. Yesterday, a team of members were at the Capitol to weigh in on the work requirement bills during the subcommittee meeting. The results: we found that Republican legislators pushing the bills didn’t understand them or the impact they could have. Even the corporate lobbyist from Opportunity Solutions Project (a right wing think tank from Florida) couldn’t explain how the bill would function as law or how many people it would affect. Notice what’s missing on the above list of bills? Ending privatized Medicaid and getting profits out of healthcare, a moratorium on factory farms or anything to do with clean water, and...
read moreReynolds misses the mark by a country mile
I just finished watching Gov. Kim Reynolds deliver her second Condition of the State address.Here’s our take: She missed the truth by a country mile with an address filled with falsehoods and half-truths that paint a rosy picture of what it’s like for folks across Iowa, especially in rural areas.What we hear from people across the state paints a much different story.In her address, Reynolds highlighted (amongst other issues): Achievements last year in funding water quality,Efforts to expand healthcare access around the state,Balancing the state budget, andRestoring felon voting rights. CCI Action members want to call out the truth: Factory Farms and Water Quality: Her “funding” for water quality efforts was simply shifted around from existing state revenues that are already stretched thin. And that money is being dumped into Iowa’s failed voluntary Nutrient Reduction Strategy faster than the factory farm manure entering Iowa’s waterways, as...
read more2019 Iowa Legislative Preview
On Monday, 150 state legislators descend on Des Moines for the 2019 legislative session. And over the next 110 days they will introduce, consider, debate, and pass policies that impact us all in every aspect of our lives: policies on factory farms and clean water, healthcare, education, working conditions, our state budget, and more.We’ll be your eyes and ears at the Capitol tracking bills – good and bad – to let you know when your calls, emails, or weekend visits with your legislator can have a big impact.To help you get ready, here is our take on what we can expect going into this year’s General Assembly. Who’s at the table Kim Reynolds will be inaugurated as Governor next week. We’ll know more about her priorities after Tuesday’s State of the State address, but we’ve heard she is prioritizing cutting even more taxes in spite of tight revenues – which forced cuts over the previous two years.Republicans control the Statehouse. They will (largely) call...
read moreWhere do your candidates stand on racial justice?
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Do you know where your local candidates stand on racial equity?
We're excited to find out at a political candidate forum we're co-hosting with Des Moines Chapter of Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) and Trinity Las Americas UMC.
Join us this Sunday to learn more about local candidates' positions on racial equity and social justice.
