In The News
Hearing held on Schultz’s voter disenfranchisement shows the need for felon voting restoration
Senator Jeff Danielson and the Senate State Government committee held a hearing today to further investigate why three people were disenfranchised from voting in 2012. CCI Action members attended the hearing to further understand how three Iowans were disenfranchised from voting and to see if Schultz’s office would present any tangible solutions to the problem. “It’s troubling”, said CCI Action organizer Bridget Fagan. “In Secretary Schultz’s witch hunt, he’s disenfranchised eligible voters. It’s his job as chief elections officer to make sure no one is disenfranchised and he hasn’t done his job in that department.” Debbie Bunka, CCI Action Fund member from Ames who also attended the hearing said, “There’s so much confusion out there about who’s eligible and ineligible to vote. Everything I saw today showed me the need to for felon voting rights restoration. And it needs to happen this session.” Senator Dearden also highlighted the need for felon voting...
read moreIowa Policy Project’s Frac Sand Mine Report Uses CAFO Case-Studies As Warning, Call For Local Control
Today, the Iowa Policy Project released a report (found here) outlining the negative effects of the controversial practice of frac sand mining, and recommending that authority over the industry be kept at the local level. Pointing to Iowa’s factory farm industry as a case study of the problems that arise when local control of environmentally degrading industries is preempted by state government, the report offers a number of policy proposals, the foremost of which is the retention of local control over the industry.
read moreFollowing SOTU, Harkin says to raise the wage
CCI Action member, Nereida Castro, was highlighted in Sen. Harkin’s speech regarding the need to raise the minimum wage. CCI Action members urge State lawmakers to take action now.
read moreDNR FACT-CHECK: Iowa Has 630 Polluted Waters
In a meeting January 28 before the House Environmental Protection Committee, the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) incorrectly claimed the state’s polluted waters list is 480 impaired waterways when the real number is much larger and stands at 630 rivers, lakes, and streams.
read moreTax Cuts vs Schools: Something Has to Give, But Branstad Won’t Say Why
On January 27, Governor Branstad told the Iowa press corps that there is no room in his five-year budget for setting allowable school growth at six percent, as Senate Democrats propose, but the governor failed to give the reason why: because his “signature bipartisan achievement”, corporate property tax cuts, is so expensive that the cost will burn through Iowa’s budget surplus in just a few years without leaving any money left over for investing in the vital public services that everyday people and hardworking families depend on like education, environmental protections, infrastructure, and workforce development.
read moreTax cuts leave little money for allowable school growth
A retired teacher and a concerned parent with Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement Action Fund (Iowa CCI Action Fund) both testified in support of six percent allowable school growth over the next two years at a Senate Education subcommittee meeting Jan 27, but the CCI members also asked serious questions about how the state of Iowa can afford to fully fund education at those levels after Governor Branstad’s corporate property tax cuts are already set to burn through the state’s surplus in the next five years.
read moreKicking off the legislative session
More than 200 everyday Iowans joined us at the Statehouse to kick off the legislative session right at A People First Iowa: 2014 Rally and Lobby Day.
read moreA review – A People First Iowa: 2014 Rally and Lobby Day
Check out our day in review at this year's Jan. 14th Rally and Lobby Day
read moreDemocratic candidate for governor gets behind CCI Action’s “People First Iowa” agenda
State Senator Jack Hatch (D-Des Moines), the Democratic candidate for governor running against incumbent Terry Branstad, endorsed Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement Action Fund’s “People First Iowa” agenda today during an hour-long meeting with more than 200 CCI Action Fund members at the Henry Wallace Building Auditorium.
read moreMore than 200 protest Branstad’s pro-corporate agenda
More than 200 everyday Iowans braved winter weather conditions Tuesday to travel to the state capitol in Des Moines and protest Governor Branstad’s pro-corporate agenda during a “People First Iowa” day of action organized by Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement Action Fund. A 2:30pm meeting with gubernatorial candidate Jack Hatch is scheduled at the Henry Wallace Building Auditorium.
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