This week in Iowa organizing…
We hope you all had a good weekend, and that yesterday you had time to engage in service or reflect upon the work we must continue doing to achieve a racially and economically just society.
As the quote in the art below says, we need leaders in love with justice and humanity, not money or publicity. Given the statements and actions by Governor Reynolds over the past week, it's looking like an uphill climb for her to reach that standard.
It's a short but busy week, with ways to take action for public schools, our land and people, and more. So please read on!
In solidarity,
Matthew Covington (he/him)
Strategic Operations Director
At the statehouse
Vouchers, vouchers, vouchers
The 2023 legislative session gaveled in last week, with the Governor delivering her Condition of the State address on Tuesday night. Much of her address, and subsequent chatter in the chambers and in the media has been about her school voucher proposal.
Perhaps emboldened by her reelection, Reynolds' decided to pull a bait-and-switch on Iowans by introducing a school voucher proposal on steroids. There are several differences between this plan and what she pushed for the past two years, with the common theme being more public money for private schools - and quicker. The majority of Iowans don't support this plan, but out-of-state hedge fund billionaires sure do.
There will be more activity on school vouchers this week, starting off with a public hearing this evening at 5pm in the state capitol. You can sign up to speak or submit public comments on her proposal here. And even though Gov. Reynolds primaried some of her fellow House Republicans in the last election, vouchers still aren't a done deal in the House. You can find your Representative and their contact information here to weigh in.
Take action
Today: Jan. 17 - take action for our planet
Carbon capture pipelines are going to be front and center this legislative session. We need to make sure our elected officials haven’t forgotten that CO2 pipelines are not a partisan issue—For nearly a year and a half, Iowans have united against false climate solutions that would pay polluters to keep polluting.
Join Great Plains Action Society, CCI, Buffalo Rebellion, and the Iowa Carbon Pipeline Resistance Coalition in Des Moines today, Jan. 17 at the Capitol building in the first-floor rotunda at 3PM to speak out against CO2 pipelines.
Tomorrow: Jan. 18 - rising up for rural Iowa: no pipelines, no factory farms
The 2023 legislative session stands to be a wild one: factory farms, pipelines, and school vouchers - oh my!
But CCI members won't just sit back and let it happen. We know Iowans are counting on us to fight for a People First Iowa that protects our water, our land and our communities.
Join CCI members for a zoom meeting to:
Get an overview of the key players in the 2023 legislative session,
Review our clean water and factory farm policy priorities,
Discuss unlikely allies and opportunities to win on CO2 pipeline issues,
Talk through other big topics that will come up and how we can leverage those issues to build our people power, and
Identify actions we'll take across the state to elevate the issues.
Can you join us on Wednesday, January 18 at 7pm? RSVP here. We need you with us to bring fightback energy to the 2023 legislative session!
Also tomorrow: Jan. 18 - UI hospital workers deserve a full and fair contract
Healthcare workers at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics (UIHC), union members represented by our friends at SEIU Healthcare Minnesota & Iowa, will start negotiating a new contract with UIHC and the Iowa Board of Regents this Wednesday.
These folks have been on the frontlines of the pandemic for the last three years and have a long history of providing outstanding care to those who need it most.
We deserve the quality care UIHC staff provide, and they deserve a full and fair contract! There's two ways you can rise up in solidarity with these workers:
Jan. 18 at 10am: meet at the Remboldt Conference Room in the Center for Disabilities and Development in Iowa City to help kick off negotiations
Sign this petition to the Board of Regents telling them to bargain in good faith with hospital workers
The Iowa Board of Regents should negotiate in good faith and act to provide safe staffing, fair and equitable raises, and a grievance procedure for UIHC workers.
Jan. 25 - stop factory farms lobby day
Factory farms and Big Ag have run roughshod over Iowa for too long, jeopardizing our land and air and contributing to over 750 impaired waterways. Enough is enough, we need a factory farm moratorium now!
That's why we're joining with members of the Iowa Alliance for Responsible Agriculture (IARA) for another "Stop Factory Farms Lobby Day" on Wednesday, Jan. 25. Momentum continues to grow for a moratorium, and this will be the sixth year that a moratorium bill will be introduced in the legislature.
One-third of lawmakers in the House and Senate are completely new to the legislature as a result of the 2022 elections. These legislators in particular need to hear from folks like you on why our communities, our waterways, our state needs a moratorium now!
Join IARA allies on Jan. 25 at 10:30am at the statehouse. Let us know if you can join (even for part of the day!) by RSVPing here.
Issue updates
Tell the EPA dirty fuels aren't 'renewable fuels'
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is reviewing the Renewable Fuel Standard under the Clean Air Act to set standards for 2023 through 2025. Where there is public money to be hijacked, corporate greed is quick to follow.
A clean energy future that works for farmers, workers, eaters and the environment is possible, but it does not involve the EPA investing in greenwashed energy schemes. Relying on dirty fuels like factory farm gas, ethanol and carbon capture sequestration to clean up our transportation sector will only dig a deeper hole.
CCI members Brenda Brink and Kim Hagemann gave powerful testimony at a public hearing last week, help amplify their message by submitting your comments today!
It's (still) Master Matrix time!
It's the time of year for County Supervisors to submit the Master Matrix resolution to the Iowa Dept. of Natural Resources (DNR) by January 31 in order to weigh in on factory farm construction in their communities.
As of last Friday, 56 counties have signed on to use the master matrix while one has rejected it. That means there are 42 counties that still need to decide whether or not to adopt the master matrix resolution for 2023!
See the map above and if your county is in yellow, reach out to your supervisors today. Click here to find a sample Master Matrix resolution, and find your supervisors and contact information here.
Speaking of factory farms, don't forget that from December 21 to April 1, factory farms with 500 or more animal units (at least 1,250 finishing hogs, 500 steers, or 357 mature dairy cows) cannot apply liquid manure on ground covered with an inch or more of snow or one-half inch of ice.
If you see liquid manure being applied illegally, or if you see something that just doesn’t look right to you, give our office a call or email caitlin@iowacci.org.
What We're Reading
These are a few links that are informing our work - we've shared them so that you can read, too!
Kim Reynolds told a great story about a family's triumph. Then she ruined it. [Des Moines Register]
MLK Day Should Be About Continuing Dr. King’s Radical Project [Jacobin]
Here is the Truth: Medicare Advantage Is Neither Medicare Nor an Advantage [Common Dreams]
Costly plan would harm public schools [Cedar Rapids Gazette]
Asking IA Lawmakers to Prioritize Water Quality, Renewable Energy [Public News Service]
Iowa Democrats demand Arab, Climate caucuses be seated on governing body [Bleeding Heartland]