Mark Langgin is a Des Moines-born, Ottumwa-raised, current Des Moines resident and board member of New Frontier Action. He’s on Twitter @marklanggin. -promoted by Laura Belin

I still remember going to the doctor as a child. I was a skinny kid. I lived about 15 miles outside of Ottumwa on a gravel road in an area that used to be a tiny town called Ormanville. I was in the woods and running around our acreage every day, but I would get slammed with strep throat regularly.

So, off to the clinic in Ottumwa, just off Main Street on the south side of town, the doctor would prescribe an antibiotic and a day home from school. The other instruction? Take ALL the medicine. Don’t just take it until you are feeling better – take it the full ten days.

Now, like many other kids, I hated the taste of that medicine. It made my stomach feel gross, I would gag, and I would do about anything not to take it. But, my parents made me get it done. And I was better for it.

They listened to the doctors, and I got better, and now I’m a grown man that remembers to take his medicine.

It doesn’t seem like Governor Kim Reynolds has learned this introductory lesson when it comes to COVID-19 or a barely functioning vaccine distribution plan.

A new dark money group is threatening clean energy progress in Iowa. Mark Langgin digs into the social media advertising campaign that emerged a few days ago. -promoted by Laura Belin

Looks like the utilities and electric cooperatives are up to no good. A new “dark money” organization just launched ads on Facebook.

The “REAL” Coalition began advertising on Facebook on March 1, arguing for legislation that would undermine net metering. The REAL Coalition is doing this under the guise of promoting renewable and clean energy.

(*Cross-Posted from Op-Ed by Mike Delaney, President of Citizens for a Healthy Iowa)

As the new year approaches, many of us resolve to better align our actions with our best selves, by supporting organizations that help to build healthier families and stronger communities, and seeking to make our world a better place. This week, against this backdrop, the Iowa Farm Bureau (IFB) hosts its annual convention in Des Moines.

(for the full report and background go to www.FarmBureauExposed.com) 

I've had enough.

Gov. Branstad continues to spread misinformation about his record on water quality. The simple fact? He vetoed $20 million in funds that would have improved Iowa's natural resources and protected water quality of our rivers, lakes and streams.

With full disclosure, I'm the Director for Citizens for a Healthy Iowa. We are a non-profit (c4) organized here in Iowa and we work primarily on water quality issues – public education & issue advocacy. More about our new ad, and campaign, after the jump ….

The House of Representatives is currently considering a bill that would drastically cut funding for the Environmental Protection Agency and severely limit the agency’s ability to protect human health and the environment.

Known as the 2012 Interior-EPA Appropriations bill (H.R. 2584), it would delay critical clean air rules by more than a year and prevent the EPA from regulating toxic emissions from coal-fired power plants.

Our congressional delegation is generally pretty divided along party lines when it comes to major public health issues such as this – generally, Braley/Loebsack support the independence of the EPA and King/Latham oppose. Boswell is typically a swing vote. More below the fold if you are interested in taking action!

From time to time I run across editorials, letters to the editor, and other random environmental news that I find interesting.  This piece I found particularly compelling and I wanted to share. It comes from a community activist in Muscatine, IA who is really fighting to improve air quality in Muscatine – and throughout the state. Her name is Michelle Marine and you can read her blog at: Simplify, Live, Love

By: Michelle Marine 

In 2006, my husband and I and our four children moved to his hometown of Wilton in Muscatine County. We've lived in lots of large cities, both in the US and abroad. We chose rural living for a variety of issues, one being for an overall healthier lifestyle. I was saddened to learn that the air quality here in rural Iowa is sometimes worse than in the big cities we lived in the past. I started a blog at Simplify, Live, Love.

The blog focuses on frugal living, homeschooling, grammar, and living green. I became interested in the air quality issue after realizing how badly the air smells at our house in Wilton some days. I researched the issue more in depth when Healthy Child, Healthy World asked for bloggers to blog on air quality.

I was shocked at what I learned about the air quality in Muscatine County. Muscatine County has the highest levels of particulate matter, a hazardous air pollutant. Our residents are exposed to the lowest air quality levels in the state of Iowa. And as we know, many of our friends and neighbors suffer from air-pollution related illnesses, including an unclassifiable upper-respiratory disease physicians have come to call the “Muscatine Crud.”

With floodwaters along the Mississippi River in the southern U.S reaching historic levels it’s time for Iowa to take a leadership role in helping prevent future flooding by investing in watershed improvement programs and conservation in Iowa.

Many people might not know what a watershed is. A watershed is basically a basin defined by highpoints and ridges that descend into lower elevations and stream valleys. A watershed carries water from the land after rain falls and snow melts. Drop by drop, water is channeled into soils, groundwaters, creeks, and streams, making its way to larger rivers and eventually the sea.

According to the EPA:

A watershed is the area of land where all of the water that is under it or drains off of it goes into the same place. John Wesley Powell, scientist geographer, put it best when he said that a watershed is:

“that area of land, a bounded hydrologic system, within which all living things are inextricably linked by their common water course and where, as humans settled, simple logic demanded that they become part of a community.”

Watersheds come in all shapes and sizes. They cross county, state, and national boundaries. In the continental US, there are 2,110 watersheds; including Hawaii Alaska, and Puerto Rico, there are 2,267 watersheds.

This is the connection between watershed and land management practices in Iowa and recent flooding on the Mississippi River. …more after the jump…

Under The Golden Dome has the story as well, but Americans United For Change has a new ad up going after some of the more conservative fiscal hawks in Congress including our very own 4th CD Rep. Steve King.

This also comes at a bad time for Congressman King as Public Policy Polling has new numbers from statewide Iowa polling – showing him having weak favorables statewide, and particularly weak favorables when compared to Christie Vilsack.

Proud to be an Iowan. Period. Thanks Zach.

As many of you know, I work for Iowa's Water & Land Legacy Coalition in addition to my lucrative high paying career as a blogger under the tutelage of desmoinesdem.

Details are below, but we will be holding a public rally at the Iowa State Capitol on the morning of February 9th, 2011 to publicize Iowans support for fully funding the Natural Resources & Outdoor Recreation Trust Fund that was created through a vote of 63% of Iowans on November 2nd.

In addition to supporting the funding of the Trust Fund, we are also pushing back against efforts to ban public land acquisition by the Iowa DNR and cuts in REAP (Resource Enhancement & Protection).  These are important programs with water quality, soil conservation, and wildlife habitat benefits.  

You can visit www.iowaswaterandlandlegacy.org to learn more, but information about the rally is below. 

We are increasingly facing a water quality crisis in Iowa.  Over 500 of Iowa's rivers, lakes and streams are considered polluted. Over 53% of them are rated as “poor” by the Iowa DNR and the EPA.  Soil is the #1 pollutant and Iowa farms are losing, on average, 5 tons of soil per acre every year.

If we don't invest significant resources in VOLUNTARY conservation incentives we'll see increasing calls for “one size fits all” regulations…it's time for Iowa to step up to the plate and protect funding for water quality, soil conservation, and wetlands restoration to help prevent future flooding.

The Iowa Environmental Council hosted their annual conference in Des Moines today and Iowa's Water & Land Legacy had an opportunity to speak to the group.  After I got back to the office I stumbled upon an article in the Columbus Dispatch describing water quality issues along the Rappahannock River which feeds the Chesapeake Bay.  Click through to read part of the article and learn a bit more….

Flood stories and news regularly focus on structural solutions to flood prevention – levees, dams and other “infrastructure” that attempts to channel higher and higher volumes of water into smaller and smaller waterways.

Over 90% of Iowa’s landscape is used for agricultural production. Soil conservation is vitally important to the future of Iowa farming and Iowa’s economy. Today, Iowa farms lose an average of five tons of our world-famous soil per acre each year due to erosion. Protecting our land and our amazing landscape must be a top priority – our health, our economy and our quality of life are at stake. The protection and improvement of wetlands has the potential to significantly reduce and mitigate the potential for future flooding.

Iowa Journal – Wetlands as Flood Control
NRCS – Restoring Iowa Wetlands

A lot of discussion has been centering on Roxanne Conlin's historic bid to become Iowa's first female elected to the U.S. Senate.  Iowa has never elected a woman to Congress and we share that distinction with just one other state – Mississippi.

Yet, this isn't the only connection between Iowa and our friends to the south in Mississippi.  The other is water, and the issue that is beginning to get more attention as people focus on the Gulf oil spill is hypoxia.

Hypoxia or oxygen depletion is a phenomenon that occurs in aquatic environments as dissolved oxygen (DO; molecular oxygen dissolved in the water) becomes reduced in concentration to a point detrimental to aquatic organisms living in the system. Dissolved oxygen is typically expressed as a percentage of the oxygen that would dissolve in the water at the prevailing temperature and salinity (both of which affect the solubility of oxygen in water; see oxygen saturation and underwater). An aquatic system lacking dissolved oxygen (0% saturation) is termed anaerobic, reducing, or anoxic; a system with low concentration—in the range between 1 and 30% saturation—is called hypoxic or dysoxic. Most fish cannot live below 30% saturation. A “healthy” aquatic environment should seldom experience less than 80%. The exaerobic zone is found at the boundary of anoxic and hypoxic zones

Professor David Swenson of Iowa State University is a regularly featured source in newspapers/reports across the state.  He recently penned an article on the economic benefits of conservation in the Iowa Heritage magazine – from Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation.  You can find the piece after the jump, but a quick blurb:

When linking our natural resources with our economy, Iowans too often limit the discussion to recreation and tourism – sometimes casting nature as a mere springboard for commercial development. However, a healthy Iowa environment is not a means to an economic end, but rather the end itself – to which all sustainable economic activity must conform.

Not typically a topic discussed here at Bleeding Heartland, but as a number of recent posts have highlighted – Iowa is indeed “open for business” and a good place for companies to thrive.  Case in point?  Casey's General Stores. 

Now, if you've been boycotting BP over the recent spill in the Gulf of Mexico you may have been forced to change your regular convenience store/gas stop.  Casey's is an Iowa based, publicly traded company and recently subject to a hostile takeover bid by a rival convenience store chain.

After the jump there's a recent blog post from the New York Times that goes into great detail.  Interested to see readers take on the issue – and possibly discussing our reliance on fossil fuels, in general. We don't hear about hostile takeover bids for Iowa companies very often!  

Caring for the Cedar River

by Kamyar Enshayan – Cedar Falls City Council

This week, The American Rivers, a national river protection organization, chose the Cedar River among the top ten endangered rivers in America. The underlying causes are familiar: radically altered landscape, loss of wetlands, impairment of floodplains, federal policies encouraging farming practices that have degraded soil functions, too much fertilizer and pesticides, straightened out creek and streams, loss of fish and wildlife habitat, and overall loss of the capacity of the land to absorb, retain, process and release water.

So, the “Blog Czar” controls at Bleeding Heartland are going to be “loaned” to me for a bit (june 10th, I believe) and I've decided to dedicate some posts to conservation issues.  Imagine that, campaign manager for Iowa's Water & Land Legacy taking the opportunity to toot his own campaign's horn on the #1 political blog in Iowa….!

Well, that's not my plan.  I plan to feature posts from a number of conservation organizations in Iowa, and from out of state, over that week.  Of course, these organizations are all members of Iowa's Water & Land Legacy, but they will be telling their own stories and talking about the good work that they do.

There is regular discussion on this blog, and elsewhere, of environmental issues, but there are subtle differents between environmentalist ethics and conservation ethics.  Many concepts and core values are shared, but there is a reason for the difference in framing and I hope that some of the posts shared over the week help illuminate those differences in an objective way. More below the fold…(and a sweet new video…)

This post is in NO way original, but I think it tells an important story about how we all need to critically evaluate our media – from the left & right.

Between now and election day there will be countless ups and downs…scandals & missteps…and other events that will look like they are the end of things for one candidate or another.  It's important to realize these are just “snapshots” as are the snap polls and other data that float around when these stories are breaking.

We need to be able to step back and review the news critically, as well as the polling.  The story of CT-SEN Candidate Richard Blumenthal is a case in point.  Now, I'm not defending his rhetoric and how he loosely talks about his service in the reserves during the Vietnam War (if not technically false, at least a bit dishonest)…His people should have squashed that language long ago, but the story is important, regardless.  More below…..

From Wikipedia:

In Internet slang, a troll is someone who posts inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community, such as an online discussion forum, chat room or blog, with the primary intent of provoking other users into a desired emotional response^[1] or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion.^[2] In addition to the offending poster, the noun “troll” can also refer to the provocative message itself, as in that was an excellent troll you posted. While the term troll and its associated action, trolling, are primarily associated with Internet discourse, media attention in recent years has made such labels highly subjective, with trolling being used to describe many intentionally provocative actions outside of an online context.

There have been some recent discussions (comments, mostly) that are of the “troll” variety.  They ride a fine line, but I thought I would open a discussion of proper etiquette, self-identification, and the like.  For example, I'm pretty open that work for Iowa's Water & Land Legacy…the campaign working to pass Iowa's Water & Land Legacy constitutional amendment….Why are you here?  Why do you use a pseudonym? Discuss….

Nobody will dispute the fact that Iowa's distinct character and our quality of life are directly tied to our state's natural resources. Iowa's land is the most heavily altered in the nation. Agriculture plays an INCREDIBLY important role in the state's economy and clean water touches everyone – in the form of drinking water, water to recreate in, and water to feed our crops/livestock. Iowa's parks and lakes receive more than 25 million visits each year, and our fertile soil provides the backbone to our economy.

It's time to get engaged and start motivating the public about this important resource.

The issue goes “hand-in-hand” with progressive priorities such as:

Farm to School
Local Foods
Sustainable Agriculture
Clean Water
Outdoor Education/Recreation
Climate Change

And many others.  This is an opportunity to engage the public on a meat and potatoes prioritiy for ALL Iowans.

DONATE HERE

Also, you can text the word 'LAUNCH' to 97063 to sign up and learn more!

With the historic 2008 Presidential elections well behind us it's time to turn to a discussion of how progressives will be mobilized in 2010.  As we've seen from recent Des Moines Register polling, being “progressive” isn't necessarily a Democratic or Republican issue.  It's a question of “getting things done”. 

Voters of all political stripes see major problems that need addressing and politicians of both political parties not fully meeting those needs.  As I mentioned in a recent diary, I'm the campaign manager for Iowa's Water and Land Legacy.  I believe that this particular ballot issue has the potential to be a rallying point for conservation voters of all political stripes this campaign season.  I will be making a series of posts in the coming weeks that will highlight organizations working on conservation issues throughout Iowa, and some national organizations as well.  If there are groups you are members of or are interested in learning more about please comment here or backchannel me at marklanggin [at] gmail.com.

So, I've been away.  Bleeding Heartland has been one of my favorite Iowa blogs for sometime and I used to post relatively regularly, but my previous life working in the Iowa House limited my involvement with the community.  Now, I've moved on to a new endeavor and I'll be resuming my regular posting to Bleeding Heartland.

House Democrats have recently started a “Twitter” page for short updates on what’s going on inside the caucus and with action on the floor.  Be sure to subscribe and check back regularly for updates.  What is Twitter?

Twitter is a privately funded startup with offices in the SoMA neighborhood of San Francisco, CA. Started as a side project in March of 2006, Twitter has grown into a real-time short messaging service that works over multiple networks and devices.

In countries all around the world, people follow the sources most relevant to them and access information via Twitter as it happens-from breaking world news to updates from friends

You can find an updated map reflecting the 2008 results at www.iowahouse.org – but I've also posted it below for your viewing pleasure….In particular, notice the gains in the northeast corner of the state.  I think anyone looking at competing for the 4th Congressional district seat currently occupied by Tom Latham has to run strong in the northeast corner of the state & Warren County.  I can't imagine two areas more different….  

Folks, some of you may not know about the Iowa House Democratic Caucus blog at http://www.iowahouse.org.  If so, then you know about it now.

We're going to be trying something new on Tuesday night – liveblogging House results.  We don't have a “fancy” Chuck Todd or FiveThirtyEight.com map, but we do have a nice chart and will be posting results as we get them called in from local auditor's offices by our staff on the ground.

It should be an exciting night and please head over to http://iowahouse.org/2008-results/ to see results on Tuesday.  The page won't be live until Tuesday, but you will be able to comment and discuss results right there on the page!

I haven't posted on here in quite a long time, but some of you know me.  I work for Iowa House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy.  We wanted to let you all know that some of our candidates are getting up on network TV in the final two weeks of the campaign and wanted to let you know where you can see the ads. 

You can also learn about all of our great House candidates on the House Democratic Caucus blog.

There are two places you can view the TV spots:
First, www.youtube.com/iowahousedemocrats

Secondly, you can find us on Facebook

The Republican machine has gone “all in” on the Iowa House.  Senator Wieck (Senate Minority Leader) has all but given up on picking up seats in the Senate and with Harkin not having a credible opponent it's all about the house.

So, if you are interested in helping out a local House Democratic candidate – please contact your local Democratic central committee or the Iowa Democratic Party.  They can direct you to where you need to go.  Plus, you can contribute the House Truman Fund via ActBlue.

UPDATE from desmoinesdem, with a question: According to Marc Ambinder, the Democratic National Committee is considering spending money in some key state legislative races. Anyone know if the DNC is getting involved in any Iowa House races?

From over at MyDD:

Today The Storm Lake Times, a paper based in northwestern Iowa, endorsed Joe Biden for president. It's the first endorsement of any paper, let alone one from Iowa, of this presidential cycle. The editorial movingly cites Biden's personal story and his foreign affairs expertise as key reasons for their endorsement. 

Well, you haven't seen me around these parts very much lately.  I've been busy.  As I disclose in my profile, I work for Iowa House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy and we've been busy prepping for next years session and getting ready for campaign 2008.

I recently attended a great NCSL conference where we discussed blogging, podcasting, and other “web 2.0” tools that can be used for sharing information with the public about legislative business.  It got me fired up to build new sites for Majority Leader McCarthy and for the Iowa House Democratic Caucus. These sites haven't been made fully “public” yet, but I wanted to run them past the local blog community to see what they think – while soliciting comments.

We have enabled a “limited” comment function to begin with on both sites.  The idea is to test whether we can keep “flame wars” off of the site.  We'll see.  We will allow criticism, but we will attempt to moderate swearing, personal attacks, and ad hominem.

One of the biggest tools in the GOP public relations toolbox is the use of “think tanks” and other non-profits to support conservative pundits financially while they make the rounds on talk radio, newspaper editorial writing, and of course – Fox News.  The conservative establishment is very good about taking care of their own.

Josh Marshall at Talking Points Memo found a great new example with a little digging today.

Iowa was a “red state” in 2004 and many attribute the rural electorate in Iowa as “leaning Republican” – and most definitely more conservative than the average urban voter,  New numbers released by the Center For Rural Strategies are showing a slight shift in favor of Democrats on “generic ballot” questions:

So, the newest member of the Republican House Caucus has published her first “post-flip” column on the website of the Des Moines Register.  In it she says:

All of my columns are written like a letter to my mother, because I want her to know what I’m doing and to be proud of me. And I want you to be proud of me too.

So, in her constant search for approval she has decided to participate in fundraisers with the same Republican leadership that did this:

Iowa Democrats are decrying Republican campaign tactics after two state lawmakers were falsely accused of voting for a bill to aid illegal immigrants — before the two legislators ever took office.A flyer mailed to voters attacking Democratic Reps. Bob Kressig of Cedar Falls and Dawn Pettengill of Mount Auburn said they supported a bill that would allow illegal immigrants to be eligible for in-state tuition. But the vote was taken in the Iowa House in 2004, months before Kressig and Pettengill were elected.House Minority Leader Pat Murphy of Dubuque said the attacks by Republicans have gone beyond negative campaigning to “outright lying.”“Iowans should be upset at that. Republicans have set a new low by breaking the public trust,” Murphy said.

Yes…just over one week after announcing her switch Rep. Dawn Pettengill has held a fundraiser with House Minority Leader Christopher Rants…The same Minority Leader who started the 527 that attacked her during the 2006 election for votes she did not take…

From the Des Moines Register:

The Republican leader in the Iowa House, Christopher Rants, will make

“a major announcement about the future of the House Republican caucus” today

at 10:30 a.m.

Rants’ staff said he will be holding a press conference in his office at the

Statehouse at 10:30 a.m.

On a bi-partisan 59-37 vote, the Iowa House expanded Iowa’s civil rights law to end discrimination in housing or the workplace based on sexual orientation.

“It is a historic vote,” said House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, a Des Moines Democrat. “I also think it was a mainstream vote. This was not some sort of liberal/social agenda. This is just saying that under housing and employment people should not be discriminated based upon their real or perceived sexual orientation.”

House Democrats are moving forward with a landmark piece of legislation to bring the debate about limits on greenhouse gas emissions to the State of Iowa.  Senate File 485 is being floor managed by Representative Donovan Olson.  This bill creates a “greenhouse gas registry” similar to those found in other states and requires the Environmental Protection Commission and the director of the Department of Natural Resources to quantify the potential for emission of greenhouse gases by applicants for permits for electric power generating facilities.  The registry is considered the first step towards creating a system for carbon emission permit trading in the State of Iowa.

I know, I know.  That’s a pretty grand title for a blog post.  Yet, it’s a topic that really gets me going from time-to-time.  I think that the impact of new technologies related to wireless technology, GPS, computers, and the internet are just beginning to be realized and we have a long way to go.

I look at this post as a forum to talk about ways technology will play in Iowa during the run to the 2008 caucus.  I think this post from the Hotline blog can serve as a jumping off point.  It’s discussing the Romney caucus operation:

A walk provides a window into the soul of the Romney campaign: efficient, high-tech, friendly, driven. The rows of tables are ready for phone bankers. Where are the phones? There aren’t any. Collins decided to buy dozens of cell phones. They’re cheaper, don’t require a deposit, and can be easily transported to, say, Ottumwa for multi-purposing. They can also be tracked. They don’t break as easily. And Collins can avoid haggling with the local phone company.

I think the Pew Research Center for People and the Press is one of the best resources out there for finding “non-partisan” survey data and polling.  The sample sizes are large, extensive, and peer reviewed.  According to their website:

The Center’s purpose is to serve as a forum for ideas on the media and public policy through public opinion research. In this role it serves as an important information resource for political leaders, journalists, scholars, and public interest organizations. All of our current survey results are made available free of charge.

They have a new report detailing “Trends in Political Values and Core Attitudes: 1987-2007”.  My favorite part of the survey is below the fold…

Wednesday, March 28, 2007

For More Information:

Dean Fiihr, 515-281-0817

In four years, nearly every Iowa four year old will have access to quality, affordable preschool thanks to a plan adopted by the Iowa House on Wednesday night.  Currently, 28,000 four year olds in Iowa do not have access to pre-school.

“We know brain development in the early years is the most critical time in a child’s life,” said State Representative Mary Mascher of Iowa City, who managed the bill in the Iowa House.  “We know quality preschool is a good investment.  It improves the chances of success for our kids and reduces crime.  Every Iowa child should have the opportunity to participate in a preschool program with a qualified, capable, and competent teacher.”

Legis.News

Inside the Iowa Legislature, March 16, 2007

By Speaker of the House Pat Murphy

CIGARETTE TAX = SAVED LIVES

Two days after the House provided bipartisan support to stop kids from smoking and save lives, Governor Culver signed Senate File 128 in the rotunda at the Iowa Capitol. The bill increases the tax on a pack of cigarettes from 36¢ to $1.36 per pack, and from 22 to 50 percent of wholesale price for other tobacco products, up to an extra 50¢ per cigar.  The bill changes the tax on snuff from a percent of price to $1.19 per ounce. 

The legislation, managed in the House by Rep. Pam Jochum (D-Dubuque), was vigorously promoted by the American Cancer Society, American Lung Association, Iowa Medical Society and other health advocacy groups.  The benefits of the bill are widespread and had overwhelming support from Iowans. Most importantly, the bill will keep 42,000 kids from picking up the smoking habit in the first place, which is critical since 90% of smokers started before the age of 18.

In the interest of disclosure, I’ve posted my profile on Bleeding Heartland…and I’ve disclosed who I work for.  I work in the office of Rep. Kevin McCarthy – Majority Leader in the Iowa House.  Why do I disclose?  Because it’s ethical and because I’m honest.

Generally, I limit my posting to forwarding on press releases and information about what is going on in the Iowa House.  I’m not here to propagandize or hide who I am.  You won’t find me waging battles in the comments or posting anonymously on Krusty Konservative.  With full disclosure I give you the ability to critically evaluate the information I provide and understand who my boss is.

It seems that some bloggers on the right & left have failed to live up to what I see as an ethical obligation.  There’s a post at the NY Times Caucus blog all about it.

Des Moines, Iowa – On a 52-46 vote, the Iowa House approved the Iowa Stem Cell Research and Cures Initiative on Thursday night. The bill upholds Iowa’s ban on human cloning while allowing stem cell research that holds great potential for curing diseases like diabetes, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and heart disease.

I’m reposting a recent press release from Speaker of the Iowa House – Pat Murphy:

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

For More Information:

Dean Fiihr, 515-281-0817

FOUR REPUBLICANS REQUEST PUBLIC HEARING BUT DON’T SHOW UP

Des Moines, Iowa – Four House Republicans, who requested a rare public hearing last week in the Iowa House, did not attend their own public hearing.  The members who did not attend the public hearing they requested include: Rep. Carmine Boal, R-Ankeny; Rep. Linda Miller, R-Bettendorf; Rep. Scott Raecker, R-Urbandale; and Rep. Tami Wiencek, R-Waterloo.

The Iowa House Democratic Caucus has just finished the roll-out of their new blog/website.  You can find it here.

It’s a start in what promises to be a long-term process of reaching out through the tubes to reach voters and activists statewide.

I don’t plan to dive into caucus politics too regularly this campaign season, but this one was too good to pass up.  Seems that one of the folks at Red State (a heavy-hitter in the conservative blogosphere) has turned against Mitt Romney.  Why?  Because they now label him “Multiple Choice Mitt”.

The next installment of my “Meet the Legislature” series introduces everyone to Representative Andrew Wenthe.  Andrew is another member of our outstanding class of legislators under 30 years of age.

Andrew has been tapped by the Des Moines Register to blog about his experiences at the Capitol during the session.  You can find his blog here.

With a new General Assembly comes new legislators and I thought I’d take the opportunity to post once a week about some of our new incoming leaders.  In particular, I thought I’d focus on the new “youth movement” that the Iowa House Speaker Pro Tempore Polly Bukta talked about during the opening of the 2007 session:

Today, we celebrate a new youth movement in the House with a record number of eight members who are 30 and under. Think of the energy and fresh ideas these folks are bringing to our assembly!

Today we truly celebrate the fact that the People’s House looks more and more like the PEOPLE we represent.

As far as I can tell – Bleeding Heartland is off to a great start.  A big thank you goes out to Drew & Chris and anyone else who contributed to getting this off the ground.

Many of the ‘national’ community blogs (i.e. Daily Kos, MyDD…etc) have thriving “meta” discussions and collections of link resources.

In the interest of facilitating informed blogging about the Iowa Legislature I thought I would post some helpful links to resources available for bloggers…

House Democrats in the Iowa House have approved a minimum wage increase. The bill, House File 1, raises Iowa’s minimum wage by $2.10 per hour and will be the first increase in nearly a decade.