Bleeding Heartland published more work by guest authors in 2018 than ever before and is on track to set the bar higher this year.
With a record number of candidates seeking to take on Donald Trump and a more accessible Iowa caucus process, I anticipate massive engagement among Democratic activists. These rules and tips are for anyone who would like to contribute to this site’s coverage of the presidential campaign.
All four Iowa Congressional districts will likely be competitive in 2020. Republicans were already targeting the first and third districts, where Representatives Abby Finkenauer and Cindy Axne defeated GOP incumbents last November. Democrats could make a play for IA-04, if Representative Steve King wins the GOP nomination again (as I expect).
Representative Dave Loebsack announced on April 12 that he will retire from Congress after completing his seventh term, rather than running for re-election in the second district. Both Sabato’s Crystal Ball and the Cook Political Report immediately changed their ratings on IA-02 from “likely Democrat” to “toss-up.”
A close look at Loebsack’s last two elections shows why that’s the right call.
Ed Fallon remembers an Iowa farmer who fought “to the end” to stop his land from being taken for a pipeline. -promoted by Laura Belin
Sadly, those of us fighting the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) lost one of our strongest allies this week. LaVerne Johnson died suddenly and unexpectedly on Sunday, April 7. My heart goes out to his wife, family, and closest friends — though he will be missed by more people than he would have imagined.
Republican attacks on working Iowans have received less attention this year than in 2017, when new laws shredded public employee collective bargaining rights, blocked local governments from raising the minimum wage, and reduced workers’ compensation benefits, especially for those who hurt their shoulder on the job.
But below the radar, GOP lawmakers have moved several bills lately that would make life harder for working people, including some facing the difficult circumstances of unemployment or workplace injury.
Matt Chapman has been helping to organize neighbors since residents of his mobile home park recently received notice that rent will go up by some 69 percent in June. -promoted by Laura Belin
The evictions have started where I live at Midwest Country Estates in Waukee. The new owners, Havenpark Capital, have a business model devoid of any compassion or even a passing concern for the elderly and vulnerable in the mobile home park they purchased. They made a promise to the shareholders, and apparently there is no room for empathy when dividends are being maximized.
ISU economist Dave Swenson exposes how a Republican property tax bill relies on flawed assumptions and would make the “important job of governing harder” for cities and counties. -promoted by Laura Belin
It is a common canard among the anti-property taxers that city and county governments, those closest to the electorate, are gouging unsuspecting taxpayers. It is their rallying lament, and it requires no substantiation, just confident assertion.
As is frequently the case with made-up woes like this, Iowa House Republicans have a solution. The remedy is House Study Bill 165, a bill to place limits on city and county government property tax growth.
Ira Lacher discusses the appeal of South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who has recently moved up in Iowa and national polling of the Democratic presidential field. -promoted by Laura Belin
By conventional wisdom, Pete Buttigieg shouldn’t be a top-tier presidential candidate. At 37, he’s only two years older than the constitutional minimum age to be president. As mayor of a small city in Indiana, he hasn’t the national political experience to reach for high office. As a gay man with a husband, he defies the mold that the president of the United States has to be some “Marlboro Man.” And as a Christian, he risks turning off secular voters who feel that Christians’ agenda runs counter to progressive Democratic ideals.
And yet, Pete Buttigieg has vaulted to rock-star status not despite all of the above but because of it. He’s done it because he’s not afraid to wear his genuineness on his sleeve.
For many years, the Des Moines Register regularly published dispatches from Washington on what the Iowans in Congress were doing. Coverage deteriorated after the newspaper laid off Jane Norman in 2008. To my knowledge, no Iowa-based news organization has had a correspondent in the nation’s capital since the Register let Philip Brasher go in 2011.
In a wide-ranging review of the Register’s political reporting four years ago, I commented, “If a member of Congress didn’t brag about it in a press release, conference call, or social media post, the Register’s readers are not likely ever to learn that it happened.”
The newspaper’s recent coverage of U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley illustrates that problem.
“My name is Noah Wasserman. I made a mistake that impacted your lives.”
A year after Theresa Greenfield failed to qualify for the Democratic primary ballot in Iowa’s third Congressional district, her former campaign manager apologized in an unprecedented full-page advertisement in the Sunday Des Moines Register.
Wasserman’s account of how he derailed a promising candidacy conveys valuable lessons not only for people working in politics, but for anyone who feels overwhelmed by tasks at hand.
The Iowa Democratic Party’s State Central Committee approved a new rules package for the 2020 caucuses and convention process by a unanimous vote on April 6. Committee members did not amend any aspect of the proposal, which the party unveiled in February. I’ve enclosed the whole document near the end of this post.
The most significant innovation will be allowing voters to register a preference in the presidential contest without being physically present at a precinct caucus on February 3, 2020. Iowa Democratic insiders have long resisted that kind of change and probably would not have developed this plan if not for pressure from the Democratic National Committee.
This “virtual caucus” will significantly reduce barriers to participation that have kept thousands of politically-engaged Iowans from having their voices heard in past cycles. However, the rules won’t give equal weight to those who are unable to attend in person or prefer to call in. That will create a new set of challenges and perhaps some unintended consequences.
Carl Olsen reports on the latest legislative maneuvering around Iowa’s medical cannabis program. -promoted by Laura Belin
Key lawmakers said for months the 3 percent tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) cap would never be lifted unless Iowa’s Medical Cannabidiol Advisory Board recommended doing so. Nevertheless, the Iowa House mysteriously decided to lift the 3 percent cap on THC shortly before the first legislative funnel deadline on March 8.
Amy Adams is an organizer with Progress Iowa. -promoted by Laura Belin
On Thursday, April 4, Iowans rallied in four locations across the state (Indianola, Red Oak, Cedar Rapids, and Dubuque) as part of a nationwide day of action to demand a full release of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report.
Attorney General William Barr has released only a four-page summary of more than 400 pages submitted to the Department of Justice regarding Russian interference in the 2016 election and contacts between President Donald Trump’s campaign and Russian operatives.
Longtime renewable energy advocate Mike Carberry weighs in on MidAmerican’s bad solar bill, which has cleared the Iowa Senate and is eligible for debate in the state House. -promoted by Laura Belin
MidAmerican Energy has become the public face of Iowa’s clean energy leadership, touting its “climate pledge” and “bold vision” for 100 percent renewable energy future. But the company’s legislative work in Des Moines raises serious questions about its loyalties to clean energy consumers.
Last year, MidAmerican actively worked to gut energy efficiency funding and programming that saved customers millions of dollars. Now the company is trying to stomp out the Iowa solar industry, which it apparently views as competition.
Only three months in, 2019 is already the most significant year for transgender equality in Iowa since 2007, when state lawmakers and Governor Chet Culver added sexual orientation and gender identity to the list of protected classes in the Iowa Civil Rights Act. That 1965 law hadn’t been significantly amended in decades.
The crucial Iowa House and Senate votes on the civil rights law happened during the first year since the 1960s that Democrats controlled both legislative chambers and the governor’s office. Support for LGBTQ equality is often taken for granted now in Democratic circles, but the issue was seen as more politically volatile twelve years ago. The bill amending the civil rights act came late in the 2007 legislative session and could not have passed without some Republican votes.
UPDATE: The Iowa House approved an amended version of Senate File 548 on a mostly party-line 52 to 44 vote. The Senate approved the bill by 33 votes to 17. Governor Kim Reynolds signed the bill on May 9.
Angelisa Belden is communications and development director for the Iowa Environmental Council. -promoted by Laura Belin
Iowans are dealing with the aftermath of receding flood waters this week. Heart-wrenching stories have emerged about returning to decimated homes, topsoil-choked streams headed for the Gulf of Mexico, and the sad task of removing lifeless bodies of young calves who couldn’t withstand the deluge.
Commentators and elected officials are missing the point – or at least failing to bring proper attention to – the obvious and science-based solution to not only water quantity but water quality crises facing our state. We must adopt policy and pass laws that slow down the water running off of our farm fields. That task starts with the federal Farm Bill but ends here at home with efforts to replace Iowa’s lax environmental rules with meaningful protections for land and water.
Senate File 548, the bill that would restrict the use of loans from the State Revolving Fund to purchase land for water quality projects, is a step in the wrong direction.
Ten years ago today, the Iowa Supreme Court unanimously held in Varnum v Brien that the state’s Defense of Marriage Act “violates the equal protection clause of the Iowa Constitution.”
Justice Mark Cady wrote the opinion, which cost three of his colleagues (Chief Justice Marsha Ternus, Justice David Baker, and Justice Michael Streit) their jobs in the 2010 judicial retention elections. Assigned the task of writing by random drawing, Cady “strongly believed the court should speak in one voice” on such a controversial matter, Tom Witosky and Marc Hansen wrote in their 2015 book Equal Before the Law: How Iowa Led Americans to Marriage Equality. In fact, Cady “was convinced there was no room for even a concurring opinion–an opinion in agreement with the court’s conclusion but not its reasoning.” (pp. 134-5)
Thousands of Iowans have enjoyed a better quality of life since our state became the third to give LGBTQ couples the right to marry. Lambda Legal, which filed the lawsuit on behalf of six Iowa couples, has posted a timeline of key events in the case. State Senator Zach Wahls wrote today about the Supreme Court decision’s impact on his family.
I wanted to mark this day by sharing highlights from Bleeding Heartland’s coverage of that historic event. My deepest condolences go out to the friends and relatives of former Supreme Court Justice Daryl Hecht. The Iowa Judicial Branch announced today that Hecht has died. He stepped down from the bench in December 2018 while battling melanoma. Of the seven justices who joined the Varnum opinion, only Cady, Brent Appel, and David Wiggins still serve on the high court.
Iowa House Chief Clerk Carmine Boal will be away from the legislature for some time while undergoing treatment for a brain bleed, House Speaker Linda Upmeyer informed state lawmakers and legislative staff today.
Iowans affected by UnitedHealthcare’s impending exit as a Medicaid managed-care provider should be aware that they have rights under the contract the state signed with the insurer, State Auditor Rob Sand announced at an April 1 news conference.
Sand reviewed the company’s 287-page contract with the Iowa Department of Human Services before news broke on March 29 that UnitedHealthcare will not continue to manage care for Iowans on Medicaid in the coming fiscal year, which begins on July 1. That development suddenly made the contract’s termination provisions “very important and relevant.”
Sable Knapp‘s home state is Iowa, and she currently lives in Maine. -promoted by Laura Belin
The human body is two-thirds water, as is the surface of the planet we inhabit. Water quality profoundly affects human health and clean water protections must be upheld. Everyone should be able to have the peace of mind that comes from guaranteed safe, free drinking water.
Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement works persistently to defend Iowa’s water. By suing the State of Iowa for failing to ensure the safety of Raccoon River, Iowa CCI and Food & Water Watch are sending a strong “No Means No” message to polluters and politicians who authorize the pollution of Iowa’s rivers. Bill Stowe, Des Moines Water Works CEO, aptly said, “We are completely at the mercy of what gets dumped in our rivers each day.”
The rallying cry “Water is Life” is a fundamental truth. Poet and activist Lyla June evokes this power in her poem “And God is the Water,” which concludes with the words, “I am the rock and God is the water.” The way we care for nature reflects the way we care for ourselves.
As America’s waterways slip further into the hands of corporate players, subsequent pollution continuously affects everyone. Iowa’s elected officials must be held responsible for facilitating the revitalization and protection of the water that flows through Iowa.
Carl Olsen is a leading advocate for expanding access to medical cannabis in Iowa and maintains the Iowans for Medical Marijuana website. -promoted by Laura Belin
The Des Moines Register reported on March 29 that a member of the Iowa Medical Cannibidiol Advisory Board had resigned over comments made on the floor of the House during debate on House File 732. (Bleeding Heartland covered that bill’s passage here.)
