Steven M. Fink served as rabbi of Temple B’nai Jeshurun in Des Moines from 1983 to 1999. He chose to return to Des Moines after retiring from the pulpit rabbinate. He chose Des Moines because of its rich culture and active civic engagement.  

When Governor Kim Reynolds signed the bill to roll back civil rights protections for transgender people, all Christians, Muslims, and Jews should have been appalled. All three of the Abrahamic religions espouse the belief that a spark of the Divine exists in every human being. 

How then could a majority in the Republican-dominated legislature, many of whom claim to be religious people who base their votes on what God wants, vote to repeal civil rights legislation for a protected group? As the Des Moines Register noted, signing the bill “makes Iowa the first state in the country to take away civil rights from a group it has previously protected in law.” 

How can these representatives of the proud state of Iowa, descendants of those leaders who desegregated schools long before the U.S. Supreme Court required it, admitted women into the legal profession, and acknowledged the right of same-sex couples to marry take a huge backwards step by eliminating civil rights protections for a group of human beings? 

Do they not believe that a spark of God resides in every person? Do they believe that God makes mistakes and they should rectify those wrongs by denying human status to transgender people?

Rod Sullivan is a Johnson County supervisor. 

I searched the word “Medicaid” in my archive. I was shocked to find how much I have written on the topic—tens of thousands of words over the years. 

Why have I written so much about Medicaid? For one, you write what you know. I used to work in the Iowa Medicaid program. Even though that was several years ago, I know Medicaid quite well. That is why the Republican scheme to cut the program upsets me so much.

Bruce Lear lives in Sioux City and has been connected to Iowa’s public schools for 38 years. He taught for eleven years and represented educators as an Iowa State Education Association regional director for 27 years until retiring. He can be reached at BruceLear2419@gmail.com 

Dear members of Congress:

I know your job is difficult. I’d hate coming to work where I’m expected, at least in public, to despise almost half of my co-workers just because we disagree.

One side knows the republic hangs in the balance, but can’t decide how to cut it down to keep it from choking. The other side twists itself into knots defending a mercurial president who rides one whim after another, depending on the day. Both sides hurl insults via cable news noise.

It’s a dysfunctional work environment.

The American people are caught in the middle.

Here are some suggestions for improving your workplace and getting back to doing the people’s business. 

Bernie Scolaro is a retired school counselor, a past president of the Sioux City Education Association, and former Sioux City school board member.

When I first came to Sioux City, Iowa for my job interview in 1984, I was struck by the Midwest work ethic and down-to-earth locals. I was told how you are a great place to raise a family and to receive a first-in-the-nation education. 

I was truly excited for my new adventure, but like in some relationships, over time, you have deceived me and let me down. You are no longer the Iowa I fell in love with. You are no longer “a place to grow,” where I can thrive in the current polarizing environment. 

Randy Evans is executive director of the Iowa Freedom of Information Council, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that promotes openness and transparency in Iowa’s state and local governments. He can be reached at DMRevans2810@gmail.com.

As President Donald Trump, red-state governors, and legislators elevate the stress and anxiety in higher education by seeking to change how U.S. colleges and universities operate and what they teach, the contrast between how an Ivy League school and an Iowa university responded shows the courage gap among college leaders.

Columbia University, the 270-year-old private, nonprofit institution in New York City, garnered intense governmental attention and public criticism last week. 

The Trump administration cancelled $400 million in federal grants for medical and scientific research because of what the president thought was the school’s inadequate response to pro-Palestinian protests on campus growing out of Israel’s war in Gaza. The president demanded the school make a series of substantive changes as preconditions for the feds’ restoration of the grants—including banning protesters from wearing masks, thereby making it easier to identify them.

Robert Reich, a University of California professor of public policy and former member of the Clinton cabinet, wrote last week about the Trump administration’s actions: “Don’t fool yourself into thinking this is just about Trump wanting to protect Jewish students from expressions of antisemitism. It’s about the Trump regime wanting to impose all sorts of values on American higher education. It’s all about intimidation.” 

While the Ivy League school withered in the spotlight and gave in to the pressure, Drake University, the largest private school in Iowa, stood firm against the tide of federal and state mandates to end diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in a way few institutions have in recent weeks.

Marty Martin has led Drake as its president for the past ten years. On March 3, he offered a blunt defense to Drake’s faculty, staff and students of what opponents to diversity, equality, and inclusiveness label simply as DEI.

In an email titled “A Welcoming Place for All,” Martin wrote: 

A great strength of Drake University is the ever-increasing diversity of the individuals who make up this wonderful place. That diversity is essential to our mission promise to prepare our students for meaningful personal lives, professional accomplishment, and responsible global citizenship. 

It creates opportunities for life-changing relationships. It makes our campus more interesting and vibrant. It broadens perspectives and enriches the learning experience. It ultimately makes our University stronger and more resilient.” 

Martin continued: “When we open ourselves up to the wide array of individuals and communities around us, our lives become more grounded, joyful, and fulfilling. We learn that our differences are not weaknesses, they are strengths. We discover that exploring those differences with open minds and hearts, with empathy and love, is one of the most meaningful experiences we can have in life.” 

He then directed his attention to Iowa state government: 

On Friday [February 28], Governor Reynolds signed a bill ending eighteen years of civil rights protection for transgender and nonbinary Iowans. This action is one among many current state and federal efforts that seek to turn our differences into division. Instead of working to find a shared path grounded in respect for the basic human dignity possessed by every person, too many public officials are seeking to marginalize and isolate our colleagues, neighbors, friends, and loved ones. 

This is a moral failure against which we stand in opposition. It is our duty to respect, support, and affirm anyone in our community targeted by these actions.

Martin concluded, “The road ahead is going to present many challenges to the values that define this institution. … My hope is that we travel this road together grounded in a shared commitment to be there for each other every step of the way. You have my unwavering commitment to remain steadfast in fostering a welcoming, inclusive, and safe community for all.” 

Martin’s message was not written in a vacuum. And effective and courageous leadership does not occur in a vacuum, either. 

At a time when academic freedom and First Amendment rights get pushback from federal and state government officials, Marty Martin elevated Drake University above a concerning number of other colleges and universities that have bowed to outside political pressure and legalized extortion. 

Federal research grants are not some form of reward or incentive available only to government’s “friends.” Nor should these grants—and the promise they hold for healthier lives—become a tool for intimidation.

Government never should have the power to condition benefits, funding or support on a waiver of constitutional rights or civil liberties. 

Presumably, the medical research grants the Trump administration is cutting originated because government saw important societal benefits from the breakthroughs these institutions’ scientists have achieved—breakthroughs that have improved survival rates and new treatments for breast cancer, for heart disease, for leukemia, diabetes, and other health disorders. 

Martin’s letter also comes at a time when a bill moving through the Iowa legislature would withhold Iowa Tuition Grants from private colleges and universities in the state if a school refuses to end its diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. (Iowa House members approved House File 856 last week; the bill has been assigned to a subcommittee in the Senate.) 

The tuition grant program was created in 1972 and has made higher education more affordable for qualifying students who choose to attend an Iowa private, not-for-profit college or university. The state will spend about $50 million this year on these need-based scholarships. 

One footnote of irony: That the legislature is considering conditioning college tuition support on how private colleges run their internal operations—their diversity and equality initiatives—stands in sharp contrast with the hands-off position the state takes with private K-12 schools that receive taxpayer funds through Education Savings Accounts. These voucher accounts provide $7,800 in tax money for each student to assist with their private school tuition, costing the state hundreds of millions of dollars a year.

The question now is whether state and federal government officials take a similar hands-off attitude toward the pledge by Marty Martin and Drake University to keep its campus welcoming, nurturing and supportive of all students, all faculty and all staff.

Matt Chapman serves on the board of Manufactured Housing Action and has been fighting for fair housing laws in Iowa for five years.

By copying the laws that govern manufactured housing parks, some Iowa legislators are trying to make illegal lease provisions legal for all Iowa rentals.

To get a good understanding of what is happening, we will start with some laws Iowa has already enacted, which are harmful for homeowners in Iowa’s manufactured housing parks. They have been inundated with private equity and vulture capitalists who want to extract as much wealth as possible and then move on.

The same trends are affecting single and multi-family rental housing, which is a much bigger sector in Iowa. This is why passing bills like Senate File 412 (or the similar House File 973) would make staying housed much harder and would cause more Iowans to suffer.

First-term State Representative Brett Barker has acknowledged he made a “rookie mistake” when he authorized the distribution of a right-wing Christian pamphlet to all of his Iowa House colleagues. Barker told Bleeding Heartland he didn’t read the publication by Capitol Ministries before it was circulated in the chamber on March 19.

But Barker has not publicly disavowed the contents of the weekly “Bible Study,” which portrays political adversaries as tools of Satan, calls on believers to “evangelize their colleagues,” depicts same-sex marriage and LGBTQ existence as “satanic perversions,” and condemns “women’s liberation” as a “scheme of the devil.”

Staff for Governor Kim Reynolds and U.S. Senator Joni Ernst did not respond to Bleeding Heartland’s inquiries about their association with Capitol Ministries or the views expressed in its latest publication. Both Reynolds and Ernst are among the “Bible Study Sponsors” listed on the front page of the document distributed in the Iowa House.

John Hale and Terri Hale own The Hale Group, advocating for older Iowans and people with disabilities. John worked for the Social Security Administration for 25 years in its Baltimore headquarters, Kansas City regional office, and in multiple Iowa field offices. Contact: terriandjohnhale@gmail.com

The Social Security program is 89 years old. Seventy-two million Americans currently receive a monthly benefit. Some 185 million Americans pay into the system and plan to receive benefits someday.

According to the Social Security Administration, some 687,630 Iowans receive monthly Social Security benefits, which total more than $1.2 billion ($1,235,464,000 to be precise) every month—in Iowa alone.

Americans depend on Social Security to be there for them. Recent events raise serious questions about whether it will be.

Bruce Lear lives in Sioux City and has been connected to Iowa’s public schools for 38 years. He taught for eleven years and represented educators as an Iowa State Education Association regional director for 27 years until retiring. He can be reached at BruceLear2419@gmail.com 

Before Republicans gutted Iowa’s 42-year-old public sector bargaining law in 2017, collective bargaining was a lot like a middle school dance. At the start, there was a chasm between wannabe dancers. They huddled with their own group, talking about what might be.

Oh, so gradually they inched closer. One deal was done, then a couple more. Suddenly, the dance floor rocked until deadlines loomed, and the lights blazed on.

It’s never easy. But it worked, and the school district and association owned the results.

Kurt Meyer writes a weekly column for the Nora Springs – Rockford Register and the Substack newsletter Showing Up, where this essay first appeared. He served as chair of the executive committee (the equivalent of board chair) of Americans for Democratic Action, America’s most experienced liberal organization.

John Muir, among our nation’s earliest and most passionate conservationists, died on Christmas Eve, 1914. Yet I swear I can hear his voice, crystal clear, responding to President Donald Trump’s recent actions. 

Earlier this month, Trump directed federal agencies to seek ways environmental regulations could be circumvented with plans of increasing timber production in 280 million acres of national forests and other public lands. He signed an executive order allowing the U.S. to bypass Endangered Species Act protections.

Herb Strentz was dean of the Drake School of Journalism from 1975 to 1988 and professor there until retirement in 2004. He was executive secretary of the Iowa Freedom of Information Council from its founding in 1976 to 2000.

Lutheran Services in Iowa is struggling after the federal government reneged on a $1.5 million commitment to fund the nonprofit’s work in welcoming and aiding legal immigrants and refugees to Iowa. The controversy screams for more detail and better coverage than it has received from the news media so far.

Hundreds of newcomers to Iowa, and millions across the country aided by other charities, have been cut off from support authorized by Congress. The Trump administration’s decision to freeze the funding is grounded in misleading statements if not outright lies.

The way we are treating the world’s most vulnerable today stands in stark contrast to our country’s history. Consider a 19^th century sonnet by poet Emma Lazarus, which expressed America’s aspirations as a nation of immigrants, and a vulgarity President Donald Trump expressed in the 21^st century.

Matt Russell is a farmer, political writer, progressive ag and rural leader. He has published work in the New York Times, TIME, AgInsider, Civil Eats, and many state or local publications. He co-owns Coyote Run Farm with his husband Patrick Standley in rural Lacona, Iowa. This essay first appeared on his Substack newsletter, Growing New Leaders: Perspectives from Coyote Run Farm

Democrats have an organizing problem. They think voters need to be educated and convinced. And they think convincing voters that they need to be saved is the path to victory. I’m hearing talk about the need for those who voted for Donald Trump to feel the pain before Democrats make a move. This doubles down on the strategies of the paid consultant class, who failed to win the election, rather than looking at new ways to organize.

We need to stop trying to convince voters that Democrats will save Americans, and instead invest in Americans to do the work of saving our nation.

Sue Dinsdale is the executive director of the Iowa Citizen Action Network, a grassroots public interest organization committed to creating social change in Iowa and across the nation. She is also the state lead for Health Care for America NOW. Brian Keyser is a health policy research associate at Center for American Progress, an independent, nonpartisan policy institute that is dedicated to improving the lives of all Americans through bold, progressive ideas, strong leadership, and concerted action.

Last year, 60-year-old Iowan Susan McKinney started a new job working from home for a travel agency. Susan suffers from diabetes, arthritis, and atrial fibrillation (AFib), and her insurance coverage hadn’t kicked in before her health deteriorated to the point where she couldn’t walk up or down her apartment steps. She couldn’t get to a doctor—which she had no way to pay for anyway—so her conditions went untreated. In November, her concerned siblings moved her back to her hometown of Cedar Rapids, where the local free clinic told her that she qualified for Medicaid. Susan’s sister says, “Medicaid saved her life.”

Medicaid provides comprehensive medical coverage and long-term care for approximately 21 percent of Iowans like Susan. In 2023, the federal government covered around 72 percent of Iowa’s $7 billion in Medicaid spending.

But on February 25, all four members of Iowa’s House delegation voted in lock step with the Republican majority to advance a budget that would necessitate slashing federal contributions to state Medicaid programs to fund tax cuts for the wealthy. If implemented, this legislation could mean a loss of more than $8 billion for Iowa’s economy over the next decade.

The Center for American Progress estimated how the $880 billion in proposed Medicaid cuts nationwide would cost each Congressional district in federal funding. Here are the Iowa numbers:

Jason Benell lives in Des Moines with his wife and two children. He is a combat veteran, former city council candidate, and president of Iowa Atheists and Freethinkers. A version of this essay first appeared on his Substack newsletter, The Odd Man Out.

Recently we have seen an onslaught of awful behavior and policy from the Republican majority, not only at the Iowa statehouse but nationally. In each case the Republicans have acted deplorably, while Democrats seem to think that the proper way to respond to deplorable behavior is to adjust their monocle, straighten their suit jackets, and have a respectable and demure silent protest before tut tutting on the drive home. 

Now, I am not one for immediately going from zero to pissed in a counterproductive way, but I am also not one to say, “When they go low, we tuck our tails and do nothing.” The way you deal with bullies isn’t to immediately cave and cede the entire ground to them, but to stand up and make them do the bad things they threaten to do. You don’t comply in advance. If you stand up, you have a chance to stop them.

Bruce Lear lives in Sioux City and has been connected to Iowa’s public schools for 38 years. He taught for eleven years and represented educators as an Iowa State Education Association regional director for 27 years until retiring. He can be reached at BruceLear2419@gmail.com 

(With apologies to the Twilight Zone creators)

You’re about to enter another dimension. A dimension not only of anger and fear but of hypocrisy. A journey into a place where bipartisan thought is extinguished by blind obedience. A dimension that diminishes a state. It refuses to listen to cries for moderation and compromise. It’s a place where no position is too extreme. Bizarre becomes reality. There’s a signpost up ahead. 

You’ve entered the Golden Dome Zone.

There’s certainly something weird happening under that Golden Dome. Senate File 360 would have made it a simple misdemeanor in Iowa to provide or administer a gene-based vaccines like the mRNA ones for COVID-19. Republicans on a subcommittee advanced this bill, but it did not get through the full Senate Health and Human Services Committee before the “funnel” deadline on March 7.

But did it really die?

Rick Morain is the former publisher and owner of the Jefferson Herald, for which he writes a regular column.

Like many words, “peace” carries a number of meanings. U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Zelenskyy use “peace” to describe two different scenarios.

When Trump says peace, he means the absence of physical fighting. He says the goal in Ukraine is to stop the war, which he emphasizes has killed thousands upon thousands of Ukrainians and Russians.

That’s a laudable goal. And it’s Zelenskyy’s goal as well. But when Zelenskyy says peace, he has more in mind. He means the peace that comes when the aggressor is defeated and withdraws, when his invaded nation is no longer partially occupied by foreign troops.

Keenan Crow is director of policy and advocacy for One Iowa and One Iowa Action.

I recently read with interest a guest commentary by Christine Hawes for the Des Moines Register. I’m always curious about other community members’ views on macro strategy, so I read it with an open mind.

I’m going to preface this response by saying I think Hawes is asking this question in good faith. For that reason, I’m going to give it a good faith answer. This piece comes from genuine concern, and any response should be treated with care, not with open hostility. Further, I agree with the author at least on the point that we should always be open to self-examination.

That said, I vehemently disagree with the approach this piece is advocating.

Jeff Fuhrman is an independent international finance director with significant experience in the former Soviet Union.  He resides in Iowa with his husband and their dog, Harambe.

I write today to advocate for a return to good judgment and integrity in U.S. policies toward Ukraine. 

The February 28 meeting between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy devolved into a shouting match. Apparently it was was too much for the Trump administration for Zelenskyy to cite real facts in front of media outlets that might actually broadcast them.

The rhetorical tactics Trump and Vice President JD Vance used in response (including “if all else fails, just talk over them, loudly”) may have worked for some of the audience, but the messaging apparently didn’t land right. The administration sent Secretary of State Marco Rubio out to do more damage control a few hours later.

Second in a series on Iowa’s wide-ranging law that removed legal protection against discrimination for transgender and nonbinary Iowans, as well as any path for the state to officially recognize their gender identity.

Iowa Republicans made history in the worst way last week.

Effective July 1, 2025, the Iowa Civil Rights Act will no longer prohibit discrimination in employment, housing, education, public accommodations, or credit on the basis of gender identity. The state of Iowa also will stop issuing birth certificates that reflect a transgender person’s gender identity, and will officially recognize separate-but-equal accommodations as lawful.

Republicans sped up the legislative process to pass Senate File 418 in both chambers on February 27, only seven days after the bill text became public.

The Iowa Senate approved the bill on a party-line vote of 33 to 15. Less than an hour later, the House passed the bill by 60 votes to 36, with five Republicans joining all Democrats in opposition. Governor Kim Reynolds signed Senate File 418 on February 28.

Forthcoming articles will analyze this law’s impact on Iowans and the inevitable court challenge over some potentially unconstitutional provisions.

For now, I want to highlight a selection of compelling appeals the majority party ignored: six from Iowans whom this law will directly harm, and six from allies of the trans community.

All of the videos enclosed below came from either the floor debates or the Iowa House public hearing held on the morning of February 27. It was very hard to choose just a few testimonies. You can watch the entire public hearing here or here, the full Iowa Senate floor debate here, and the Iowa House debate here.

Linda Schreiber is a member of the League of Women Voters of Johnson County.

This past week, Iowa’s legislature rolled back human rights for transgender people. Senate File 418 was rushed from draft bill to passage within a week and sent to Governor Kim Reynolds, who signed it on February 28.

Iowans should ask questions.

This law is not about transgender women playing sports. Fewer than ten collegiate student-athletes out of more than 500,000 across the country identify as transgender, Charlie Baker, the N.C.A.A. president, said in January.

Jesse Parker is a concerned citizen with an educational background in history and politics.

Donald Trump’s return to the White House is a reminder that the Democratic Party needs to recruit, revitalize, and inspire a younger voter base. Over the span of twelve years, Iowa flipped from a swing state that voted for Barack Obama to a solid red state. This year, Democrats must begin the work to flip the colors back.

While Iowa voter turnout hovered around 74 percent for the recent presidential election, young Iowans mark a problematic demographic with disappointing voter participation. Iowans aged 18-24 had an abysmal turnout rate of 29 percent in the 2022 general election, while 25–34-year-olds were only slightly more likely to participate (33 percent turnout).

Although these figures present a common trend among young voters in the nation, 2025 presents a strategic opportunity to engage with young progressives across the state.

Bruce Lear lives in Sioux City and has been connected to Iowa’s public schools for 38 years. He taught for eleven years and represented educators as an Iowa State Education Association regional director for 27 years until retiring. He can be reached at BruceLear2419@gmail.com 

We’ve all attended parties living two hours beyond when it should die. The conversation ends, the chip dip separates, there’s more empty beer cans than full. But there’s always someone trying to keep it alive. 

We all know that guy.  He tells another loud, obnoxious joke.  As yawns drown out the music, he shouts, “Let’s play a drinking game.” 

There’s a mad dash for the door. It’s time to go home.

Tanya Keith is an activist and small business owner in Des Moines.

I got a text from my oldest, who is currently in college in Massachusetts, asking me to go stand up for trans rights as the state capitol this week. Republicans in the Iowa legislature have proposed through House File 583 and Senate File 418 to strip trans and non-binary people of their civil rights. I wanted to go for my own reasons, but my child asking me to go made it an essential errand for me.

Dean Lerner served Iowa as an Assistant Attorney General for sixteen years, Chief Deputy Secretary of State for four years, and about ten years as Deputy Director, then Director of the Department of Inspections & Appeals. He then worked for the CMS Director of the Division of Nursing Homes, and the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Iowa. He is a graduate of Grinnell College and Drake University Law School.

Dear Iowa Senators Joni Ernst and Chuck Grassley:  

Subscribers to your weekly email missives sharing your proffered efforts and accomplishments are left wondering. Senator Ernst titles her newsletter “Joni on the job.” Senator Grassley invented “The Scoop, Your weekly dish from Senator Chuck Grassley.”  

Regarding “Joni on the job,” we Iowans have to admit that you’re making them squeal, but have you considered who’s being made to squeal? Of particular note, but certainly not an isolated concern, your new Secretary of Defense is leaving soldiers on the battlefield and dismissing international conventions you learned to uphold. We’re wondering where “Duty-Honor-Country” fits within your weekly self-aggrandizements.

Justin Scott is a longtime advocate for secular government, public education, and civil rights. A passionate watchdog for church-state separation, he has spent years holding elected officials accountable for their policies and rhetoric. When he’s not engaging in activism, Justin is an involved parent, dedicated community member, and unapologetic smart-ass when the situation calls for it.

For around ten years now, Sandy Salmon has been serving in the Iowa legislature.

Okay, wait, sorry. That’s not right.

Present.

She’s been present. Yes, “present” seems like a better word to describe what a lot of us feel her time in Des Moines—and back home—has been.

For those of you who have ever been her constituents, her tenure as an elected official feels a whole lot like Weekend at Bernie’s.

Randy Evans is executive director of the Iowa Freedom of Information Council, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that promotes openness and transparency in Iowa’s state and local governments. He can be reached at DMRevans2810@gmail.com.

Iowa taxpayers provided about $104 million last school year directly to parents choosing to send their K-12 children to private schools. 

The price tag for these Education Savings Accounts, commonly known as school vouchers, is expected to climb to $294 million this school year as more families become eligible. During the 2025-2026 school year, when income eligibility standards are removed, the cost is expected to reach $344 million, the nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency estimates.

I am not here to debate the merits of this program. Others can do that.

John Kenyon is the executive director of the Iowa City UNESCO City of Literature organization.

Last week I read a book from the Iowa City Public Library that depicted a sex act. Actually, more than one. According to a bill proposed in the state legislature this session, it would be illegal for the library to have that book in its collection.

That’s it. The presence of one scene negates everything else in the book in their eyes. There is no allowance for context, nuance, or artistic merit. It would simply be gone.

UPDATE: Following committee passage, this bill was renumbered House File 583. The companion legislation is Senate File 418. Both chambers approved the bill on February 27, and Governor Kim Reynolds signed Senate File 418 into law the following day. The law will go into effect on July 1, 2025. Original post follows.

Republican members of the Iowa House and Senate have introduced dozens of bills targeting LGBTQ people since the GOP gained full control of state government in 2017. But the latest bill to drop broke new ground in several ways.

House Judiciary Committee chair Steven Holt introduced House Study Bill 242, “an Act relating to sex and gender,” on February 20. He intends to put it on a fast track to Governor Kim Reynolds’ desk. A subcommittee meeting is scheduled for Monday, February 24, at 11:00 a.m. Republican State Representative Brian Lohse posted on Facebook that the plan is for the full Judiciary Committee to consider the bill on Monday afternoon, and for leaders to bring it up for a House floor vote on February 27.

On its face, the bill would ensure that transgender and nonbinary Iowans have no legal protection against discrimination and no official recognition of their gender identity.

In addition, the bill’s impact could extend beyond the LGBTQ community to threaten civil rights protections for other groups.

Herb Strentz was dean of the Drake School of Journalism from 1975 to 1988 and professor there until retirement in 2004. He was executive secretary of the Iowa Freedom of Information Council from its founding in 1976 to 2000.

A sign of our times: a satirical T-shirt from the RAYGUN store in Des Moines offers better perspective on a political controversy than you’ll get from a Congressional hearing or the vigilante operation of President Donald Trump and Elon Musk. Using humor—an alternative to despair—the T-shirt highlights one small aspect of Trump’s reckless, damaging first few weeks in office.

With so many issues, lies, and likely unconstitutional actions in play, where does one begin? 

Let’s start with the Lutheran Crime Syndicate.

Anne Kinzel is a former attorney and Californian now living in central Iowa. Anne speaks three languages: English, French, and Policy, which allows her to take arcane policy concepts and translate them into language that consumers, voters, and policy makers can appreciate and use.

How many consultants has the Democratic establishment hired over the years to help them understand why they aren’t connecting with voters and non-voters? It’s likely more than the $250 million Elon Musk spent to buy the election.

Why don’t the Democrats connect well enough with Americans? It’s all about who has your back and who your true friends are—those who stand by you in a crisis.

I am certain that we are in a serious crisis. Every day, my Washington Democratic acquaintances bombard me with messages and spammy emails declaring that our country, our democracy, all of us are facing an existential crisis brought on by the authoritarian criminal Donald Trump and his twisted accomplice, Elon Musk. The essence of my Dem friends’ messages is this: send money to help us get re-elected, and everything will be fine.

Bruce Lear lives in Sioux City and has been connected to Iowa’s public schools for 38 years. He taught for eleven years and represented educators as an Iowa State Education Association regional director for 27 years until retiring. He can be reached at BruceLear2419@gmail.com 

Imagine being appointed to be the president of a huge tech company. You have no experience or knowledge of tech. Your 11-year-old grandson taught you once how to turn on a computer, but that’s the limit of your tech knowledge. You’re a modern-day Luddite.

Most of your experience is in showbiz. The chairman of the board loved your show and even made guest appearances. The other board members are afraid of the chairman, so when he shouts, “jump!” They whimper, “How high?”

You’ve received your orders from the chairman. His goal is to dismantle the company regardless of harm. You’re hired to destroy, not reform.

Randy Evans is executive director of the Iowa Freedom of Information Council, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that promotes openness and transparency in Iowa’s state and local governments. He can be reached at DMRevans2810@gmail.com.

When Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, John Adams, and others discussed the need for a Bill of Rights to the U.S. Constitution, Decatur County, Iowa, was still a half century off in the future.

Now, 236 years later, the county’s top law enforcement official needs a refresher on the intent of the 45 words the Founding Fathers settled on when drafting the First Amendment.

County Attorney Alan Wilson ought to review three of the five fundamental freedoms the First Amendment protects: the freedoms of speech, of the press, and to petition the government for a “redress of grievances.”

Exercising those rights is exactly what Rita Audlehelm of Van Wert did in a letter to the editor the Leon Journal-Reporter published on February 5.

Dr. Shawn Ellerbroek, Wartburg College Professor of Biochemistry and Direstor of Student Research, previously was a full-time cancer research scientist at the University of North Carolina and remains active in cancer research. He currently serves as a member of the Waverly-Shell Rock School Board. This essay first appeared in the Waverly Democrat on February 13.

Cancer sucks. And Iowa, once again, has the second highest cancer rate in the country. Our cancer rates are rising faster than any state, so unfortunately we could soon be number one in America. 

Sometimes I hear, “Oh, it is because Iowa has more old people.” Age does matter when it comes to cancer, but that is not the reason; Iowa’s median age (39.1) is near the national median (39.2) and the same as states whose cancer rates are dropping. 

As a cancer research scientist, I’ve read and heard many opinions about what might be causing Iowa’s cancer problem. Cancer is multifactorial, meaning many chemicals (and UV light) can cause and promote it, making it a big challenge to pinpoint primary causes. 

Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird enjoyed suing the Biden administration. She filed or joined more than a dozen multi-state lawsuits against the federal government during her first year in office alone. At least a dozen more lawsuits followed in 2024.

Bird has often welcomed media coverage of her legal battles against Biden administration policies. Her office issued many press releases to announce new litigation or joint letters challenging the federal government.

But Bird’s office kept quiet about one case, which Iowa and sixteen other Republican-controlled states filed in the Northern District of Texas last September. Texas v. Becerra could prove catastrophic for Americans with disabilities. Not only are the plaintiffs seeking to vacate a federal rule prohibiting discrimination against disabled people in health care settings, they are also asking the court to declare a 1973 law known as Section 504 unconstitutional and unenforceable.

After reporters began asking questions about that lawsuit last week, Bird and her staff lied repeatedly about the scope of the case and the plaintiffs’ goals.

Brian Bruening lives in Clayton County and has been involved in Democratic Party leadership since 2017. He is on Bluesky at @iowarural.bsky.social.

When I wrote just under two years ago about my unsuccessful bid for the Iowa House, I affirmed the importance of running as a Democratic candidate in a very red district and said I would do so again. Last fall, I made good on that commitment, and ran for Iowa Senate district 32, with similar results. We ran a lean campaign, raising and spending a little more than $21,000 in a three month span starting from my nomination via special convention in late July through Election Day.

Having long ago given up on expecting much help from the state party beyond a phone call or two and some technical assistance, I relied on local volunteers and county party infrastructure to spread my message. I created and sent out targeted online and streaming ads, sent text messages, direct-to-door mailers, distributed hundreds of signs and banners, filled local airwaves with radio ads, participated anyway I could in local newspapers and TV, and spoke and debated throughout the district.

I focused on issues that directly affected voters in local communities: public education and defunding of the Area Education Agencies, health care, and rural economics, all the most potent issues the Iowa Democratic Party told us to run on. I added water quality issues to my platform, something our Big Ag-beholden state Democratic Party seemingly doesn’t have the stomach to discuss. The end results were as expected: the Republican incumbent held his seat with 64.6 percent of the vote.

Jason Benell lives in Des Moines with his wife and two children. He is a combat veteran, former city council candidate, and president of Iowa Atheists and Freethinkers and the author of the Substack newsletter The Odd Man Out.

Iowa used to be a state of Firsts. It was introduced as a free state to counter Texas as a slave state into the United States. Iowa was famous for its participation in the Civil War on the side of the Union. Iowa has such a steeped and storied history in education that leaders chose a schoolhouse for the state’s commemorative quarter, to demonstrate how much Iowans value education. The Iowa Supreme Court ruled that school segregation was unconstitutional 86 years before the U.S. Supreme Court mandated desegregation nationally. 

The rights of women via the suffragists were a massive force in Iowa. The University of Iowa was a destination for many award-winning writers like Kurt Vonnegut, and Iowa State University broke racial barriers with Jack Trice and George Washington Carver. Iowa was among the first states to legalize same sex marriage in 2009 before it was done nationally. Governor Robert Ray, a Republican, became famous for welcoming immigrants, setting up a refugee center for thousands of Tai Dam refugees during the 1970s.

That positive impact is still felt today.

Glenn Branch is the deputy director of the National Center for Science Education, a nonprofit organization that promotes and defends accurate and effective science education. 

As Iowa continues the process of reviewing and revising its state science standards—which establish the goals for what knowledge and skills students in the state’s public schools are expected to attain—a remark from a famous transient Iowan comes to mind. Offering advice for aspiring writers, Mark Twain emphasized that “the difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter,” adding, “’tis the difference between the lightning-bug and the lightning.”

As the Cedar Rapids Gazette previously reported, after the committee of 37 Iowa educators and scientists charged with revising the standards completed its work, the Iowa Department of Education took it upon itself to scrub phrases like “evolution” and “climate change” and a reference to the 4.6-billion-year age of the earth from the draft that was then presented to the public. There was no acknowledgement of the department’s intervention until members of the committee protested.

State Senator Liz Bennett and State Representative Aime Wichtendahl co-authored this commentary, which first appeared in the Cedar Rapids Gazette. Bennett represents Senate district 39 and is District 39 and is the ranking member of the Senate Technology Committee. Wichtendahl represents House district 80 and serves on the House Economic Growth and Technology Committee.

On January 31, 2025, the largest data breach in U.S. history occurred when Elon Musk accessed the United States Treasury systems. The data accessed is, in effect, the nation’s checkbook. Financial transactions detailing the who, what, where, and when of every payment the United States makes, as well as the Social Security numbers of millions of Americans were compromised.

According to reports, then-unnamed affiliates of Musk were also granted access and external hard drives were brought in to capture the data for offsite storage. While these affiliates are now being called employees of the “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE), none of them have gone through the rigorous background checks used to vet other federal employees at this level.

Bruce Lear lives in Sioux City and has been connected to Iowa’s public schools for 38 years. He taught for eleven years and represented educators as an Iowa State Education Association regional director for 27 years until retiring. He can be reached at BruceLear2419@gmail.com  

In the fall of 1975, I was a freshman at Central College in Pella, Iowa. I had spent the summer detasseling corn, so college rescued me from dew-drenched mornings and sweat-dripping afternoons.

I graduated from high school with twelve other students. I wasn’t the valedictorian or even salutatorian, but I was in the top ten. With that academic record, graduation from college was the goal, but it certainly wasn’t a given.

Like all freshmen, I first had to conquer general education requirements. One of those was a religion class. I attended Sunday school and church my whole life, so I registered for New Testament.

I wouldn’t have guessed President Donald Trump’s lawsuit over the pre-election Iowa Poll could assert claims any more outlandish than the original court filing in December.

Enter U.S. Representative Mariannette Miller-Meeks and former State Senator Brad Zaun.

The Des Moines Register’s William Morris was first to report on February 4 that Miller-Meeks and Zaun signed on as plaintiffs in Trump’s case against J. Ann Selzer, her polling company, the Des Moines Register, and its parent company Gannett. The suit alleges that the inaccurate poll (which suggested Democratic nominee Kamala Harris was leading Trump in Iowa) was an “unfair act or practice” under Iowa’s consumer fraud statute. It further claims defendants “engaged in this misconduct to improperly influence the outcome of the 2024 Presidential Election.”

Adding plaintiffs who are Iowa residents will help Trump get the case moved back to state court, where he originally filed. Attorneys for Gannett used a legal maneuver in December to remove the case to federal court.

For Miller-Meeks, there’s political upside as well: demonstrating her allegiance to Trump may help her fend off a second primary challenge from MAGA Republican David Pautsch.

But let’s be clear: Miller-Meeks and Zaun have even less basis to claim the Iowa Poll harmed them than Trump does.