Excellent, informed article, using the exact language of the court filing. I also appreciate the use of the word "lie" instead of the softer substitutes such as "mischaracterization," etc. This was no off-the-cuff error by the AG and her staff members. You gave them several opportunities and several days to correct themselves.
I saved the email exchange I had with someone named Jordan from the AG’s office. Jordan wrote there was a lot of “misinformation” going around about the lawsuit and included a pdf of the lawsuit so I could read it myself. I wrote back that I had already read it and pointed out the pg number and line where the lawsuit requested Section be declared unconstitutional. Jordan did not respond back. I’ve save the emails if anyone needs them. Thanks for your reporting!!!
Fantastic reporting and proof that I don't have to follow the noise-making national media to understand how national politics affects local life - my life. I find your work stimulating and consistently more informative than my old diet of legacy news outlets. Thanks.
Thank you so much for this detailed reporting - I’m a disabled adult, my son has a 504 plan for dyslexia at school, and I’ve been trying to learn more about this after learning about the suit and then seeing the AG’s denials. I have noticed a constant, if slightly muted, undercurrent in the ongoing anti-DEI deluge from the Trump administration specifically targeting Americans with disabilities. The first time it really struck me was when Trump kept dwelling on the FAA making an effort to provide work opportunities for disabled people, including people with intellectual disabilities. He hit that hard a few times in his remarks after the January plane crash. I half expected to hear the ‘r’ word come out of his mouth. Since then it just keeps popping up as they try to tear up civil rights laws and take an axe to the federal workforce. You feel like they couldn’t possibly mean to be targeting disabled people on purpose, and maybe this lawsuit is just more boilerplate anti-trans bigotry. But I’m not at all sure that’s the case. She certainly seems to be more comfortable beating up on trans children and attacking DEI generally, but I still think going after disability rights like this has to be on purpose. She’s possibly a mediocre attorney, but I assume she and her staff can at least read.
according to his niece Mary Trump (who has her own Substack) he thinks disabled people should be in institutions or allowed to die. fits with his Nazi ideology...
Yes, and I think we’re seeing now it’s a wider MAGA phenomenon as well and one they’re willing to put policy behind. In the Iowa context, it’s also important to note that private schools - which aren’t required to follow many of the rules for disabled students that public schools do - still have to follow Sec. 504. And that might be an incentive to want to see it gone as well, although not one I would expect them to admit.
Excellent journalism!! Thank you for your in-depth reporting, exposing the truth of what’s going on! It’s refreshing to read the word “lie” instead of the euphemisms that are now commonly used because lying is exactly what’s going on! Keep up the great work!
I commend your tireless persistence regarding this very important matter. I'd think that maybe at least some of Bird's staff would see the obvious lies and decide to abandon their job, but in the times we are now in, where Republican officeholders of every stripe are lying like rugs, that may be too much to expect.
You are absolutely on point. I've used 504 to sue Government agencies for not accommodating people with disabilities in various functions - one example being the Social Security Administration making people with mental health disabilities fill out a million pages of paperwork to apply for disability benefits when their very disability prevented them from doing it. We lost the case but got the agencies to change up its policies to an extent. 504 matters for many many things besides schools and if it were to be gone lawyers would find it much harder to hold any government agency or private entity receiving federal funds accountable to upholding the rights of people with disabilities.
Agreed on just about anything that goes to them. 504 is a hidden big one though - the ADA for example is hugely important also but not a substitute for 504. Some cases are brought under both but some are only 504 cases.
I deeply admire your objectivity and fairness. With respect, Bird no longer deserves any benefit of the doubt. I honestly don’t know what possibility constituency she is fighting for. It’s not Iowans in general. It’s not merely the corporate class, in particular agribusiness, though she seems willing to sacrifice everything to allow degradation to our environment and water supply, growth in cancer rates, and shortsightedness on the use of our topsoil. It’s not exclusively the Christian extremists. And when I saw that she had, of course, chosen to join this awful lawsuit (my kid has had a 504 though most of his years in school), I figured she had just found another way to support the sudden and dramatic erosion of decency in our state. So who is paying her to do what she is doing and how did the electorate move so dramatically from a solid, typically centrist Iowan like Tom Miller?
Certainly I am not giving her the benefit of the doubt on this topic anymore. I figured that on Monday she probably wasn't prepared to answer questions about this case.
I’ll share the response I got from the AG’s office after I wrote asking them to withdraw from Texas vs. Becerra, and why, based on my previous 14 years as a public educator in an Iowa high school. I’m sure it’s the same as what others have been told. (Yes, I replied to this with terse, yet professional, language.)
Here’s their response:
Kathy,
Thank you for reaching out to our office and voicing your concerns.
We are not eliminating 504 or changing current plans. The lawsuit focuses on the illegal attempt to include gender dysphoria as a disability for school accommodations.
Kathy: when I write AG Bird I am anything but professional. The bad news is that I never hear back from them. The good news is that I feel better. I am grateful, however, that professionals like you and Laura are taking the time to do the work that emotionals, like me, can't. Thank you.
Great Job! As someone with a disability--I fell three stories as a union ironworker in June 1973--it's always been a struggle for me to hold steady employ. Meanwhile, it seems that AG Bird hops on the Trump's lie-train express like 17 senators and congressmen. In addition, trying to end protections for student's with a disabilities...a huge step backwards. As a substitute teacher in the South Sioux City District these last 13 years, I have worked, on occasion, with students who are disabled. Anything to debase or limit then--I see that Red Neck Nebraska also jumped on board with evil Texas decision to limit/eliminate ADA. They all should be ashamed of themselves!
I’m bothered that I missed this article until now. I appreciate your journalistic integrity and your coverage. I have so much to learn about Iowa politics, yet one thing is clear - Brenna Bird is not the only Republican freely lying without compunction.
It would appear that the State AG office is afraid of you and your questions. Thank you for the great reporting and investigating you do.
Excellent, informed article, using the exact language of the court filing. I also appreciate the use of the word "lie" instead of the softer substitutes such as "mischaracterization," etc. This was no off-the-cuff error by the AG and her staff members. You gave them several opportunities and several days to correct themselves.
I saved the email exchange I had with someone named Jordan from the AG’s office. Jordan wrote there was a lot of “misinformation” going around about the lawsuit and included a pdf of the lawsuit so I could read it myself. I wrote back that I had already read it and pointed out the pg number and line where the lawsuit requested Section be declared unconstitutional. Jordan did not respond back. I’ve save the emails if anyone needs them. Thanks for your reporting!!!
I would very much like to read them (would not publish your full name or email address). Curious to see what they are telling "ordinary people."
Thank goodness for Laura Belin and the truth. We need more of it from everyone.
Fantastic reporting and proof that I don't have to follow the noise-making national media to understand how national politics affects local life - my life. I find your work stimulating and consistently more informative than my old diet of legacy news outlets. Thanks.
Thank you Bill, that is very kind.
Thank you so much for this detailed reporting - I’m a disabled adult, my son has a 504 plan for dyslexia at school, and I’ve been trying to learn more about this after learning about the suit and then seeing the AG’s denials. I have noticed a constant, if slightly muted, undercurrent in the ongoing anti-DEI deluge from the Trump administration specifically targeting Americans with disabilities. The first time it really struck me was when Trump kept dwelling on the FAA making an effort to provide work opportunities for disabled people, including people with intellectual disabilities. He hit that hard a few times in his remarks after the January plane crash. I half expected to hear the ‘r’ word come out of his mouth. Since then it just keeps popping up as they try to tear up civil rights laws and take an axe to the federal workforce. You feel like they couldn’t possibly mean to be targeting disabled people on purpose, and maybe this lawsuit is just more boilerplate anti-trans bigotry. But I’m not at all sure that’s the case. She certainly seems to be more comfortable beating up on trans children and attacking DEI generally, but I still think going after disability rights like this has to be on purpose. She’s possibly a mediocre attorney, but I assume she and her staff can at least read.
Thank you for reading. As I'm sure you are aware, Donald Trump seems to have a real problem with disabled people.
according to his niece Mary Trump (who has her own Substack) he thinks disabled people should be in institutions or allowed to die. fits with his Nazi ideology...
Yes, and I think we’re seeing now it’s a wider MAGA phenomenon as well and one they’re willing to put policy behind. In the Iowa context, it’s also important to note that private schools - which aren’t required to follow many of the rules for disabled students that public schools do - still have to follow Sec. 504. And that might be an incentive to want to see it gone as well, although not one I would expect them to admit.
Excellent journalism!! Thank you for your in-depth reporting, exposing the truth of what’s going on! It’s refreshing to read the word “lie” instead of the euphemisms that are now commonly used because lying is exactly what’s going on! Keep up the great work!
I commend your tireless persistence regarding this very important matter. I'd think that maybe at least some of Bird's staff would see the obvious lies and decide to abandon their job, but in the times we are now in, where Republican officeholders of every stripe are lying like rugs, that may be too much to expect.
Laura, keep up the great reporting.
Thank you for pointing these outrageous statements by our Iowa Attorney General and the failure of media reporting.
You are absolutely on point. I've used 504 to sue Government agencies for not accommodating people with disabilities in various functions - one example being the Social Security Administration making people with mental health disabilities fill out a million pages of paperwork to apply for disability benefits when their very disability prevented them from doing it. We lost the case but got the agencies to change up its policies to an extent. 504 matters for many many things besides schools and if it were to be gone lawyers would find it much harder to hold any government agency or private entity receiving federal funds accountable to upholding the rights of people with disabilities.
I wish I were confident SCOTUS would reject these arguments, but as we've seen they are not afraid to upend decades-old precedents.
Agreed on just about anything that goes to them. 504 is a hidden big one though - the ADA for example is hugely important also but not a substitute for 504. Some cases are brought under both but some are only 504 cases.
I deeply admire your objectivity and fairness. With respect, Bird no longer deserves any benefit of the doubt. I honestly don’t know what possibility constituency she is fighting for. It’s not Iowans in general. It’s not merely the corporate class, in particular agribusiness, though she seems willing to sacrifice everything to allow degradation to our environment and water supply, growth in cancer rates, and shortsightedness on the use of our topsoil. It’s not exclusively the Christian extremists. And when I saw that she had, of course, chosen to join this awful lawsuit (my kid has had a 504 though most of his years in school), I figured she had just found another way to support the sudden and dramatic erosion of decency in our state. So who is paying her to do what she is doing and how did the electorate move so dramatically from a solid, typically centrist Iowan like Tom Miller?
Certainly I am not giving her the benefit of the doubt on this topic anymore. I figured that on Monday she probably wasn't prepared to answer questions about this case.
I’ll share the response I got from the AG’s office after I wrote asking them to withdraw from Texas vs. Becerra, and why, based on my previous 14 years as a public educator in an Iowa high school. I’m sure it’s the same as what others have been told. (Yes, I replied to this with terse, yet professional, language.)
Here’s their response:
Kathy,
Thank you for reaching out to our office and voicing your concerns.
We are not eliminating 504 or changing current plans. The lawsuit focuses on the illegal attempt to include gender dysphoria as a disability for school accommodations.
Please keep up to date with our office by following our social media and accessing our Newsroom https://www.iowaattorneygeneral.gov/newsroom.
Thanks,
Jordean
Thank you for sharing that. It sounds like they are sending the same form letter to everyone.
Kathy: when I write AG Bird I am anything but professional. The bad news is that I never hear back from them. The good news is that I feel better. I am grateful, however, that professionals like you and Laura are taking the time to do the work that emotionals, like me, can't. Thank you.
Great Job! As someone with a disability--I fell three stories as a union ironworker in June 1973--it's always been a struggle for me to hold steady employ. Meanwhile, it seems that AG Bird hops on the Trump's lie-train express like 17 senators and congressmen. In addition, trying to end protections for student's with a disabilities...a huge step backwards. As a substitute teacher in the South Sioux City District these last 13 years, I have worked, on occasion, with students who are disabled. Anything to debase or limit then--I see that Red Neck Nebraska also jumped on board with evil Texas decision to limit/eliminate ADA. They all should be ashamed of themselves!
I’m bothered that I missed this article until now. I appreciate your journalistic integrity and your coverage. I have so much to learn about Iowa politics, yet one thing is clear - Brenna Bird is not the only Republican freely lying without compunction.
Your analysis is compelling reading. The AG’s dodge of questions is (as been since elected) disheartening.
Thank you for reading. It was quite a lot to take in!