Trump in Iowa, state legislative news, Chuck Grassley's recovery, and more

March 20 "Capitol Week" is online

Mar 22, 2023

My father taught me never to start a presentation with an apology, but must say that I am sorry to be so late in sending out this week’s audio and recap from KHOI’s “Capitol Week.”

The Iowa legislature’s website was down on Monday evening, when I normally pull this post together, with links to the various bills Dennis Hart and I discussed. I spent most of Tuesday observing Iowa legislative proceedings, including a wild House floor debate (we’ll get to that next week) and a House Environmental Committee presentation related to carbon dioxide pipeline safety.

On to the March 20 edition! Remember, you can listen to any of the 112 shows Dennis and I have recorded on KHOI’s website.

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Topics Dennis and I covered:

Former President Donald Trump’s call for protests as a possible criminal indictment in New York looms;
Highlights from Trump’s remarks in Davenport last week and how he interacted with the large crowd (you can find the video on C-SPAN and the full transcript from his speech here);
Former Vice President Mike Pence’s latest Iowa visit and his comments about the criminal investigation related to Trump (I am skeptical that there’s a large Iowa Republican constituency for the middle road Pence is trying to navigate);
Signs that prominent Iowa Republicans don’t see any need to distance themselves from Trump;
Last Thursday’s Des Moines visit by Vice President Kamala Harris, where she attended a roundtable to discuss reproductive rights;
The reproductive rights package Iowa House Democrats unveiled this week, including a state constitutional amendment that would protect abortion rights (the only part of this that has any chance of passing soon is over-the-counter birth control);
Senator Joni Ernst was the lead sponsor of a bill that would block a Pentagon policy designed to preserve abortion access for military service members stationed in states where the procedure is mostly banned (I wrote more about this at Bleeding Heartland);
A new Iowa Poll by Selzer & Co for the Des Moines Register, showing that President Joe Biden’s approval rating is quite low here;
The Iowa House gave final approval to Governor Kim Reynolds’ huge plan to reorganize state government, with only minor changes (I’m still working on an in-depth post about Senate File 514);
The Iowa House approved a “bathroom bill” (Senate File 482) that would prohibit schools from allowing transgender people to use facilities that align with their gender identity (I wrote a deep dive on prospects for this measure to survive a legal challenge);
The Iowa Senate amended a bill (Senate File 326) to provide over-the-counter hormonal birth control, as a stand-alone measure (for some reason they took that provision out of the governor’s wide-ranging health bill as it moved through committee);
The Iowa Senate Ways and Means Committee advanced a bill that would gradually eliminate the state’s personal income tax (this is now numbered Senate File 552);
The latest Iowa Poll findings related to income and property tax cuts;
The Iowa Poll finding on proposed restrictions to what people could buy with federal food assistance (I have real problems with the question wording here, because the main point of that legislation will be establishing an asset test likely to kick thousands of Iowans off food assistance);
The Iowa Poll finding on the governor’s school voucher proposal (I was surprised by how many Republicans oppose this policy);
The Iowa Poll finding showing that a plurality of Iowans approve of the work the legislature is doing;
The Iowa Poll finding that an overwhelming majority of Iowans oppose the use of eminent domain for carbon dioxide pipelines (the state House is expected to vote March 22 on House File 565, which would restrict the practice);
A strange Iowa House debate last week that ended with ten Republicans voting against what was expected to be a unanimous vote for a bipartisan pharmacy bill (House File 555);
The latest news related to a bill (Senate File 516) that would limit the state’s acquisition of land for preservation;
The Board of Regents ordering a review of diversity, equity, and inclusion programs at Iowa’s three state universities, which is an apparent attempt to stave off a bill (House File 616) that would ban spending on DEI programming;
Senator Chuck Grassley’s perfect attendance record for Senate floor votes this year, despite undergoing hip surgery (Politico reported this week that Grassley is now walking with a cane after using a wheelchair during the early part of his recovery);
The passing of former U.S. Representative Pat Schroeder; she was best known as the first woman elected to Congress from Colorado, but she grew up in Des Moines and graduated from Roosevelt High School.