Today, citizens of Iowa’s 4th Congressional District went to the U.S. Representative Randy Feenstra’s office to protest the passage of the House Republicans proposed budget resolution.
The budget being proposed by house republicans requests that the Committee on Agriculture reduce the deficit by not less than $230 billion.
One of the programs that would be impacted is the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. About 265,000 Iowans use the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program which is about 8% of the state’s population.
When asked about cuts to the program U.S. Representative Randy Feenstra told Siouxland Public Media, “SNAP overpayments cost American taxpayers more than $10 billion every year”.
The USDA food and nutrition service works closely with state and federal, law enforcement, snap retailers, and processors to prevent, detect, and eliminate fraud in the SNAP program.
The House Republicans have a goal of cutting $2 trillion from federal government spending, which covers programs like medicare, medicaid, and social security.
Ryan Akerberg, Communications Chair of the Woodbury County Democrats, said the budget resolution would increase debt, take away food assistance, defund projects that reimburse farmers, and create a huge cut to medicaid.
Speaker Mike Johnson is attempting to gather votes to pass the resolution this evening as of the deadline of this report.
* Additionally, Republicans on a Senate panel advanced a bill today (Tuesday) to remove state anti-discrimination protections for transgender Iowans. The bill would remove gender identity as a protected characteristic from the Iowa Civil Rights Act.
The Senate hearing came a day after House Republicans advanced the proposal through their judiciary committee. Republicans in both chambers are fast-tracking the bill after introducing it last Thursday.
Protesters came to the Statehouse again today (Tuesday) to oppose the bill, but not nearly as many as the few hundred people who protested yesterday (on Monday).
The bill is expected to get a vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee tomorrow (Wednesday), and there’s a public hearing on the bill set for Thursday morning. Republican lawmakers could vote on the bill and send it to the governor’s desk for her signature as soon as Thursday.
*In other news, Iowa House lawmakers on Tuesday advanced a bill in a subcommittee that would require medication abortion providers to give information about abortion reversal options.
The bill requires clinics to post a sign and have providers tell patients that medication abortion isn’t always effective, and it might be possible to reverse the procedure.
Supporters of the bill say it gives those seeking an abortion additional information.
Kristi Judkins is the executive director of Iowa Right to Life.
“Women deserve to know the complications, risks and threats of chemical abortion. Women need to be told that they may not get rid of the baby,” Judkins said.
Opponents say it requires providers to give people misleading and inaccurate information.
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists says abortion reversal procedures are unproven and unethical. It recommends providers do not prescribe medication to stop an abortion due to a lack of evidence that it is safe and effective.
*Additionally in the Legislature, school districts would have to offer a firearm safety course to 7th through 12th graders under a bill that advanced Tuesday in the Iowa House.
Districts would also be encouraged to cover firearm safety for kindergarten through 6th grade, using curriculum based on the Eddie Eagle program developed by the National Rifle Association.
Republican Representative John Wills, of Spirit Lake, supports the proposal. Wills said schools wouldn’t have to offer in-person classes on campus to meet the requirement.
“All the schools have to do is offer an option. And I believe NRA has an online option, so the schools wouldn't need to now, they could if they wanted it. We're going to leave that up to them, but they just offer to the students this firearm safety program that they can do online through the NRA,” Wills said.
A similar measure considered two years ago failed to advance.
Democratic Representative Beth Wessel-Kroeschell, of Ames, voted against the bill and said the decision to offer firearm safety classes should be left to local control.
The bill is now headed to the House Public Safety Committee.
*In other news, a Nebraska proposal that supporters say would protect children from compulsive use of social media ran into First Amendment concerns in the Legislature Tuesday.
Sen. Carolyn Bosn introduced the bill (LB504) for Gov. Jim Pillen, targeting design features used by online companies to appeal to children.
The legislation says it aims to prevent compulsive use and psychological harm, including anxiety and depression. It would restrict features like infinite scrolling and push notifications, and prohibit targeting advertising to users under age 18.
Bosn said it’s that targeting, not the content of the advertising, that she’s trying to address. She used an analogy to illustrate the difference.
State Senator George Dungan said he agrees with the goal of the bill, to prevent psychological harm. But he criticized the way it is written, which he said gives the attorney general the power to decide whether specific content being pushed through features like infinite scrolling causes that harm.
State Senator John Cavanaugh said that was an example of the proposal’s possible threat to free speech.
