Democratic members of the Iowa Senate on Wednesday chose Sen. Pam Jochum of Dubuque to serve as the Democratic Leader of the Iowa Senate.

“I am honored to receive the unanimous support of my fellow Democratic Senators during this critical moment for our caucus and the state of Iowa,” Senate Democratic Leader Pam Jochum said. 

“As a united team, Senate Democrats will continue to fight for the principles we believe in on behalf of the people of Iowa. We’re fighting for strong working families and the rights and freedoms of all people. We’re fighting for high-quality public education and affordable, accessible healthcare in every community.” 

“Senate Democrats look forward to offering a better way forward for the people of Iowa – in 2024 and beyond. We’re going to defend our incumbent senators, grow our caucus, and win a majority that delivers for middle class Iowans.” 

“I want to thank Sen. Wahls for his vision and leadership in guiding our caucus over the last three legislative sessions.”  

Pam Jochum is serving her fourth term in the Iowa Senate and represents  District 36, which encompasses the city of Dubuque and part of Dubuque County. She previously served as Senate President and most recently as an Assistant Democratic Leader.

Throughout her tenure in the statehouse, Jochum has played a leading role in expanding affordable health insurance coverage to thousands of working Iowans and has stood up for citizens with disabilities to protect their health services when the governor privatized Iowa’s Medicaid system. 

Her influence is evident throughout Iowa law—from historic property tax cuts to revitalizing manufacturing to nationally acclaimed legislation on ethanol production, wind energy, solar energy and flood mitigation programs. 

Born and raised in Dubuque, Jochum earned the value of a hard-day’s work from her parents, and the meaning of empathy and dignity from her daughter, Sarah. In addition to her legislative service, she worked as an administrator at Loras College, and at an insurance agency, Legal Aid, in financial services. 

The next session of the Iowa General Assembly will convene on Monday, January 8, 2024.

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Feds confirm: Child Labor Investigations Underway in Iowa

Several aspects of the child-labor expansion bill passed by Iowa Republican lawmakers this year explicitly violate federal labor law.

That’s the conclusion found in a letter sent this month from the U.S. Department of Labor to Iowa Democratic legislators, who had asked the department to review the legislation. The letter also confirms there are active child labor investigations underway in Iowa. 

The child-labor expansion bill, Senate File 542, was passed by Republican politicians on May 3, but has not yet been signed into law by Gov. Kim Reynolds. 

“This letter confirms what we’ve argued since this debate began: in the rush to expand child labor in Iowa, Republican legislators will be inviting businesses to break federal law,” Sen. Nate Boulton, D-Des Moines, said. “Protections against unsafe and exploitative child labor are there for a reason, and failed measures to address Iowa’s workforce crisis is no excuse to undermine those safeguards.”

“Now it’s been confirmed: SF 542 violates federal law. Gov. Reynolds needs to veto this dangerous, unlawful bill to protect Iowa kids and ensure legal clarity for Iowa employers,” Boulton said.

“With active child investigations underway in Iowa, now is not the time to put more kids at risk in dangerous working environments,” said Rep. Jeff Cooling, D- Cedar Rapids, Ranking Member of the House Labor & Workforce Committee. “Since this bill was pushed by out-of-state special interests, the Governor should do what’s best for Iowans and veto the bill. It’s bad for Iowa kids, parents, and local Iowa businesses who may get fined.”

The letter, signed by two top officials at the U.S. Department of Labor, finds that SF 542 “appears to be inconsistent with federal child labor law in several respects.”

It finds that: 

• SF 542 allows 14- and 15-year-olds to perform non-incidental work in meat freezers – which is explicitly prohibited under federal law. 
• SF 542 allows 14- and 15-year-olds to work in industrial laundries and “perform light assembly work” – both of which are likely prohibited under federal law.
• SF 542 expands the hours 14- and 15-year-olds may work to between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. during the school year and between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m. over the summer. Federal law says they may only work between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. during the school year and 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. over the summer. 
• SF 542 expands the hours 14- and 15-year-olds can work to 6 hours on a school day and up to 28 hours a week during the school year. This also violates federal law, which limits work hours to 3 hours on a school day and no more than 18 hours per week during the school year. 

The letter also confirms that the Department is actively investigating incidents of illegal child labor in Iowa.

“…the Department currently has over 600 child labor investigations underway nationwide, including in Iowa, and continues to field complaints and initiate investigations to protect children under the federal child labor laws,” the letter states.

The letter clarifies that “states cannot nullify federal requirements by enacting less protective standards” and pledges to keep a closer watch on child labor in Iowa: “The Department will continue to closely monitor the status of child labor laws in Iowa and their potential ramifications for federal child labor law enforcement.”

Dated May 10, 2023, the response came after an initial letter sent by seven Democratic lawmakers on March 14 seeking the Department of Labor’s opinion on the legality of the proposed legislation. While SF 542 was amended after the lawmakers’ initial request was sent, the conflicts to federal law identified by the Department of Labor remain in the final version of the legislation that passed on May 3.

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Iowa state Sen. Janet Petersen on Tuesday called on Gov Kim Reynolds to use her line-item veto power to resist a nearly $30 million cut to Iowa’s Area Education Agencies in the recently passed state budget.

“The state budget approved by Republican lawmakers slashes $22 million from special education services while handing over $107 million in Iowa taxpayer dollars to pay for Republicans’ new private school voucher program,” Sen. Janet Petersen, D-Des Moines, said.

“Iowans should be outraged. Taking away millions of dollars from our children’s special education services in every region of the state to pay for her new private school voucher program is wrong,” Petersen said. “Governor Reynolds should veto the cut.”

Republican majorities in the Iowa House and Senate passed a budget earlier this month that reduces funding to the agencies by a total of $29.5 million – despite a $2 billion state budget surplus and Iowa’s growing need for AEA services.

AEAs provide special education services to both public and private schools on a regional basis. Demand for those services will grow in coming years – and funding will decrease – as more students use vouchers to attend private schools that do not provide in-school special education services.

The bill containing the budget cuts has passed the legislature, but it has not yet been signed into law. Gov. Reynolds has the authority to strike specific line items from budget bills, meaning that she could remove $22 million in AEA budget cuts while approving the remainder of the bill.

Petersen on Tuesday also encouraged Iowans to contact the governor and add their voices to the call to preserve funding for children’s AEAs and special education in Iowa.

“Please call the governor’s office at 515-281-5211 and let her know that our AEAs provide vital services to Iowa’s kids who need it most,” Petersen said. “If the state can afford $107 million to subsidize exclusive private schools, it can also afford $22 million to ensure quality special education services continue in every Iowa community.”

Petersen, D-Des Moines, is the ranking member on the Senate Appropriations Committee, which leads the budget-writing process in the Senate.

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Iowa State Senator Herman Quirmbach, D-Ames, released the following statement on proposed tuition increases for next year at Iowa State University, the University of Iowa, and the University of Northern Iowa.

A 3.5-percent tuition hike for in-state students as well as substantial fee increases were considered on Thursday by the Iowa Board of Regents.

“The tuition hikes considered today are just the latest result of Statehouse Republicans’ failure to support Iowans and build a stronger future for our state,” State Sen. Herman Quirmbach said.  “These increases will make it harder for Iowans to go to college and will push many students further into debt.”

“Our state is facing a critical shortage of skilled workers. Instead of investing in our workforce and making it easier for Iowans to access the skills employers need, Republican politicians are raising college prices and making our challenges worse,” Quirmbach said. “The budget passed by the GOP majority this year contained no new funding for our public universities’ general operations – forcing them to raise tuition to cover increases in the colleges’ costs of providing necessary services.” 

“State funding for higher education is now less than it was in 2016. Our Regents universities are starved for support – and Iowa students and their families are paying the price.”

Quirmbach, D-Ames, is the ranking member on the Senate Education Committee.

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As we come to the end of the 2023 Legislative session, I want to thank my Democratic colleagues for the honor of leading our team. Together, we represent one million Iowans, who deserve, like every Iowan, to have their values represented and their interests reflected in the work of this legislative body. 

Colleagues, you have done an admirable job representing the people of Iowa during challenging circumstances this year. 

I’d also ask the chamber to join me in showing appreciation for:

• our smart and hard-working caucus staffs and clerks, 
• the Secretary of the Senate and his staff, 
• the dedicated, knowledgeable, and hardworking staff at the Legislative Services Agencies, 
• the sergeants-at-arms and the Senate pages, 
• the custodial staff and all who keep our Capitol beautiful, 
• the state troopers at Post 16 and security guards who keep us safe,
• and the news media who help keep our constituents informed, 
• and everyone else who contributes to the work we do on behalf of Iowa. 

Madam President, 2023 will go down in history as one of the most divisive and cruel legislative sessions ever seen in Iowa. Over the last four months, Iowa Republican politicians have continued to pour gasoline on the flames of the culture war by undermining and politicizing our public schools, banning books, mercilessly attacking the freedoms of parents and the LGBTQ community, and continuing the Republican push to ban abortion outright in the state of Iowa. 

In addition to their obsession with culture war issues, Iowa Republican politicians spent this session protecting political insiders and keeping the public left in the dark, eroding transparency and accountability of state government, and even calling for the arrest of law enforcement officers who detained the January 6 insurrectionists. 

All this without taking meaningful action to address the Reynolds Workforce Crisis, the number one challenge facing our state — other than trying to roll back protections against child labor. 

On education, Iowa Republicans rammed through an expensive, unpopular voucher scheme that will divert one billion dollars away from our public schools and into exclusive private schools over the next four years. We all know this private school giveaway will come at the expense of our community schools. And we can see that it won’t make these private schools any more welcoming to the vast majority of Iowa kids. In fact, many private schools’ first step in response to vouchers has been to raise tuition, likely shutting out many of the students Republicans claimed this bill would help. 

Senate Republicans followed up this terrible voucher bill with more attacks on our schools: slashing educational standards, banning books from school libraries, and even micromanaging where students go to the bathroom. None of this helps Iowa. It only hurts Iowa students.

And Senate Republicans made Iowa more dangerous for kids by rolling back child labor protections and instead allowing teenagers to serve alcohol and work in dangerous jobs like roofing, excavation, and demolition. This will make those occupations less safe, drive down wages, and jeopardize the future livelihood of Iowa’s young people. None of this helps our state.

And, finally, Republican politicians spent this session making our government less accountable and transparent to the people we are meant to serve.

With the governor’s reorganization bill, Republicans rubber-stamped a blatant power grab from the executive branch that hands over expansive new powers to the governor and attorney general, while removing important checks and balances. In addition, Senate Republicans declined to hold public budget hearings and instead advanced “blank-check” budgets. Some bill managers refused to answer questions about their legislation on the Senate floor. The public deserves to know what Iowa Republican politicians are trying to hide.

In one of their final acts of 2023, Senate Republicans passed a petty, partisan bill that strips away essential tools for the democratically elected state auditor to investigate waste, fraud, and abuse of taxpayer dollars.   

If there’s one silver lining to this terrible session, it was the passage of a bipartisan property tax reform bill that will reduce tax bills for Iowans all across our state. This is a positive step forward, and Senate Democrats were proud to support it and see it passed into law. 

I’d like to close with a message to the Iowans feeling angry, or scared, or left out by the actions of the Republican majority this year: It doesn’t have to be this way.

Senate Democrats are committed to representing all Iowans. We’re committed to listening to you, and reflecting your interests and values here in Des Moines. We’re committed to solving the big challenges facing our state. 

We’ll never give up on you, and we’ll never quit fighting for an Iowa that you can be proud to call home. 

Thank you, Madam President.

Iowa state Sens. Janet Petersen and Todd Taylor sent a letter on Monday urging Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird to reinstate funding from her office to support medical care for survivors of sexual assault.

The letter also seeks an explanation from the attorney general on her rationale for suspending critical victims services funding; an expected timeline for the office’s ongoing audit of victims services; and a list of all the services to survivors that have been suspended during that audit.

“Depriving victims of essential care while your office continues its months-long audit is an attack on justice,” Petersen and Taylor wrote in the letter. “Victims, advocates, prosecutors, and law enforcement deserve to know why needed resources are being withheld by your office. We stand united in urging you to reverse course and give survivors of sexual assault the financial ability to care for their bodies and move forward in their healing process.”

Attorney General Bird quietly halted state payments for emergency contraception and other critical medical services for sexual assault survivors upon taking office in January. The suspension was first reported in April, and remains in place despite serious concerns from sexual assault response teams and victim advocacy organizations. 

The full letter is available here. 

Petersen, D-Des Moines, serves on the Senate Judiciary and Health & Human Services committees, and is a longtime advocate for women, children, and survivors of sexual assault. Taylor, D-Cedar Rapids, is the ranking member on the Senate Justice Systems Appropriations Subcommittee. 

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Iowa state Sen. Pam Jochum released the following statement on the property tax relief agreement reached Monday on House File 718.

“Spiking assessments and rising property taxes are hitting every Iowa community, and placing heavy burdens on middle-class Iowans – especially our seniors, veterans, and those living on fixed incomes,” Sen. Pam Jochum, D-Dubuque, said.

“The property tax agreement announced today is an important, needed step forward that will provide real relief for the taxpayers who need it most. Big corporations and the wealthiest Iowans have gotten their tax cuts – it’s about time the middle-class caught a break, too. 

“Under this agreement, cities and counties will be able to provide the essential services that Iowans rely on, while also providing transparency to help taxpayers understand what they’re paying and what they’re getting in their local government budgets.

“This has been a difficult and divisive legislative session, but I’m glad Democrats and Republicans are able to come together to address one of the real challenges facing our fellow Iowans.”

Jochum, D-Dubuque, is the ranking member on the Senate Ways & Means Committee.

Des Moines – Iowa state Sen. Sarah Trone Garriott released the following statement regarding Tuesday’s Iowa Supreme Court hearing on the constitutionality of a Republican-passed state law banning abortion after 6 weeks. 

Trone Garriott, D-West Des Moines, is the ranking member on the Senate Health and Human Services Committee and the Democratic Whip: 

“Despite years of legal precedent and wide public support across political affiliations for reproductive freedom in Iowa, an extreme faction of anti-choice Republicans won’t stop until they have a total ban on abortion. 

“The tactics change, but the goals remain the same: a small group of politicians are obsessed with denying essential healthcare and stripping away fundamental freedoms for Iowans. 

“Senate Democrats trust Iowans to make their own choices about their own bodies and their own futures. Politicians have no business in the doctor’s office interfering with private medical decisions.”

Following today’s oral arguments, the Court has until June 30th to issue a majority decision in the case, Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, Inc., et al., v. Reynolds. The hearing can be viewed online at the Iowa Court’s YouTube page.  

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