Iowa Senate Democrats

Fighting for a Better Deal for Iowans.

  • Legislative Democrats’ COVID-19 Recovery Agenda

    News Release
    June 1, 2020

    Focus on Keeping Iowans Healthy and Restoring Financial Security  

    DES MOINES – Democratic lawmakers outlined their plan today to address the needs of Iowa families and business during the upcoming session of the Iowa Legislature. 

    The plan was developed by lawmakers to keep legislators focused during the final days of the 2020 session on addressing problems related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

    “Iowans have worked hard to protect each other from the spread of COVID-19 and deserve to be at the front of the line in our recovery efforts,” Senate Democratic Leader Janet Petersen said. “We need to stay focused on fixing the problems created by the pandemic and passing a balanced budget.”

    “In these uncertain times, the state needs to be more transparent than ever so Iowans have all the information available to protect their family, open their business, or go back to the office,” said House Democratic Leader Todd Prichard. “When session starts again on Wednesday, the Legislature must also fulfill its duty to provide oversight and make sure our Iowa tax dollars are spent wisely.” 

    In releasing the COVID recovery agenda, the two leaders also said lawmakers must work together to find solutions that balance the physical health and safety of Iowans with their need to work and put food on the table. The full agenda is below.

    COVID 19 Recovery Agenda

    Keeping Iowans Healthy 

    • Access to affordable health care, including mental health
    • Ensure universal access to COVID testing, contact tracing and PPE in all 99 counties
    • Keep hospitals and local health care clinics open 
    • Free coronavirus vaccine once available
    • Support mitigation efforts by cities, counties and emergency management commissions 
    • Prepare for fall COVID resurgence 

     Opening Businesses Safely & Protecting Workers

    • Help small businesses reopen safely and help them stay open 
    • Tests for Iowans returning to the workforce and retesting at workplaces when an employee tests positive
    • Financial security for businesses and workers with COVID positive case
    • Expand whistleblower protections and workers compensation during pandemics, including first responders and health care workers  
    • Expand protections for renters and homeowners during pandemics and severe economic downturns
    • Expand community college opportunities to help Iowans get back to work
    • Paid pandemic leave for workers to stay home when they are sick 

    Kids Learning & Growing Safely

    • Protect K-12 public education funding 
    • Provide universal access to technology and home-based internet for student
    • Provide PPE for all educators and students
    • Increase childcare services for Iowa families
    • Provide timely guidance to schools, parents and students on reopening


    COVID Transparency & Accountability 

    • Expand vote-at-home opportunities statewide
    • Oversight of Test Iowa and other no-bid contracts
    • Require immediate public notification of COVID outbreaks and end threshold reporting requirement
    • Require OSHA inspections and enforcement during health care emergencies

     –  end –

  • Petersen: Let’s give Iowans a healthier way to restart the economy

    By State Senator Janet Petersen

    Iowans have made big sacrifices to protect our families, friends and neighbors.

    Businesses have been forced to close, people were laid off, and many parents are now at-home teachers—all while keeping a distance from the kind of community and family support we count on during a crisis.

    And then there’s the lack of leadership at the top.

    Save grandma or save the economy. Save Iowans working in meatpacking plants or save protein. Protect privacy or protect virus-outbreak data. Protect health or protect freedom of religion. Save Iowa’s economy or save ourselves.

    These are false choices. Even Governor Reynolds knows it.

    Yet, the Governor and Republican legislators continue to deliver narratives that are heavy on spin and light on facts and data.

    Ignoring the warnings of health experts is more than dangerous. It’s deadly for our health and economy.

    Iowa hasn’t flattened the curve. The number of COVID-19 cases is still increasing, and nationally ranked hotspots are popping up all over the state.

    Despite the numbers and the clear warnings from health experts in Iowa and across the country, Governor Reynolds is distancing Iowans from the facts with ribbon-cutting rhetoric.

    Instead, Iowans deserve:

    COVID-19 REPORTING WE CAN TRUST: Iowans need daily access to ZIP Code-specific COVID-19 numbers. Data from the botched Test Iowa program is giving us inaccurate information on cases, deaths, hospitalizations and contact tracing. It is unacceptable that the Governor is allowing workplaces to hide COVID-19 outbreak information from employees, customers and the public. 

    ACCURATE, ACCESSIBLE & TIMELY TESTING: Nebraska legislators are calling for their Governor to put the kibosh on the failed Test Nebraska program. Governor Reynolds’s $26 million no-bid, no-results Test Iowa program is a failure. Iowans deserve access to testing and contact tracing in all 99 counties, every day. Local county health departments should be in charge of running testing and contact-tracing programs. 

    WORKPLACE & SAFETY NET POLICIES TO PREVENT SUPER-SPREAD: Keeping Iowans safe will require new policies that incentivize people to stay home instead of spread COVID-19 because they are pressured to go to work. We need a better safety net, more accountability for taxpayer dollars, and an end to sweetheart deals for campaign donors.

    SAFE ACCESS TO FOOD, HEALTH CARE & DEMOCRACY: One of the easiest ways to make sure Iowans don’t go hungry is to expand nutrition assistance programs. They help families access food, while providing business for our local grocery stores and farmers. The Legislature also should extend telemedicine parity so that Iowans can get health care no matter where they live. And we ought to access federal aid to help more Iowans safely vote from home in the November general election. 

    ACCESS TO BROADBAND & TECHNOLOGY: Finally, the first day back to school will look completely different than what we’ve seen in our lifetimes. That’s why every Iowa family and child needs access to broadband and technology. Let’s expand Iowa’s networks. It will pay off in many ways for decades to come.

    It is time to give Iowans confidence that the decisions to reopen ourbusinesses, local schools, childcare facilities, and houses of worship are based on data and common sense, not polling. Our lives and our economy depend upon it. 

    Senator Janet Petersen of Des Moines is the Senate Democratic Leader

  • Boulton: Workers’ compensation should cover coronavirus

    By State Senator Nate Boulton

    More than 100 years ago, Upton Sinclair chronicled the misery and abuse of American workers in the meatpacking industry.

    In The Jungle, he described the packing plants as “centers of contagion, poisoning the lives of all of us.”

    Today, we are witnessing a new chapter in the life and deaths of meatpacking workers and other essential workers through the COVID-19 pandemic. 

    They are called “heroes,” but it’s clear where they rank in this public health crisis. It is painless to say you support them and are proud of those on the front line of public health, the nation’s food supply, or our economy. The hard part: Doing what’s needed when casualties start to mount. And casualties are mounting.

    Too many leaders have shown an alarming willingness to abandon front-line workers the moment words aren’t enough. When outbreaks hit meatpacking plants, the inspectors didn’t rush in. There are still no new workplace safety rules or clarifications of workers’ compensation eligibility for infections.  

    The state took a costly wait-and-see approach. When testing was rolled out, the infection rates were staggering. This week, nearly 60% of the meatpacking workers at one Iowa plant tested positive. That doesn’t include those who couldn’t be tested, meaning more than two-thirds of that workforce is likely infected. Still, the state and federal governments remain on the sidelines when it comes to worker protection, even after the Defense Production Act was used to keep plants open.

    After four years of stripping away workplace rights, it is time to protect those who are now hailed as essential. For our workers and our economy, we need a law and rules presuming COVID-19 infections as qualifying for workers’ compensation and providing a minimum of two weeks of benefits to workers with a positive diagnosis. Those carrying the infection must be removed from their workplace and be supported by benefits for necessary time off—for their own safety and that of their coworkers, families, and communities. Unless another source of infection is proven, no worker who remains on the job should have to fend for themselves on medical care or income when the risks they were asked to take become reality. This should be our first bipartisan priority when the legislative session resumes.

    The state also must back off the dangerous message that refusing to work is simply a “quit” and recognize, with unemployment rules, quits for good cause when employers fail to take reasonable precautions where increased risks of transmission exist. 

    Our essential workers are critical to Iowa’s success. By ensuring they are protected and can take time off when infected, we can reduce the spread of disease and get a step ahead on future outbreaks. Then, after addressing these immediate concerns, we can work on positive policies.

    A government of the people holds a sacred duty and trust to protect the people it serves. If it undermines the wellbeing of its workforce, it has fundamentally failed its purpose. It’s time to repair Iowa’s broken trust with the workers who will strengthen our state’s future.

  • Smith: Making Tyson safe for workers must be first priority

    State Senator Jackie Smith
    For Immediate Release: May 1, 2020

    (Sioux City) State Senator Jackie Smith of Sioux City today said that the Tyson meatpacking plant in Dakota City must be made safe before it reopens.

    Senator Smith believes an independent body must oversee Tyson’s reopening, one with the power to require additional changes, including plant shutdowns, when needed.

    “Tyson created this disaster by failing to protect Tyson workers,” Smith said.  “That’s why independent experts must oversee an intensive, ongoing effort to make the plant a safe place to work.” 

    In conversations with workers, community leaders and public health experts, Smith said several ideas were repeatedly raised.

    “One, we need thorough, repeatedly updated improvements in worker safety. Two, we must have comprehensive, on-going testing of workers, their families and their communities. Three, we need funding for the ongoing treatment and long-term health care needs of Tyson workers, their family and our communities,” said Smith.

    Smith noted that the failure by bad actors in the meatpacking industry is already imposing heavy costs on Northwest Iowa.

    “The meatpacking industry failures have created an unprecedent crisis for farmers across our region.  Tens of thousands of cattle and hogs may be euthanized due to this industry’s reckless disregard for the health and safety of their workers.

    Smith is calling on Iowa’s state and federal leaders to act decisively. 

    “Governor Kim Reynolds has repeatedly told the people of Northwest Iowa that she would fight for us,” Smith said.  “Governor Reynolds, this is your moment.  Help us make sure the Tyson plant does not reopen without fundamental changes, independent monitoring, and comprehensive testing and health care services.”

    Smith also appealed to the area’s Congressional representatives. 

    “Senators Ernst and Grassley, you are our community’s only functional voice in Congress,” Smith said.  “We need you to bring the power and resources of the federal government to help solve these problems.”  

    Smith said the problems exposed by the Tyson outbreak won’t be solved without putting the health and safety of Iowa workers first.

    “Tyson recklessly harmed hardworking Iowa men and women. Tyson’s neglect spread the virus to those workers, their families and our community,” Smith said.  “That’s why independent, ongoing health and safety reforms are essential to recovering from this economic and health care disaster.” 

    END

  • Hogg: Don’t deny unemployment to workers

    Statement from Senator Rob Hogg on decision by Governor Reynolds to deny unemployment benefits to workers

    “Governor Reynolds is failing to protect Iowa workers again.

    “The Governor has failed Iowa workers at meatpacking plants, workers and residents at long-term care facilities, and inmates and staff at our correctional facilities.

    “Now, after prematurely allowing Iowa businesses in 77 counties to reopen, the Governor announced that Iowans who don’t go into work — out of fear for themselves or a vulnerable person in their family contracting COVID19 — will lose their unemployment benefits.

    “Iowa workers should have a Governor and a government that has their back during this crisis.”

    • end  –

  • Senators: 3 steps to meatpacking worker safety

    For Immediate Release: April 19, 2020
    Contacts: Sen. Nate Boulton (515-669-4259); Sen. Bill Dotzler (319-240-5594): Sen. Kevin Kinney (319-631-4667)

    As the COVID-19 public health emergency worsens, three Iowa State Senators are calling for immediate action in response to multiple outbreaks at meatpacking facilities across the state.

    The Senators are calling for immediate action by state and local officials to:

    • Protect the health and safety of Iowa’s essential workers when they are on the job.
    • Stop the community transmission of COVID-19 among family members, neighbors and others who may be in contact with infected essential employees.
    • Prevent long-term interruption of  the nation’s food supply.

    “These Iowans are showing up for work, being pressed into service for our economy and for the food security of our nation, but have little confidence that their state or their employer are concerned for their safety. These outbreaks are startling—and so is the lackadaisical attitude coming from the state on what needs to be done,” said Senator Nate Boulton of Des Moines.

    “While the meatpacking plant outbreaks are drawing attention now, there are  many other  manufacturing facilities across the state that could face similar problems if protocols are not established and implemented now,” added Boulton, who grew up in Columbus Junction, where the COVID-19 outbreak is one of the worst in the nation.

    “What we are seeing play out is borderline criminal,” added Senator Bill Dotzler of Waterloo. “I represent workers who are telling me that even the voluntary precautions being taken aren’t doing anything. They’re having temperatures taken and the results ignored. These workers then go to work in close proximity throughout their shifts, go out into the community and expose community members, then go back into the plant where it all starts over again. Action must be taken immediately to stop further spread of COVID-19 and protect not only the workers at these important facilities but our communities as a whole.” 

     “I see problems in two places: the livestock agriculture community and the meat processing workforce. I’m hearing from workers that they feel completely expendable right now, particularly immigrant workers who are trying to make a better life for themselves. They feel particularly at risk,” said Senator Kevin Kinney of rural Oxford, a grain and livestock farmer. “But outside those packing plants, farmers across the state are  concerned that unaddressed problems in the packing plants will lead to widespread outbreaks in those facilities that could shut them down for long periods of time. If that continues, we are going to have a lot of farmers with no place to market hogs, chickens and cattle in this state.”

     The Senators are calling for three immediate points of action to address this crisis:

    1. The State Labor Commissioner — with input from representatives of the major livestock processing companies, representatives of the major labor unions representing livestock processing workers, and the department of public health – must issue stricter requirements for worker safety operational standards and protocols that include consideration of systemic disinfecting, reorganizing, and reopening closed facilities after new safety measures are put in place.
    2. As part of the process of seeking input on safety protocols, Iowa’s Labor Commissioner and Iowa Department of Public Health must also develop new public health crisis emergency rules for limiting the spread of COVID-19 in manufacturing and livestock processing facilities.  
    3. Iowa OSHA inspectors must immediately inspect each livestock processing facility to ensure current and any newly-enacted emergency rules and standards are being followed. According to the Labor Commissioner, not one meatpacking facility in Iowa has had an OSHA inspection since the public health emergency was declared.

    “Protecting both Iowa workers and the nation’s food supply is just too important for us to wait and see what happens as individual meatpacking companies are left to lead on this. Hoping for the best is a high-stakes gamble that threatens the health and safety of thousands of Iowans,” Boulton said.

    -end-

  • Enhancing communities through land banks

    By State Sen. Pam Jochum, Dubuque (Senate District 50)

    Iowa communities may soon have a new tool to spur affordable housing, local investment and economic growth.

    Bipartisan legislation (SF 2369) establishing “land banks” has passed the Senate Local Government Committee. Land banks are public-private partnerships to rehabilitate rundown, vacant and tax-delinquent properties for productive use.

    This has been a priority for many in Dubuque. I appreciate the local advocacy and all who have traveled to the Statehouse to speak up for land bank legislation.

    The Local Government Committee made great progress to ensure this program can improve housing in blighted areas. Members listened to the input of organizations like Habitat for Humanity, local governments, and legal and financial experts to make sure this initiative will work well for all concerned.

    Vacant and abandoned properties signal a community is in decline. They can be magnets for crime, pose health and safety risks, and lower property values throughout the neighborhood.

    For communities and local governments committed to redevelopment and reuse, SF 2369 addresses some of the challenges they’ve faced.

    Under the legislation, local governments can create a public agency to purchase abandoned or blighted properties at a special tax sale and contract with private organizations to rehabilitate the sites. The land bank may rent or sell the renovated properties, and the money they make will go back into the pot to continue buying and fixing up additional properties.

    Renovated properties may be sold as homes, rented as apartments, turned into restaurants, offices or stores—and much more. It’s great for the local economy because it takes problem properties and turns them into assets.

  • Nursing students aim to fill health care needs

    By Senate Intern Kylie Spies, University of Iowa MSW student

    Richie Gibbs, Erica Altemeier and Madelynn Rhodes are nursing students at Des Moines Area Community College.

    Students from DMACC’s RN training program were on hand for Career and Technical Education Day at the Capitol. They shared with legislators how their program is helping prepare Iowans for high-demand jobs.

    Iowa is experiencing shortages in OB-GYNs, mental health providers, nurses and other health professions. In 2018, U.S. News ranked Iowa 36th in the nation in overall health care, and 46th in hospital quality.

    State-of-the-art training can help turn things around. The Healthcare Simulation Lab, located on DMACC’s Capitol Center campus, offers high-tech learning opportunities for future nurses and other health care professionals.

    While at the State Capitol, nursing students demonstrated surgical technology, hospital newborn care equipment and a child-sized dummy with a pulse. They take pride in the skills they’re gaining, but are well aware of the challenges facing Iowa’s health care system.

    Take Medicaid, for example.

    Richie Gibbs, Erica Altemeier and Madelynn Rhodes are all in the last semester of their Registered Nurse program. Even before entering the field, the three have witnessed how privatized Medicaid is squeezing providers.

    “We are close to the bottom in pay here in Iowa,” Gibbs said.

    As of 2017, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics ranked Iowa 48th in the nation in average nursing salary—$57,930, or $27.85 per hour. That includes many nurses with decades of experience.

    In addition to the usual college courses, nursing students must take clinicals. Clinicals involve shadowing a practicing nurse to get hands-on experience in the field. DMACC nursing students have seen overworked, underpaid hospital staff that cannot keep up with the demand for care.

    For many nursing students, the first career step is as a Patient Care Technician. PCTs are entry-level health care workers who do hard physical labor, like feeding, dressing and bathing patients. Most make only about $13 per hour.

    Rhodes, who works as a PCT in a facility for seniors with dementia, says patients pay more than $100,000 per year at the facility, and that her pay is higher than many of her classmates.

    Altemeier received a grant from Central Iowa HealthWorks to help pay for tuition, books and gas to get to her classes and clinicals. Iowa HealthWorks is a United Way program that helps adult learners reach their health care career goals. Altemeier is grateful for the assistance, and says she wishes more money was available to help Iowans get into the profession. Some of her classmates come from other states to take advantage of DMACC’s program, but always intend to return home where they’ll make more money.

    Altemeier wants to see the state invest in people who are interested in becoming nurses or Patient Care Technicians, as well as competitive salaries that will keep talented nurses here in Iowa.

    Iowa cannot provide adequate health care services to those most in need without a bigger investment. Let’s not continue this race to the bottom.

  • Speak up about negative impact of EPA proposal on Iowa

    IOWA SENATE NEWS
    For immediate release: Oct. 30, 2019

    Trump proposal ‘sides with the oil industry, not family farmers’

    MOUNT PLEASANT – State Sen. Rich Taylor (D-Mount Pleasant), a member of the Iowa Senate Agriculture Committee, today called on Iowans to raise their voices in support of Iowa farmers and against a proposed policy from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that could cripple rural America by weakening the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).  

    “The proposed rule by the EPA is contrary to an ethanol plan announced in early October by the Trump Administration. Another broken promise is bad news for Iowa,” Taylor said. “Like many living in rural Iowa, I believed the Administration was moving toward keeping its commitment to the biofuels industry and American corn growers. Unfortunately, the EPA’s proposed rule sides with the oil industry, not family farmers.”

    Taylor says he’s talked to many Southeast Iowa farmers who are worried about the mixed messages they’re getting from Washington, D.C., especially after ongoing tariff wars and bad weather that has created extra challenges for planting, growing and harvesting crops.

    One of those farmers is Dennis W. “Denny” Anderson of rural Mt. Union, who farms corn and soybeans in Henry County.

    “I’m a lifelong Iowan and farmer, and I can’t figure out what Trump and the EPA think they’re doing,” Anderson said. “Flip-flops and short-sighted decisions that line the pockets of big oil will hurt the ag economy and all the biofuels advancements we’ve made for generations to come. President Trump and our folks in Congress need to be straight with us. We’ve got to have some leadership now, or rural Iowa will tank completely.”

    The Iowa Corn Growers and other commodity groups have objected to the EPA’s plans for the federal Renewable Fuel Standard, including during an EPA-sponsored forum today in Ypsilanti, Michigan. The RFS was established to promote the use of renewable fuels and to replace fossil-based fuels.

    Visit the Iowa Corn Growers website and send messages in support of Iowa farmers and the biofuels industry to President Trump, Senator Ernst and others.

    Taylor encourages Iowans – farmers and non-farmers – to join the Iowa Corn Growers’ quick and easy public comment initiative on the EPA’s proposal.

    Before the November 29 deadline, Iowans can visit the Iowa Corn Growers’ user-friendly website —  https://ncga.com/public-policy/stand-up-for-corn/take-action — and send messages in support of Iowa farmers and the biofuels industry to President Trump, U.S. Senator Ernst and other federal officials.

    ###

  • Labor Day: Iowa workers are our best asset

    Labor Day is about recognizing the contributions workers make to their communities and our state. It really can’t be overstated: Workers are the backbone of our way of life.

    A thriving workforce is a sign of a strong economy and a successful society. When workers aren’t valued, we’re headed in the wrong direction—and that’s exactly what many Iowans are facing.

    In recent years, decades of advances toward fair wages, working conditions and benefits have been lost to policies that are upending the principles that made our country strong, along with opportunities for Iowans to achieve the American dream.

    In spite of record low unemployment, our economy has slowed to a crawl. Working families have been pushed aside in favor of corporations and profits.

    Most GOP legislators and the Governor gutted the state’s collective bargaining law that ensured employees and public employers collaborated on mutually agreeable solutions in the workplace; slashed protections for Iowans injured on the job; put pensions in danger; and weakened wage and “Buy American” requirements.

    The nonpartisan Iowa Policy Project sums it up this way: “Unfortunately, policy choices have put us on a road that prioritizes corporate profits over worker wages and corporate tax cuts over the public investments that allow for a strong, sustainable economy.”

    The result is a growing inequality, with the rich getting richer. Meanwhile, many Iowans work multiple jobs and still struggle to make ends meet. That’s not right.

    As we celebrate Labor Day, Senate Democrats remain committed to fighting for working Iowans, restoring and protecting workplace rights, and ensuring Iowa employees and employers have a fair shot at getting ahead.