Iowa Senate Democrats

Fighting for a Better Deal for Iowans.

  • Bipartisan bill would compensate college athletes

    After a similar bill passed Iowa House and Senate subcommittees and the Senate Education committee in 2020, Senators Nate Boulton and Brad Zaun have introduced a new bill to allow student athletes in Iowa to profit from promotional use of their names, images, and likenesses as early as July. The bill, Senate File 245, would allow student athletes to financially gain from marketing opportunities. Unlike the prior proposal, the bill does not include a provision to require money to be placed in a trust until the student athlete is no longer eligible to compete in college athletics. Six states have enacted similar legislation.

    “We have seen an extreme imbalance of power in a rising tide of money that flows all around and through college athletics,” commented Senator Boulton. “The NCAA continues to fail to address this issue, and the result is college athletes surrendering very personal rights that no other college students are required to give up as part of the educational process. We have a duty to protect these students and their interests.”

    Several current and former athletes have worked with Senators Boulton and Zaun on name, image, and likeness (NIL) legislation and are offering their support of the bill. Jordan Bohannon, a current starter with the highly-ranked basketball team at the University of Iowa: “I am in full support of this bill. The college years are some of the most valuable years of many college athletes’ lives. We’ve been denied basic rights and protections for far too long. This NIL bill gives us rights that our non-athlete classmates already have. Thank you to Senator Boulton and Senator Zaun for meeting and listening to us.”

    Iowa women’s basketball player Caitlin Clark, a first-year player who has made national news with her on court successes this season: “As a female college athlete, valuable opportunities could come in our college career that may not be given at a professional level, especially with the support of female athletics we have here in the state of Iowa. The NIL bill gives student athletes opportunities non-athlete students already have. I am appreciative of Senator Boulton and all the work he has done to move this bill forward.” 

    Former Drake basketball player Adam Emmenecker, the 2008 Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year, offered support: “Collegiate athletes come from all types of socio-economic backgrounds. Some take student loans. Some qualify for Pell grants. Athletes should be granted the same rights of the university they work for – to utilize their talents, work ethic, drive, love for sport, and success on the court/field to leverage their likeness for personal gain. Athletes carry the majority of the risk. Let them share in a piece of the earned reward.”

    The bill’s cosponsors come to this issue with unique perspectives. Senator Boulton is a practicing labor attorney who taught collegiate sports law classes prior to his election to the Iowa Senate while Senator Zaun had a son who played NCAA Division I football.

  • Boulton: Solutions to racial injustice must be new

    By State Senator Nate Boulton

    The last couple weeks have been heart-wrenching.

    We cannot forget the utter horror of seeing a black man in a midwestern city having the life literally crushed out of him so casually by an officer who refused to acknowledge his pleas or those of the witnesses to his killing. Over the course of nine minutes–Nine, stone-cold minutes. Three of those minutes where George Floyd didn’t move. Not a flinch. And not a moment of concern, let alone an attempt at aid, by the officer. In those nine minutes, it is undeniable: George Floyd was a black life that did not matter. Just nine minutes of deadly indifference.

    That indifference is also starkly symbolic. We cannot pretend that this is a new problem, a unique problem, or that it is going away. We also cannot pretend that the problems of a growing mental health crisis and escalations of gun violence have not made police work today exceptionally dangerous.

    Our city, state, and nation are struggling with what is broken in our society. Racial injustice isn’t new, but our solutions absolutely must be. We have seen powerful, poignant moments. A peaceful, massive assembly has inspired new conversations. It also inspired a powerful and real emotion for some: anger.

    We have seen people rise to the occasion, like Representative Ako Abdul-Samad, who has stood between the crowds and police. We’ve seen our police officers put in the awful position of being the subject of protest as they fulfill their sworn duty to protect our community. We need them. They, too, have felt the horrific sting of senseless murder.

    Just three years ago, we saw two police officers here lose their lives after they were targeted and shot dead simply because they wore the shield of protection and service on their chests. We need good people in our police force to keep our communities and neighborhoods safe, and we need to find ways to heal these wounds and right these wrongs to get there.

    This moment, awful as it is, can be an opportunity. Elected representatives of the people are duty bound to lift their voices and promote well-being. Those who are hurting should be able to turn to their government as a partner, not an adversary, in making their lives better.

    We need to root out implicit bias in our judicial system and eradicate the racial injustices that have led us to disproportionate rates of incarceration and poverty in our state’s racial and ethnic minority communities. Disparities cannot continue in education and health care. In short, we have a lot of work ahead of us in this state.

    I and Representative Ruth Ann Gaines are working now to plan community meetings in our neighborhoods to listen, collaborate on solutions, and offer new legislation to help make tomorrow a better day for Iowa. We must seek to understand each other, heal the wounds, and unite to create a better path forward for our city, state, and nation.

  • 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.

  • Boulton: Corrections workers need support

    Statement by Senator Nate Boulton:

    “Our prisons are places where safety and security have to be given utmost attention at all times or bad things happen. That’s true in the best of times.

    “Over the past few years, though, stretched thin with staffing issues, we have seen increasing violence and assaults on staff—one case requiring an inmate to stop an assault on a corrections officer due to unavailable backup. I raised these concerns—and the lack of communication from the administration—in February when the Senate considered the leadership of the Department of Corrections.

    “We now are seeing the lack of communication and tendency toward reaction rather than preparation play out in a new, harmful way. With the dramatic increase in positive cases at the prison (IMCC) at Coralville, it is obvious that the State of Iowa has not done enough to protect Iowa’s public servants who are working the front lines during this public health disaster.

    “There have been way too many missed opportunities. Action and planning should have come when the rest of the state was taking precautions, when the first positive test of a corrections officer was known, when the first positive test of inmate was known, or when a jarring ten cases became known this week. IMCC is the inmate distribution hub for our state. Failure to take precautions and reduce risks there puts our whole corrections system at risk. While many other states stopped doing intake of new prisoners from Iowa’s jails,  the Department of Corrections continued to risk a major outbreak through continued intake and prisoner movement.  In addition, proactively testing staff and inmates should have occurred.

    “I’m calling on this Administration to convene a teleconference today involving all wardens, the Director of the Department Corrections, Public Health and Department of Human Services, and AFSCME develop a new plan and improved protocols for keeping our correctional and DHS facilities as safe as possible, improved PPE standards and usage, expanded testing, and instituting premium pay for these essential workers who are required to show up for longer hours and more restrictive break periods despite the now obvious increased risk of exposure to themselves and the family members they return home to when their shifts are done.” 

    -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-

  • Working together, we can help kids in need

    By State Sen. Nate Boulton, Des Moines (Senate District 16)

    Over the past year, I have had the chance to learn about a serious and heartbreaking illness that affects children who suffer from complications associated with strep infections. While most of us would not panic to hear our child has a diagnosis as common as strep throat, the unfortunate reality is that for some kids, that infection leads to a much more serious condition.

    PANDAS/PANS refers to several neuro-psychiatric conditions that can result from a simple streptococcal infection. Children affected suffer from a variety of problems, some as simple as headaches. Others, however, may become emotionally unstable and even suicidal. The National Institute of Mental Health Treatment describes the symptoms as usually dramatic, come on suddenly, and can include motor or vocal tics, obsessions and compulsions. Otherwise happy and healthy children can get a strep infection that one day causes a “trap door” to be triggered.

    While the condition alone is scary, parents face another frightening reality: treatment can be expensive and some health insurance companies refuse to cover it. To help ease the burden on these families facing a tough road ahead, I drafted legislation that requires coverage for treatment related to a PANDAS/PANS diagnosis.

    I was proud to see that as I spoke with other legislators about the issue, I was joined by Senators Tom Greene of Burlington (R), Liz Mathis of Hiawatha (D) and Mark Segebart of Vail (R) who signed on to co-sponsor the bill. We are making this a bipartisan effort to help families in need. SF 2084 has now been assigned to the Senate Human Resources Committee and awaits review by a Senate Subcommittee.

    Just as pediatric illnesses don’t afflict only Democratic or Republican children, our party labels should not prevent us from getting kids the health care they need when they need it.

    You can learn more about the issue in this short video with two Iowa moms:

  • Don’t let Medicaid mess undermine children’s health insurance

    Iowa Senate News Release
    Senator Nate Boulton
    Representative John Forbes
    For Immediate Release:  April 15, 2019

     

    Don’t let Medicaid mess undermine Iowa’s successful children’s health insurance program

    Two members of the board of Hawki, Iowa’s nationally recognized Hawki children’s health insurance program, today raised concerns in a letter about maintaining quality as it becomes part of Iowa’s troubled privatized Medicaid program.

    “This is another challenging transition for Iowa families,” said Senator Nate Boulton.  “Unitedhealthcare had been a Hawki provider for more than five years.  Those families need as much support as possible to make sure their care is not interrupted.  Specifically, we must make sure providers continue to welcome Hawki kids into their care.”

    “The Hawki transition is another opportunity for the Reynolds Administration to show that it has learned from past mistakes,” said Representative John Forbes.  “Iowans were promised that a privatized health care system would increase quality and access to care. However, too often they have instead gotten more headaches and problems.”

    Hawki provides low-cost health coverage for more than 70,000 children from working families across the state.   The Hawki Board of Directors guides the Department of Human Services’ efforts to develop, implement and administer the Hawki program.

    The questions for the board included:

    • How will the Board/DHS communicate with Hawki families about the transition from UnitedHealthcare to one of the two remaining managed-care organizations, Amerigroup Iowa or Iowa Total Care?
    • How will the Board/DHS communicate with schools across the state to make sure that parents and school officials are aware of the upcoming changes?  This is especially concerning for parents/guardians because they will be scheduling annual physicals, immunizations and other routine care during the summer months.
    • How will parents/guardians learn whether they will be able to keep their current pediatrician or other health care provider if they are transitioning to Amerigroup Iowa or Iowa Total Care?
    • How will the Board/DHS ensure healthcare providers continue to see Hawki as a secure and trustworthy benefit program, one that they want to be involved with?

    -end-

  • UPDATED: 2019 Iowa Senate Democratic Committee Assignments

    January 13, 2019

    Senate Democrats release updated committee assignments for 2019 session of the Iowa Legislature

    DES MOINES — Senate Democratic Leader Janet Petersen released updated committee assignments today for Democratic State Senators for the 2019 session of the Iowa Legislature.

    A statement from Senate Democratic Leader Janet Petersen on the updated assignments:

    “In early December, I deferred making committee assignments for Senator Boulton until the Senate Ethics Committee completed its investigation into the complaint filed against him.

    “Senator Boulton’s position in the Iowa Senate was preserved by the Senate Ethics Committee ruling.  He is expected to uphold the duties of his office while he remains in the Iowa Senate, including working on new committee assignments.”

    The 88th General Assembly will begin at 10 a.m. Monday, January 14, 2019.

    – end –

    Standing Committees

    Agriculture

    13 members

    1. Kinney –RM
    2. Mathis
    3. Ragan
    4. R. Taylor
    5. Wahls

     

    Appropriations

    21 members

    1. Bolkcom –RM
    2. Celsi
    3. Dotzler
    4. Lykam
    5. Mathis
    6. Ragan
    7. T. Taylor
    8. Wahls

     

    Commerce

    17 members

    1. Lykam – RM
    2. Bisignano
    3. Bolkcom
    4. Mathis
    5. Petersen
    6. Quirmbach

     

    Education

    15 members

    1. Quirmbach –RM
    2. Celsi
    3. Danielson
    4. Smith
    5. Wahls

     

    Ethics

    Statutory, 6 members; 3 each

    1. Jochum -RM
    2. Kinney
    3. Mathis

     

    Government Oversight

    5 members

    1. Bisignano –RM
    2. Celsi

     

    Human Resources

    13 members

    1. Mathis –RM
    2. Bolkcom
    3. Jochum
    4. Quirmbach
    5. Ragan

     

    Judiciary

    15 members

    1. Kinney –RM
    2. Bisignano
    3. Hogg
    4. Petersen
    5. R. Taylor

     

    Labor & Business Relations

    11 members

    1. T. Taylor –RM
    2. Bisignano
    3. Dotzler
    4. R. Taylor

     

    Local Government

    11 members

    1. J. Smith –RM
    2. Boulton
    3. Hogg
    4. Quirmbach

     

    Natural Resources & Env.

    13 members

    1. Hogg –RM
    2. Boulton
    3. Celsi
    4. Lykam
    5. J. Smith

     

    Rules & Administration

    11 members

    1. Petersen –RM
    2. Bolkcom
    3. Jochum
    4. Ragan

     

    State Government

    15 members

    1. Bisignano –RM
    2. Celsi
    3. Danielson
    4. Jochum
    5. T. Taylor

     

    Transportation

    13 members

    1. Danielson – RM
    2. Kinney
    3. Lykam
    4. J. Smith
    5. T. Taylor

     

    Veterans Affairs

    11 members

    1. R. Taylor – RM
    2. Danielson
    3. Dotzler
    4. Ragan

     

    Ways & Means

    17 members

    1. Jochum –RM
    2. Bolkcom
    3. Danielson
    4. Dotzler
    5. Quirmbach
    6. Wahls

     

    Appropriations Subcommittees

    Administration & Regulation

    1. Celsi –RM
    2. R. Taylor

     

    Agriculture & Natural Resources

    1. Mathis –RM
    2. Kinney

     

    Economic Development

    1. Dotzler- RM
    2. J. Smith

     

    Education

    1. Wahls –RM
    2. Quirmbach

     

    Health & Human Services

    1. Ragan –RM
    2. Bolkcom

     

    Justice Systems

    1. Hogg- RM
    2. T. Taylor

     

    Transportation, Capitals

    1. Lykam –RM
    2. Boulton

    —————————————————–

    ARRC

    1. Jochum –RM
    2. Hogg

  • Restoring rights to working Iowans

    Iowa Senate News Release
    For immediate release: February 7, 2018

     

    (Des Moines) State Senator Nate Boulton, the ranking member of the Senate Labor and Business Committee, is sponsoring two bills to restore rights to working Iowans.

    “A year ago, Iowa Republicans took away rights and benefits from many Iowan workers,” Boulton said.  “As a result, Iowa is now a less attractive state to work compared to other states. Hardworking people have choices. By passing this legislation, Iowa can show workers that Iowa is a state where we respect workers and that we are the right place to build a good future for their families.”

    Senator Nate Boulton has proposed two bills, Senate File 2185 and Senate File 2186, to restore and improve the rights of Iowa workers.

    “Iowa’s shortage of skilled workers is the number one reason our state doesn’t produce enough good paying jobs,” Boulton said.  “We need to convince skilled Iowans to stay in Iowa and to attract skilled workers from other states.  To do that, we must show working people that their voices will be heard, their needs will be considered, and that they will be respected in the workplace.”

    Senate File 2185 would allow injured Iowa employees to choose their own doctors.

    “Under current law, an injured Iowa worker receiving workers compensation must be treated by a doctor chosen by their employer,” Boulton said.  “This is an obvious conflict of interest.”

    Senate File 2186 restores the collective bargaining rights abruptly taken away from several hundred thousand Iowa workers last year.  These rights were first approved in the early 1970s by Republican Governor Robert Ray and a Republican-controlled state legislature. Since that legislation is more than 40 years old, Boulton’s legislation expands those rights so teachers can bargain issues such as class size, so police and firefighters can negotiate on issues like safety equipment and so all workers can negotiate on health insurance.

    “We need teachers, nurses, firefighters, corrections officers and other Iowa workers to have a say in the workplace,” Boulton said.  “They should be able to point out problems and advocate for improvements.”

    Boulton said approving his proposed legislation would be the first two steps towards improving Iowa’s national image in a way that would help grow the state’s economy.

    For more information, contact Senator Boulton at 515-669-4259.

     

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  • Boulton: Here’s how to provide all working Iowans with paid family leave

    IA SEN NEWS
    For Immediate Release:  January 31, 2018

     

    State Senator Nate Boulton of Des Moines has introduced legislation to provide 12 weeks of paid family leave for working Iowa families.  The leave would be available when Iowans must care for a family member with a serious health condition or to bond with a newborn, adopted, or foster child. The bill also provides for paid medical leave for a personal serious health condition.

    “This is the first bill of its kind in the Iowa Senate,” said Boulton. “This paid family leave benefit would be funded by employee and employer contributions to an insurance account managed by the State Treasurer.”

    Based off the federal Family Medical Leave Act of 1993, Senate File 2133 would offer Iowans the flexibility to plan for their futures. After up to 12-weeks of paid time off for family issues, Iowa workers would be able to come back to return to a stable job with the same pay and benefits as before.

    “Improving the lives of working Iowans will help our state attract and keep skilled workers,” said Boulton.  “That would do much more to grow Iowa’s economy than throwing millions of dollars in tax credits, exemptions and giveaways to wealthy corporations.”

    A video of Senator Boulton’s comments during today’s session of the Iowa Senate can be found on the Iowa Senate Democrats Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/IowaSenateDemocrats/?hc_ref=ARTjmp-z4FB2dvm2MnEN_oKcNRQldI54cWoExrkuYZEXsxIHBykdq-h7o-FAEbZQAeM

    -end-