Democrats will still be in the minority in next year’s Iowa Legislative Session, but Minority Leader Janice Weiner (D-Iowa City) said that doesn’t make them powerless.
“It’s going to be our job to nonetheless bring forward some of the issues that we feel very strongly about, as well as, in particular, holding our Republican colleagues accountable,” she said. “They’ve been in charge for eight years. Anything that really doesn’t work for Iowans is really on our colleagues.”
Weiner plans to pressure Republicans to pay attention to issues like child care, child hunger, water quality, affordable housing, and rising cancer rates. She said Senate Democrats can point out when Republicans don’t pay attention to those issues, while also offering solutions of their own.
Democrats won’t have the power to move through bills themselves, but she said they can introduce amendments and work on making bills better in all the stages before they get passed.
“One of the ways to hold them accountable is to make sure that we ensure that they focus on some issues that they failed to focus on in previous years,” Weiner said.
She said that also means encouraging voters to talk about these issues and to tell their legislators what they wants them to focus on.
Democratic Solutions
Weiner said Democrats will talk about making school lunches free for all children and pressure Gov. Kim Reynolds to enroll in programs like SUN Bucks (also known as Summer EBT) that will address the hunger crisis.
“I don’t think we should be leaving money on the floor,” she said. “I would really strongly encourage the governor to opt into the SUN Bucks program so that families can have a little bit more money to buy food during the summer. If the governor wants to pursue another program, that’s great. I’m sure that everything is needed. But, at base, people need to eat. Kids in particular need to eat.”
Senate Democrats will also reintroduce their bills protecting Iowans’ rights to get whatever birth control they want.
They’ll also talk about making private schools be honest about how they’re using taxpayer money, how to responsibly lower property taxes, more unemployment aid—which Republicans cut in 2022—clean water, and more issues that will make Iowans’ lives better.
“There are plenty of Iowans who are falling through the cracks and can’t even get by. But again, we’re not the ones in charge here,” Weiner said.
