Isabella Murray
Latest from Isabella Murray
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Democrats Blast Reynolds’ Rejection Of Funds To Protect Schools
Iowa legislative Democrats have criticized Gov. Kim Reynolds’ pandemic response since the early days of COVID-19 in the state, so the Governor’s Thursday night admission on national television that she returned $95 million in federal dollars meant for surveillance testing in schools was one more sign of complacency. “[Reynolds] has quit in the fight against…
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Reynolds Brags About Sending Back COVID Money At Fox News Town Hall
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds on Thursday night took the stage in Orlando, Florida with four other rising Republican governors to boast about Iowa’s lax COVID-19 policies, especially the state’s early pandemic in-person learning mandates. “[The federal government] sent $95 million to the state of Iowa to get our kids back in the classroom by doing…
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Gillibrand Wins Over Ernst On Military Sexual Assault Reform, Breaks Logjam
Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst, one of Congress’s largest roadblocks during former attempts at passing military sexual assault legislation, is now set to vote on an influential, Democratic-led bill that would bar military commanders from involvement in prosecuting service members accused of sexual assault. During a Thursday press conference, the Republican admitted that she never wanted…
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GOP Shoots Down Amendments On Civil Rights, Abuse On Charter Bill
Iowa Senate Republicans on Wednesday night finally passed a highly controversial bill that establishes public funding for privately-run charter schools. After voting down 13 Democratic-introduced amendments, each killed along party lines, the majority party advanced one of Gov. Kim Reynolds’ school choice priorities, which allows a funding group or a non-elected group unaffiliated with local…
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Wahls: New GOP Law Threatens Mass Voter Roll Purge In Iowa
Iowa Senate Minority Leader Zach Wahls on Monday updated national voting rights advocates on the state’s recent implementation of the newly passed restrictive elections law. On his mind yesterday: Republicans’ actions that have led to many Iowans losing their active voter registration status. “We learned just over this weekend, because of SF413, nearly 300,000 Iowans…
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Axne: Infrastructure Means Jobs, Road Safety Improvements
Iowa Representative Cindy Axne spoke for over an hour on Monday with Iowans about major legislation out of Washington aimed at boosting the state’s economy during the pandemic– help that is not supported by any of her fellow Iowa members of Congress. Over 600 people were listening into the telephone town hall during its peak.…
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Sand: Reynolds Is Holding Back Much-Needed Help From Iowans
Iowa State Auditor Rob Sand on Friday told Iowa Press that he was considering a run for Governor or U.S. Senate, as well as reelection to the Auditor job, and spoke critically on the state’s GOP-controlled pandemic response. Sand, one of the only statewide Democratic leaders, said that he had no timeline for his decision…
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Ras Smith Sees ‘Huge Disconnect’ Between Statehouse, Iowans As He Travels The State
Since early January, when Iowa’s 2021 legislative session gaveled in, Waterloo State Rep. Ras Smith has been traveling the state to see what Iowans are looking for from their leaders during difficult times. In visits to towns from Decorah to Perry, he heard a recurring theme: the most pressing issues on Iowans’ minds were far…
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In Iowa Call, John Kerry Touts Biden’s Climate Action, Encourages Local Leadership
Former Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday hopped on an Iowa-organized Earth Day Zoom call with state and national climate leaders to encourage a reassertion of climate authority following years of avoidance. Conferencing in from the White House’s China Room, the U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate said he stepped away from President Joe…
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‘Tipping Point’: Skepticism Slowing Down Iowa’s Vaccinations
With Iowa’s fully vaccinated population nearing around 37%, vaccine hesitancy is starting to sink in as counties decline full vaccination allocations and metro area appointments fill more slowly. Gov. Kim Reynolds during her weekly press conference on Wednesday said that 43 of the state’s counties have declined some or all of their vaccine allocation for…
