Ty Rushing

Ty Rushing is the former Chief Political Correspondent for Iowa Starting Line. He is a trail-blazing veteran Iowa journalist, an Emmy-nominated filmmaker, and co-founder and president of the Iowa Association of Black Journalists.


Latest from Ty Rushing

  • News

    Former Trump staffer one step closer to leading Iowa schools

    McKenzie Snow’s critics note she has never taught inside an American classroom and that her only degree is in political science; however, some prominent education officials in Iowa believe she is qualified to lead the Iowa Department of Education. The Iowa Senate held a subcommittee on Snow’s confirmation as director of the Iowa Department of…


  • News

    As cancer rates rise, Iowa could make it illegal to sue pesticide manufacturers

    As cancer rates rise in Iowa, the Iowa Senate is considering a bill that would prevent people from suing manufacturers of pesticides—a product linked to increased cancer risk—for not providing adequate warning labels on products.  SF 2412 would prevent Iowans from being able to sue pesticide manufacturers if the product’s label was approved by the…


  • News

    Fox News seems to think it’s all white people getting laid off in Perry plant closure

    Fox News Host Jesse Watters was irate when he found out about Tyson Foods closing its pork plant in Perry. Not because 1,276 people were losing their jobs, but because he seemed to think that white people were losing their jobs to be replaced by undocumented migrants. In a recent segment on his show, Watters…


  • Politics

    Cancer survivor presses Nunn to commit to protecting Affordable Care Act

    Laura Packard wanted to ask Rep. Zach Nunn (R-Iowa) what she thought was a simple question: Would he protect the Affordable Care Act? Packard is a stage IV cancer survivor and health-care activist from Virginia. Saving the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is one of her biggest priorities because the landmark legislation that turns 14 on…


  • Politics

    Iowa pauses on most anti-LGBTQ bills, but advocates not letting their guard down

    Cautious relief might be the best way to describe how some of Iowa’s most prominent LGBTQ organizations feel after a majority of the anti-LGBTQ bills in the Iowa Legislature stalled out after the second legislative funnel last week. “Out of the ones that directly targeted LGBTQ folks, there were 40 of those and 39 of…


  • Politics

    Iowans like AEAs, but Republicans are ramming through controversial reforms anyway

    Sen. Molly Donahue (D-Cedar Rapids) questioned her colleagues on why they were moving forward with enacting major legislative changes to Iowa’s Area Education Agencies (AEAs), a plan most Iowans don’t see the need for. “Nobody wanted this bill. Nobody asked for this bill. No one campaigned on this bill all across the state,” Donahue said…


  • News

    Iowa Republican blocks bill to expand firefighter cancer coverage

    Sen. Jason Schultz (R-Schleswig) declined to advance a bill that would provide Iowa firefighters with more comprehensive disability coverage for cancer treatment. “In highly emotional situations like that, somebody has got to be the taxpayer’s watchdog and remove emotion and think logically about the situation,” Schultz, a former small-town fire chief, told the Iowa Standard.…


  • Politics

    Republican senators to poor Iowans: Work harder to escape poverty

    According to two Republican state senators, participants in the UpLift—The Central Iowa Basic Income Program, just need to work harder and pull up their bootstraps to escape poverty. “It’s not the first job that gives you a raise to maybe $15 an hour that leads to the uplift for the rest of your life and…


  • Politics

    Immigration attorney describes Iowa GOP anti-migrant bill as ‘redundant’

    Immigration advocates noted there are a few issues with a new Republican-backed bill aimed at undocumented migrants that is working its way through the Iowa Legislature. HF 2608 would require the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to verify the citizenship status of anyone who applies for public assistance, something the agency already…


  • News

    Biden campaign blasts Iowa bill that could limit IVF access and ties it to Trump

    The Biden-Harris campaign said in vitro fertilization (IVF) services could be jeopardized in Iowa under a new bill that was supported by nearly every Republican member of the Iowa House.  “IVF is at risk across the country and there’s one man to blame: Donald Trump. Donald Trump proudly brags he was able to ‘kill’ Roe…