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.
Ty Rushing
Latest from Ty Rushing
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While Republican legislature obsesses over culture war, Iowa Dems pitch pocketbook policies
All Sami Scheetz wanted to do was feed kids. The Democratic representative from Cedar Rapids introduced HF 575 last session, which would allow 23,000 Iowa students enrolled in the federal reduced breakfast and lunch program to receive free meals at school. The state would use a small portion of its billion-dollar-plus surplus to pay the…
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Iowa high school senior says bill to arm teachers makes him feel ‘unsafe’
An Iowa school student questioned state senators about a Republican proposal to arm Iowa teachers and staff in an attempt to deter school shooters. “This bill, for me, makes me feel unsafe, it means that this bill is going to put more guns into the hands of students and, frankly I find that profoundly nonsensical.…
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Iowa legislator: I’d ban all plant-based meat products from Iowa if I could
Rep. Mike Sexton (R-Rockwell City) would ban all plant-based meat products—such as Beyond Beef or the Impossible Burger—from Iowa if he could. “If it was up to me, I believe I would outlaw fake meat in the state of Iowa, and I would make it illegal to transport it across the state of Iowa,” said…
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An Iowa basic income pilot program seems to be working, but Republicans want to kill it
How much better would your life be with an extra $500 a month—especially $500 a month with no strings attached? That’s what people behind the UpLift – The Central Iowa Basic Income program are trying to determine, but the study might be the first and last of its kind in Iowa if Republican lawmakers have…
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How Iowa’s ‘religious freedom’ law could be used to discriminate
Legalized discrimination on religious grounds could be a major consequence of Iowa’s new “religious freedom” bill when Gov. Kim Reynolds signs it into law. During the Iowa Senate debate on this legislation, Sen. Janice Weiner (D-Iowa City), one of Iowa’s three Jewish legislators, said this legislation would be a “blank check for discrimination.” She is…
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House GOP pushes through bill aimed at undermining AEA services
Rep. Chuck Isenhart (D-Dubuque) can already see the writing on the wall for Iowa’s Area Education Agencies (AEAs), after Thursday’s Iowa House vote to move forward in implementing large-scale changes to the agencies. During the House debate on its amended AEA bill, Isenhart laid out exactly how he thinks Republicans will use this bill to…
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Iowa House passes bill to arm teachers, staff in school
Rep. Molly Buck (D-Ankeny), who is also a teacher, summed up her thoughts on Iowa House Republicans’ bill to arm school staff as a way to deter school shootings. “When I think about how my classroom is arranged, if I am carrying a gun and there’s a threat at the door, the thing that stands…
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Widow of Iowa correctional officer killed on the job speaks in support of unions
Sara McFarland wants to make sure her husband’s on-the-job death—during the inmate escape attempt at Anamosa State Penitentiary in 2021— wasn’t in vain. Her husband, Robert McFarland, was a correctional officer at Anamosa. He and nurse Lorena Schulte were murdered on March 21, 2021, by two inmates trying to escape from the medium-security facility. “Robert…
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‘Doomed to failure:’ Iowans speak out on proposed AEA changes
Stacey Warren was one of the first people on the scene of the Perry High School shooting on Jan. 4, but she’s not a first responder: She’s a social worker for the Heartland Iowa Area Education Association (AEA). “I went to Perry and we were there before 10 a.m. and we have continued to serve…
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Iowa Teamsters head says statewide strikes possible to stop union-busting bill
Jesse Case, secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 238, said everything—including strikes—are on the table if that’s what it takes to stop a union-busting bill that has worked its way through the Iowa Senate. For about an hour on Wednesday, Teamsters members and their supporters circled the Iowa Capitol in various vehicles including semitrailers, and honked their…
