The legislature's first funnel deadline came last week. It was a mix of potential good news/bad news for our people and planet.

 

Notably, attacks on our public libraries failed to advance past the funnel deadline (we love our public libraries, just ask CCI board president Barb Kalbach!). Sadly, a slew of proposals targeting immigrants and public assistance, misguided AEA 'reforms', additional voter suppression efforts, and more are still eligible for consideration. For a good recap on what advanced and what stalled, check out this summary from Iowa Capital Dispatch.

 

Flying a bit under the radar is another gift to private schools, in the form of House File 2543 and Senate File 2368. Governor Reynolds' crusade to open the flood gates at the expense of our public schools continues, with these bills granting charter schools the right of first refusal to purchase or lease property from a public school district. Oh, and it removes the requirement that board members for Iowa charter schools actually live in Iowa.

 

Efforts to provide some bit of redress to landowners bullied by the likes of Bruce Rastetter's Summit Carbon Solutions remain alive in the House. If you haven't sent an email on that issue yet, please take a moment to do so here.

 

This week will be marked by a lot of floor debate in the House and Senate on bills that passed out of a committee in their respective chambers. That's because the second legislative funnel is now on the horizon on March 15, when a bill must have passed one chamber (House or Senate), and a full committee in the opposite chamber.

Civic Love is a conversational experiment designed to not only help us share things about ourselves but also to listen, without comment, as someone shares with us.

These types of conversations are at the core of how we organize for the people and places we love. This is a great way to explore what that can look and feel like for yourself. Adapted from the National Public Housing Museum.

When: Tuesday, February 20, 2024 from 6 - 7:30PM

Where: Online. RSVP to attend here!

This month the Iowa Environmental Protection Commission is finalizing updated rules for factory farms in Iowa. But the current draft walks back on small improvements and ignores key issues like:

• Closing the LLC Loophole to prevent factory farms from skirting around permitting laws
• Developing a public database for factory farm Manure Management Plans to be submitted online and readily available to the public
• Increasing the separation distance from factory farms and karst terrain to at least 25 feet

Submit a comment to the EPC (deadline this Fri. Feb. 23)!
We need stronger rules and regulations to protect our water from factory farms! Take 5 minutes to send in your comment here.

Iowa's water crisis is finally starting to get the attention it deserves. The partnership between Iowa CCI and Izaak Walton League's Nitrate Watch continues to make water testing kits available.

• Information about the program and how to order a test kit can be found by clicking this link. 
• Nitrate Watch has a great worksheet you can use to create a water monitoring plan.

Let's keep getting loud about the water quality issue in Iowa!