Week in Iowa: Recap of news from across the state

ACLU argues against fetal heartbeat law: The ACLU of Iowa argued this past week that Gov. Kim Reynolds’ request to lift an injunction on the state’s so-called fetal heartbeat law, which would ban abortion after six weeks, has no legal precedent.

Allowing the law to take effect would deprive Iowans of their rights as established by the Iowa Supreme Court by limiting pre-viability abortions, the group said.

After a pair of state and federal Supreme Court rulings opened the door for more restrictive abortion policies, Reynolds is asking a district court to lift its 2019 injunction and let the six-week abortion ban go into effect.

Grassley, Franken split on agriculture: Mike Franken, a Democrat running for U.S. Senate in Iowa, challenged Republican U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley’s record on agriculture in a new ad this past week, saying Grassley has let family farmers fall behind while large agriculture businesses benefit.

Grassley’s campaign said the senator has been a leader in agriculture, and on Wednesday announced a “Farmers for Grassley Coalition” of farmers that support his reelection.

Railroad labor agreement reached: Railroad business leaders and unions reached a tentative deal Thursday to avert a strike after 20 hours of negotiation over employment contracts for railroad workers.

The agreement must be ratified by workers to take effect. A union leader in Iowa said he was optimistic about the proposed deal. State Democrats also celebrated the deal as a win for union workers.

U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, a Republican, warned in remarks on the Senate floor that union members may not ratify the deal. If they don't, Grassley said Congress should step in to force both sides to accept the terms, saying a strike would cause massive problems for the country's economy.

Democrats launch policy agenda: The Iowa House Democrats released a policy agenda focusing on programs they say have a majority of support among Iowans. The plan includes expanding public assistance to lower costs, increasing funding to public schools, protecting abortion rights and legalizing marijuana for recreational use.

To accomplish most of these agenda items, the party would need to flip 11 seats in the House, as many of the proposals don’t have support from majority Republicans in the chamber.

They said …

“Since Chuck Grassley took office, Iowa has lost half our farms. Chuck has taken over a million dollars from Big Ag, and he’s passing laws to help them squeeze out the little guy.” — Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate Mike Franken on U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley's agriculture policy

“He’s the only farmer in this race. Chuck has tirelessly taken on big oil, he’s taken on the four big packers, he’s fought for fairness for Iowa’s farmers.” — Republican Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig on Grassley's agriculture policy

Odds and ends

More Iowans enroll in marketplace insurance: The number of Iowans who have chosen health care plans in the federal marketplace has risen in the past decade, up to 72,000 this year. In 2014, 30,000 Iowans enrolled in plans on the marketplace established under the Affordable Care Act.

COVID-19 cases continue to drop: Iowa’s COVID-19 cases continued to fall in the week ending Wednesday, down to 4,109 new cases compared to 4,176 in the previous week. The number of people hospitalized with the virus also decreased, from 270 to 232.

Water cooler

No injunction against Linn-Mar: An Iowa court denied a request from parents to temporarily bar enforcement of a Linn-Mar school district policy that protects transgender and nonbinary students while a lawsuit to negate the policy is pending.

Iowa’s senators skirt abortion ban: Iowa’s U.S. senators shied away from supporting a proposed nationwide ban on abortions when asked about it Wednesday. Both senators have co-sponsored bills to ban abortions nationally from 20 weeks of pregnancy in the past, but did not answer whether they would support a proposed 15-week abortion ban Sen. Lindsey Graham introduced earlier in the week.