Capitol Digest: Progressive website publisher sues Iowa House after being denied credentials

DES MOINES — A progressive journalist has sued the Iowa House Clerk in federal court for denying her credentials to cover the chamber, claiming the denial violates her First Amendment rights.

Laura Belin, who publishes and reports for the liberal-leaning Iowa politics website Bleeding Heartland and also reports for KHOI-FM radio in Ames, filed the lawsuit late last week in U.S. District Court’s Southern District in Iowa.

The suit argues that the House Clerk cannot deny credentials based on political viewpoint or on the type of media for which a journalist reports.

The defended in the lawsuit is Iowa House Clerk Meghan Nelson, whose office sets credentialing policy for reporters to work on press row on the House floor during each session of the Iowa Legislature. The House Clerk is appointed by the chamber’s majority party, which in this case is Republican.

The lawsuit asks the court to provide immediate relief in the form of a temporary restraining order and immediately credential Belin to cover the Iowa House.

Nelson did not respond to a request for comment.

According to the lawsuit, Belin applied for and was denied credentials to cover the Iowa House from press row in 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023 and 2024. In 2023 and 2024, Nelson informed Belin that her credential request was denied because she did not meet the requirements of the House’s press work space policy, but did not specify why Belin did not meet the requirements, according to the lawsuit.

In the Iowa Senate, reporters no longer have access to the press bench on that chamber’s floor. In 2021, Secretary of the Senate Charlie Smithson, who was appointed by majority-party Republicans, created a policy under which reporters’ workspace was moved upstairs to the Senate galleries. That policy broke with more than a century of journalists working from press row on the Senate floor.

Teacher spending accounts advance

Iowa lawmakers advanced, with some caution, a bill to provide teachers with state-funded accounts to purchase classroom supplies, noting it could see changes going forward.

The bill, Senate File 2009, would require schools to set aside a portion of their supplemental state aid for individual teacher spending accounts each year. Beginning teachers would receive $500, while other teachers would receive $200.

Because the bill includes no new state spending, school districts would need to divert money from other expenses, like teacher salary and professional development.

Public education advocates told lawmakers the bill would create more budget headaches for school districts without a separate funding stream.

The proposal would cost about $8 million out of the state’s per-pupil school funding allocation, an Iowa Legislative Services Agency official said. The state spent about $3.7 billion on K-12 schools last year.

“We appreciate the idea, but like has been stated, there’s no new appropriation,” Iowa Association of School Boards lobbyist Michelle Johnson said. “So this would be taking out of the general fund budget for a school district, which in many cases is already kind of strapped.”

Sen. Sarah Trone Garriott, D-Waukee, did not vote to advance the bill, saying lawmakers should spend new money to create the teacher spending accounts.

Sen. Lynn Evans, a Republican from Aurelia, said he was concerned that the bill would remove budget flexibility for school districts. He voted to advance the bill, but said he wanted it to be amended.

School fire alarm response plans

Iowa lawmakers advanced a bill requiring school districts to include in their emergency response plans a policy that directs students and other school personnel how to respond to a fire alarm activated on school grounds.

The bill, Senate File 2017, would allow schools to more easily address active shooter concerns when a fire alarm is triggered at a school, said the bill’s sponsor Sen. Chris Cournoyer, R-LeClaire.

She said it was inspired by the North Scott School District, which has implemented a policy for years that directs students and staff to first identify if there is an immediate threat — like the smell of smoke or sight of fire — if a fire alarm goes off unexpectedly at school. If there is no immediate threat, staff and students will wait for a confirmation from safety officials before evacuating the building.

The plan is in response to concerns that a shooter at a school could pull a fire alarm to draw students out of classrooms in order to more easily target students.

North Scott High School Assistant Principal Aaron Schwartz said during a subcommittee meeting on Monday that the bill would make it easier for schools to implement this type of emergency response plan.

When the school initially created the plan, Schwartz said, it received pushback from local fire marshals and had to seek state approval. He said the change in law would make districts feel more comfortable making the change.

“We all grew up in a time, I grew up in a time where you hear a fire alarm, you're supposed to leave the building immediately,” Schwartz said. “And so they’re looking for that assurance, they’re looking for that green light that what we're doing now is different because it needs to be different.”

Gazette-Lee Des Moines Bureau