Christina Bohannan: ‘Both sides need to come together and negotiate’ on health care subsidies

Union leaders endorsed Christina Bohannan in the race to represent southeast Iowa in Congress.

In making the announcement Wednesday along the Davenport riverfront, Ryan Drew, business representative with the Operating Engineers Local 150, criticized 1st District Republican U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks for what he characterized as votes to increase health care costs and reduce construction of renewable energy projects in Iowa.

Drew called Bohannan, an Iowa City Democrat running in the 1st Congressional District, a "great leader for the working class."

"We clearly see the wealthiest among us, they're doing pretty good, while workers in Eastern Iowa struggle with rising costs and falling worker protections," Drew said.

Laborers Local 309 and Carpenters Local 4 also announced their endorsements of Bohannan at the event Wednesday.

Drew and Bohannan criticized Miller-Meeks' vote for the "Big Beautiful Bill," a sweeping piece of legislation that extended 2017 tax cuts, made reductions in Medicaid spending and added work requirements for people in the Medicaid expansion pool.

Republicans have said the bill prevented one of the largest tax hikes in history on families, and that they were adding requirements to Medicaid to safeguard it for those who truly need it.

Drew said retirees are experiencing premium increases from 50 to 100 percent. People who access health care coverage through the Affordable Care Act marketplace — for which open enrollment begins Saturday — could see premiums double because of the expiration of federal tax credits.

In one example provided by the Iowa Insurance Division of how costs will change for some enrollees, a couple, both age 55, making 450 percent of the federal poverty level ($95,175), will see their monthly rate increase from $652 to $1,659.

The government shutdown is set to stretch into its second month as Republicans and Democrats are at a stalemate over a budget bill in the U.S. Senate. Democrats want Republicans to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies passed in 2021 that have kept marketplace insurance rates lower. Republicans want Democrats to pass a simplified budget bill.

Bohannan said she thinks Republicans and Democrats must come together to end the shutdown.

"Maybe neither side gets everything they want, but that's what we need to have happen is these two sides come together instead of people like Miller-Meeks going and doing photo ops in empty buildings," Bohannan said.

In a statement to the Quad-City Times from a spokesperson for the Miller-Meeks campaign, Miller-Meeks said: "Instead of staging press conferences, Christina Bohannan should put people over politics and tell her party bosses to join Republicans in voting to reopen the government. Democrats have voted 13 times to keep the government shut down, blocking pay for our troops and federal workers, as well as benefits for SNAP & WIC recipients, all while prioritizing healthcare for illegal immigrants."

Asked if she thinks Democrats should hold the line on health care subsidies, Bohannan said, "what I do want to see is some real movement here. People have to come together. Both sides need to come together and negotiate. What is not acceptable is to have the government still shut down while also raising health insurance premiums. Representative Miller-Meeks could come to the table."

On jobs, Drew said the country is undergoing a transformational shift with artificial intelligence and technology changes, and with it a shift in power generation.

The country will need power sources, Drew said. The Big Beautiful Bill, which rolled back clean energy incentives, will harm renewable power projects and reduce union protections, he said.

Bohannan said her dad was a construction worker, starting as a laborer and later becoming a foreman and heavy machinery operator.

"We were so proud of him and the work that he did. It was not billionaires who built this country," Bohannan said.

Bohannan criticized Miller-Meeks' support for the Trump administration's tariffs and trade wars that Bohannan said "are hurting Iowa's farmers and causing John Deere and other agricultural companies to lay off thousands of Iowa workers."

Bohannan said tariffs are increasing costs on construction materials and slowing construction projects in the state.

"Miller-Meeks' budget bill includes massive cuts for infrastructure projects that threaten an estimated 1.75 million construction jobs, over 3 billion man hour of work, and $148 million in lost wages and benefits to American workers," Bohannan said.

Bohannan is facing two Democrats in the June 2026 primary for the 1st District nomination: Travis Terrell, a health care worker from Tiffin, and Taylor Wettach, a lawyer from Muscatine.