Iowa’s ‘brain drain’ highlighted during legislative session

Well folks, it’s that time of year again. Iowa’s GOP-heavy group of lawmakers are getting ready to convene under the golden dome of wisdom in Des Moines.

Lately, much as been said about Iowa’s “brain drain.” Nowhere is this more apparent than our Legislature where the brains have been draining for almost 10 years now. The high point of last year’s brain drain would have been the Senate subcommittee bill to authorize the purchase of 9 southern Minnesota counties. I’m not kidding, look it up, Senate File 354. While any effort to fully fund our public schools, clean up our polluted lakes and rivers, address our first in the nation cancer rate or fix our shrinking economy, gets too little attention.

Surprising? Not when you consider Iowa’s political landscape is now redder than a clown’s nose. This January, another onslaught of legislative insanity is surely headed our way. Maybe there’s a small vestige of local control left out here this bunch of authoritarians can swallow up, or some tiny bit of factory farm regulation they can destroy. Maybe they will find a way to further erode our child labor laws. Who knows?

One thing is for sure, the 2026 session is headed our way, like a slow-moving slug of leaked hog manure. I can hardly wait.

Jim Fink

Fairbank