Welcome to Iowa: Where common sense no longer prevails

John Burke Mar. 3, 2021 2:56 pm Updated: Mar. 3, 2021 2:56 pm

As Iowa considers updating its 'Welcome” signs, perhaps this is an opportunity to highlight our current political environment.

We have House Speaker Pat Grassley, whose unwillingness to require face masks in the Capitol puts legislative staff and citizens at an unnecessary risk of COVID-19 exposure. But he bravely defends legislative decorum by sanctioning a legislator who wore bluejeans in protest.

We have Rep. Steve Holt sponsoring a bill restricting diversity training in schools, drawing support from a Family Leader Foundation representative who declared that 'Iowa does not have racism.”

We have Sen. Jim Carlin supporting a voter suppression bill due to his belief in the big lie because his Republican caucus can't accept that their presidential candidate lost. To make his caucus feel better, the bill seeks to reduce voting hours and opportunities for working Iowans.

We have Rep. Skyler Wheeler's bill to financially sanction Iowa schools if they use the '1619 Project,” an educational curriculum which looks at the impact that slavery has had on Black Americans, as he claims it seeks to 'tear down America.”

Perhaps we could portray each legislator on Iowa's welcome signs as a shining example of how partisan politics seems to be more important than actually working on the behalf of Iowans.

John Burke

Cedar Rapids