Capitol Notebook: After filing lawsuit, progressive journalist credentialed in Iowa House

DES MOINES — Just days after filing a lawsuit claiming her First Amendment rights had been violated, Iowa progressive journalist Laura Belin said Wednesday that she was credentialed to cover the Iowa House chamber from press row.

Belin, the publisher and lead reporter for the liberal-leaning Iowa politics website Bleeding Heartland and a political reporter for KHOI-FM radio in Ames, claimed in the lawsuit filed late last week in federal court that her constitutional rights were violated when the Iowa House Clerk denied her credential applications from 2019 through 2024.

On Wednesday, Belin announced that Iowa House Clerk Meghan Nelson had reversed her decision and credentialed Belin.

The House Clerk 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.

Belin’s announcement was published by the Institute for Free Speech, which represented her in the lawsuit.

“Filing this lawsuit made House leaders understand that they have been violating my First Amendment rights,” Belin said in a statement via the Institute for Free Speech. “For years, the Chief Clerk applied the chamber’s credentialing policy unfairly and inconsistently, which prevented me from covering legislative proceedings on equal footing with my peers in the statehouse press corps.

To say Bleeding Heartland covered @SteveKingIA's career critically would be an understatement.
But throughout this saga, many Iowa Rs have told me I deserve to be credentialed. Although they don't share my views, they value some of my reporting (& that of my guest authors). https://t.co/6RMcWWPGjX

— Bleeding Heartland (@LauraRBelin) January 25, 2024

“I’m deeply grateful to the Institute for Free Speech for their work on this case and stunned by how fast the Institute was able to help me obtain my credentials. I hope this victory for press freedom will make any public official reluctant to deny access to reporters, either as retaliation for tough coverage or because of political bias.”

Belin’s lawsuit had asked for a temporary restraining order, which has been withdrawn, a spokesman for the Institute for Free Speech said. The lawsuit remains active while the institute seeks more information, the spokesman said.

Adding AI images to extortion laws

Images generated by artificial intelligence would be added to the state’s harassment and extortion laws, as a means to include AI-generated images in so-called “revenge porn” laws, under legislation advanced in the Iowa Senate.

During public comment on the proposal, Scott County Sheriff’s Deputy Ethan Roling testified that pursuing crimes involving AI images can be difficult because state laws have not been updated to match evolving technology. Roling, who specializes in investigating such crimes, said the problem is growing and urgent. He said in some cases, the time from when a perpetrator makes first contact with a victim to when that victim commits suicide has been as short as four hours.

The two Republicans and one Democrat on a subcommittee panel all approved Senate Study Bill 3004, which now is eligible for consideration by the full Senate committee on technology.

Reynolds introduces 3 new bills

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds announced she has sent three new bills to legislative leaders: increasing penalties for violations of reporting requirements for foreign land ownership; requiring that each new administrative rule include a cost-benefit analysis; and prohibiting the state from contracting with investment firms that prioritize social issues over financial returns.

The bills were not yet published Wednesday; each must pass both chambers of the Iowa Legislature before Reynolds could sign them into law.

Bill would require parental consent for HPV vaccine

Minors would need to obtain parental consent to receive a vaccine to prevent a sexually transmitted infection, like the HPV vaccine, under a bill Iowa Republican lawmakers advanced.

Current law states that minors can consent to medical care for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of sexually transmitted infections without their parents’ approval — like contraception and STI testing. Under the proposed bill, Senate File 2064, vaccines would be cut out from that provision.

Myriad medical professionals and lobbyists for medical associations told lawmakers at a subcommittee meeting Wednesday that the HPV vaccine, of which more than 100 million doses have been given in the U.S., is safe and effective. They said the bill would impede the patient-doctor relationship in cases where minors want to be protected against HPV.

HPV, one of the most common STIs, generally has no symptoms and goes away on its own. But it can lead to a range of cancers, most commonly cervical cancer in women. The vaccine against the virus has been shown to prevent cancer, health care officials said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization and other major medical associations say the HPV vaccine is safe.

Supporters of the bill, mostly parents who did not want their children to receive the vaccine, said parents should be able to make decisions around their children’s health and cited concerns around the safety of the vaccine.

The bill was advanced by the two Republican members of a three-person subcommittee. The bill will now move to a full vote in the Senate Health and Human Services Committee.

Stiffer punishments for ‘swatting’ calls advances

A bill making it a felony to report fake information about serious crimes to law enforcement is likely headed to the Iowa House floor.

Members of the Iowa House Public Safety Committee voted unanimously to recommend passage of House Study Bill 545, making it eligible for debate and a vote by the full House.

The bill, proposed by the Iowa Department of Public Safety, would increase the penalty for reporting false information about a crime to law enforcement, from a misdemeanor to a Class D felony if it involves false reports of a forcible felony — such as murder, sexual abuse, kidnapping, robbery and arson — someone brandishing a dangerous weapon, an act of terrorism or a bomb threat.

A Class D felony is punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine between $1,025 and $10,245. If the false report results in another person’s serious injury or death, the penalty increases to a Class C felony, punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a fine between $1,370 and $13,660.

State and local public safety officials say “swatting” calls have been on the rise in Iowa and nationally. “Swatting” refers to individuals making a false report of a serious crime, such as a hostage situation, a bomb threat or active shooter, with the goal of drawing out a large law enforcement response and creating chaos and fear at the location.

Last week, several Eastern Iowa schools — including in Marion, West Branch and Cascade — all reported threats that turned out to be hoaxes.