Stories

After my report earlier today about the outlook for organized labor going into 2010, one unanswered political question remains: After Democratic majorities failed to move key components of organized labor’s agenda from 2007 to 2009, will national labor groups continue to direct resources to Iowa Democrats, or will they move on to other states where [...]

“I like to think that good legislation gets passed regardless of whether it is an election year or not,” said Marcia Nichols, political and legislative director for American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Iowa Council 61.

A Democratic plan to overhaul Iowa’s tax system and end a deduction that allows residents to write off their federal taxes on state returns will go before the public at 7:30 p.m. tonight in what promises to be a contentious and heated hearing at the statehouse.

Hawkeye Labor Council, a coalition of unions in seven Iowa counties, has suspended both members of its two-person staff and requested a government investigation of its finances.
Alan Bernard, 54, has served as the council’s executive director since 2005. Lin Chavez, 21, has been the council’s administrative assistant. Both were suspended last Wednesday, but the action [...]

Don’t like political advertising? Better find and hide under a very big rock. With its first-in-the-nation status, Iowa stands on the front lines in a national debate over campaign finance reform.
The U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled in a 5-4 decision that, by passing the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (also known as “McCain-Feingold” for [...]