(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Congresswoman, Ashley Hinson, a Republican from Marion, says the Biden Administration and Democrats keep pushing forward with their plans, while the president isn’t taking any questions on the issues.

Hinson, a former reporter, says the American people are questioning the way the administration operates. “What are they hiding? I think really what they are hiding is intent. They want to grow government, they want these big socialist government spending programs to go through — and they don’t want to have to answer for it,” she says.

Rep. Ashley Hinson. (RI photo)

Hinson says the situation at the southern border and immigration overall is a good example.”It’s why I called for Secretary Mayorkas’ resignation. Because we’ve been deliberately stonewalled at every turn from the Department of Homeland Security,” Hinson says. “We need new leadership there because we are out of time. these border crossings increase compound without a single answer from the Biden administration,” Hinson says.

Hinson says the administration has doubled down on its “out of sight, out of mind” approach to the border.

(Radio Iowa) – The three Republicans representing Iowa in the U.S. House of Representatives are seeking re-election, but one may be moving into another district after the new redistricting plan is signed into law. Republican Randy Feenstra of Hull lives in the new fourth district and announced last week he’s seeking reelection. Congresswoman Ashley Hinson of Marion announced in August that she intends to seek a second term in the House and last night she announced she’ll run in the new second district, where she lives.

Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks lives in the new third district, but that’s also where Democratic Congresswoman Cindy Axne of West Des Moines lives. Miller-Meeks, who announced her bid for reelection in August, last night announced she’s evaluating her options — which means she might move into the new first congressional district and seek to represent it instead. There’s no incumbent living in the district now.

Congresswoman Axne has not announced whether she’s seeking reelection to the House — or running for governor in 2022.

(Radio Iowa) – Governor Kim Reynolds will sign a bill that outlines how workers may claim a religious or medical exemption from a private employer’s Covid vaccination mandate, without a doctor or cleric signing off on the document. The bill that passed the House and Senate yesterday with bipartisan support also says workers are eligible for unemployment if they’re fired for failing to get vaccinated, including those whose exemption claims are denied. Senator Jason Schultz, a Republican from Schleswig, said it’s “a partial answer” to looming federal vaccination mandates.

“I don’t want to have to do this. Nobody does,” he said. “We’re reacting to authoritarianism.” Representative Henry Stone, a Republican from Forest City, said there are fast-approaching deadlines for Iowans faced with taking a vaccination “they don’t agree with” or getting fired. “We needed to take this action now,” Stone said. “January will be too late for Iowans. That’s why we have to act today.”

Democrats who voted for the bill said they did so to ensure Iowans who lose their jobs get unemployment. But Senator Tony Bisignano, a Democrat from Des Moines, voted for the bill, but he accused Republicans of trying to “buy off” Iowans who don’t want to get a Covid shot. “All this bill says if you lose your job — which you’re going to, because you’re not dealing with the mandate,” Bisignano said, “you’re going to give them their measly weekly unemployment check.”

Business groups say the bill puts Iowa employers “in the terrible position” of trying to figure out if they must follow state or federal regulations when it comes to Covid vaccinations among employees. Representative Steve Hanson, a Democrat from Sioux City, said Republicans had months to craft a bill, but would up with one that leaves too many questions unanswered. “Rather sloppy legislation,” he said. “…It’s very loosey goosey.”

Opponents of vaccine mandates who rallied at the Capitol today called the bill unacceptable. Representative Jeff Shipley, a Republican from Fairfield, said while there is “more work to do on” the issue, the bill is a good first step. “There are people in Illinois, in New York and in every other Democratic cesspool in the United States that would love to have these legal protections,” Shipley said.

Governor Reynolds said in a statement that she’s “committed to doing more” on the topic. Last week the governor said she may join a lawsuit challenging federal Covid vaccine mandates.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa legislature has overwhelmingly approved the second plan for reconfiguring the boundaries for Iowa’s congressional and legislative districts.  Redistricting happens once a decade, after population changes are identified in the Census. Senate Republicans rejected the first redistricting plan October 5th, but Republicans say the non-partisan Legislative Services Agency developed a second plan that had more compact districts and districts that were closer to equal in population. The plan passed the Senate on a 48-to-one vote.

Senate Republican Leader Jack Whitver of Ankeny says he started making calls last night to recruit candidates to run in open senate seats. “Now that the map has passed, we’re really six to eight months behind in the typical cycle,” Whitver says, “and both sides, both parties are going to have to work really hard to get caught up and find recruits.” Senator Pam Jochum of Dubuque, a Democrat, says redistricting has an immense impact. “It influences who wins elections, who is at the table when laws are considered,” she says, “and what laws actually pass.”

Redistricting Plan 2

Early Thursday evening, the plan passed the House on a 93-to-two vote. House Minority Leader Jennifer Konfrst of Windsor Height says Democrats were ready to approve the maps, sight unseen, because they were drawn by a non-partisan agency and without consideration for where incumbents live. “I’ve spent a lot of time learning about redistricting processes in other states. I’ve learned that the cliche of Iowa’s redistricting process being the ‘gold standard’ is well earned,” Konfrst says. “The way we do it here is right.”

Representative Bobby Kaufmann, a Republican from Wilton, blasted other Democrats who accused the G-O-P of intending to draft a redistricting plan to favor Republican candidates. “I have seen countless Tweets and Facebook posts and delusions,” Kaufmann said. “…I want to make it crystal clear: Republicans were never going to gerrymander.” Neither the House nor the Senate spent long debating the plan and Governor Kim Reynolds has indicated she’ll quickly sign it into law.

The legislators who opposed the bill were Senator Ken Rozenboom, a Republican from Oskaloosa, who lives in the same senate district as Republican Senator Dickey of Packwood. Representatives Jon Jacobsen, a Republican from Council Bluffs, and Tom Jeneary, a Republican from Le Mars, voted no in the House. All three live in districts with another Republican incumbent, setting up the possibility of G-O-P Primaries in 2022.

(Radio Iowa) – Advocates say they’re concerned Iowa’s new election laws put up more barriers for voters with disabilities. Catherine Johnson, executive director of Disability Rights Iowa, says Republican state lawmakers shortened the early voting period, moved up the deadlines for requesting and returning an absentee ballot, and changed the rules for who can help a voter return a ballot.

“All of those have a big impact on the disability community and their ability to vote,” Johnson says. “It begins to chill the desire of the disability community to go to the polling place to continue to vote.” Johnson says the wide-ranging changes made by legislators to Iowa’s election laws could be especially problematic to people with disabilities, particularly the changes in voting periods.

“Seventy-four percent of voters with a disability do vote early, either early at the polling place or by absentee mail ballot,” Johnson says, “and so you can see when you restrict the time of that shorter and shorter and shorter, the ability to participate for a person with a disability becomes more narrow.” Bill Kallestad, with the Iowa Developmental Disabilities Council, agrees with Johnson.

Kallestad says voting laws should be more flexible and simple so more people can participate. Iowans who want help voting can contact their county auditor to ask about curbside voting, Election Day voter assistance, and the new rules for having someone else return a voter’s absentee ballot.

(Reporting by Katarina Sostaric, Iowa Public Radio)