(Radio Iowa) – U.S. Senate candidate Abby Finkenauer — a Democrat who hopes to challenge Republican Chuck Grassley in 2022 — says the Senate is broken and West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin’s “no” on President Biden’s Build Back Better initiative is a symptom of the problem.

“After watching Manchin, after watching some of these senators — both Democrats and Republicans — who have been in D.C. for way too long, who have clearly lost sight and lost touch with what is happening with the American people and what is happening in their pocketbooks, I am more fired up than ever,” Finkenauer says. Finkenauer says Iowans are feeling the pinch from inflation and disruptions in the supply chain.

Finkenauer suggests federal properties should be used to temporarily store cargo containers that are stacked up at U.S. ports — so more containers can be transferred from ships to the docks. “That could be very tangible, very quickly,” Finkenauer says. Finkenauer says President Biden should invoke the Defense Production Act to fill orders for some of the small components that are needed to keep American manufacturing lines running, but which are primarily made in other countries and shipped here.

“We do have the ability and some of the greatest workforce in the entire world, obviously, to be able to deal with some of this,” Finkenauer says. “We just need to do it.” Finkenauer also says congress should pass a law requiring ships that cargo at U.S. ports to — in most instances — load back up with American goods and commodities before leaving.  “Cutting down on the anti-competitive shipping industry practices,” Finkenauer says, “making sure that when these ships come in, they’re not leaving empty handed, without American goods.”

A recent analysis indicated the majority of containers unloaded in the nine largest U.S. ports were empty when placed back on ships that sailed out for foreign destinations. Ag groups and manufacturers say it’s having a big impact on U.S. exports. Finkenauer is among four Democrats say they intend to compete in next June’s primary for the party’s U.S. Senate nomination.

(Radio Iowa) – Three Democrats in the Iowa Senate are proposing a constitutional amendment to legalize marijuana possession in Iowa for anyone who’s 21 or older. Senator Joe Bolkcom, a Democrat from Iowa City, says it’s time to regulate marijuana like alcohol. “Marijuana prohibition has been a costly failure,” Bolkcom says. “It’s ending across America because it’s caused far more harm than good,” Bolkcom says. “…Basically begin to treat marijuana like we treat a six-pack of beer.”

Bolkcom cites statistics indicating more than 43-hundred Iowans were convicted of marijuana possession in 2020 — and he says taxpayers paid millions to cover the costs of their prison time. “A lot of Iowans will see some benefit from essentially eradicating those expenses from our tax bills,” Bolkcom says. Senator Janet Petersen, a Democrat from Des Moines, says polls show a majority of Iowans support legalizing marijuana rather than continuing to pursue criminal charges against those who smoke or possess it.

“Iowans are tired of filling our prisons with nonviolent offenders, traumatizing families with separation and taking away opportunities for too many young adults for something that is legal is nearly half the states in our country.” Senator Sarah Trone Garriott, a Democrat from West Des Moines, says 19 states now let residents use marijuana for a wide range of medical conditions or for recreational use.

“The world is changing around us and Iowa is getting left behind,” Trone-Garriott says. The three Democrats say Governor Kim Reynolds and Republicans who control a majority of seats in the legislature have resisted expansion of Iowa’s very limited medical marijuana program. Bolkcom says under current law, the cannabis products available today in Iowa have T-H-C levels that make them ineffective as medicine.

“It’s time for Governor Reynolds and legislative Republicans to allow voters the freedom to decide,” Bolkcom says. “It’s time to hear their voices and bring marijuana reform to Iowa.” It takes years to amend the Iowa Constitution and this proposal faces a tough road ahead in a Republican-led legislature. The Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee says he has no intentions of bringing the proposal up for a vote.

Senator Brad Zaun of Urbandale says proposing recreational marijuana in Iowa is a gimmick and it shows Senate Democrats lack ideas to solve the problems Iowans face.