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Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Dispute over planned satanic celebration at Iowa Capitol sparks civil rights complaint
The rotunda in Iowa Capitol as seen May 8, 2025. (Photo by Robin Opsahl/Iowa Capital Dispatch) The ACLU of Iowa has filed a civil rights complaint on behalf of The Satanic Temple Iowa, alleging state officials discriminated against the group by denying it permission to hold a winter celebration and ceremony in the rotunda of the Iowa Capitol as other religious groups do. The complaint was filed with the Iowa Civil Rights Commission on behalf of Mortimer Adramelech, minister of Satan of the Iowa congregation of The Satanic Temple, against the Iowa Department of Administrative Services, its director, and the office of Gov. Kim Reynolds. The complaint alleges the state illegally discriminated on the basis of religion in denying The Satanic Temple Iowa's application to hold a winter celebration event in the Iowa Capitol's rotunda in December 2024. The complaint alleges the denial was in retaliation for The Satanic Temple Iowa's three prior reports of discrimination. Adramelech said Tuesday that state officials made a number of assumptions about his religion and used those assumptions to discriminate against his congregation. 'We are compassionate and caring human beings,' he said. 'We have families. We are Iowans and we are simply seeking to exercise our right to freedom of religion.' The temple's application to use the Capitol rotunda specified that planned events would be family-friendly and appropriate for children. The events were to include a ritual, a costume contest, caroling, coloring and make-and-take ornaments. The complaint alleges in denying the application, the state wrongly alleged the celebration would have included sex acts, gore, and similar content and was not suitable for minors. In a written statement, Reynolds said that while the Capitol building is open to the public, the state's event policy 'takes into consideration conduct that would be harmful to minors.' Reynolds said the proposed winter celebration, 'which specifically targeted children, would have been harmful to children and so (the application) was denied.' ACLU of Iowa Legal Director Rita Bettis Austen said Tuesday that 'it's one of the foundational principles of our country, and our state civil rights law, that the government should not favor one religious viewpoint or belief over another, or treat its citizens worse or better based on their religion. That means, among other things, that when the government makes the public space in the State Capitol available for other religious groups to use, for example, a Christmas or Hanukkah holiday display, it cannot then legally deny the same right to other religious groups, and that includes our clients.' Once a complaint is filed with the Iowa Civil Rights Commission, the commission may choose to investigate and act as a mediator in the dispute. After 60 days, the party filing the complaint has the option of pulling the complaint and requesting a 'right to sue' letter, allowing them to seek a resolution in district court. The civil rights complaint is a separate proceeding from the lawsuit the ACLU of Iowa filed in April on behalf of the Iowa Atheists and Freethinkers. That lawsuit seeks to compel the governor's office to produce public records regarding the denial of the temple's application for its 2024 winter celebration. That litigation is still pending. This story was produced by the Iowa Capital Dispatch which is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network, including the Daily Montanan, supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity.
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Dispute over planned satanic celebration at Capitol sparks civil rights complaint
The rotunda in Iowa Capitol as seen May 8, 2025. (Photo by Robin Opsahl/Iowa Capital Dispatch) The ACLU of Iowa has filed a civil rights complaint on behalf of The Satanic Temple Iowa, alleging state officials discriminated against the group by denying it permission to hold a winter celebration and ceremony in the rotunda of the Iowa Capitol as other religious groups do. The complaint was filed with the Iowa Civil Rights Commission on behalf of Mortimer Adramelech, minister of Satan of the Iowa congregation of The Satanic Temple, against the Iowa Department of Administrative Services, its director, and the office of Gov. Kim Reynolds. The complaint alleges the state illegally discriminated on the basis of religion in denying The Satanic Temple Iowa's application to hold a winter celebration event in the Iowa Capitol's rotunda in December 2024. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX The complaint alleges the denial was in retaliation for The Satanic Temple Iowa's three prior reports of discrimination. Adramelech said Tuesday that state officials made a number of assumptions about his religion and used those assumptions to discriminate against his congregation. 'We are compassionate and caring human beings,' he said. 'We have families. We are Iowans and we are simply seeking to exercise our right to freedom of religion.' The temple's application to use the Capitol rotunda specified that planned events would be family-friendly and appropriate for children. The events were to include a ritual, a costume contest, caroling, coloring and make-and-take ornaments. The complaint alleges in denying the application, the state wrongly alleged the celebration would have included sex acts, gore, and similar content and was not suitable for minors. In a written statement, Reynolds said that while the Capitol building is open to the public, the state's event policy 'takes into consideration conduct that would be harmful to minors.' Reynolds said the proposed winter celebration, 'which specifically targeted children, would have been harmful to children and so (the application) was denied.' ACLU of Iowa Legal Director Rita Bettis Austen said Tuesday that 'it's one of the foundational principles of our country, and our state civil rights law, that the government should not favor one religious viewpoint or belief over another, or treat its citizens worse or better based on their religion. That means, among other things, that when the government makes the public space in the State Capitol available for other religious groups to use, for example, a Christmas or Hanukkah holiday display, it cannot then legally deny the same right to other religious groups, and that includes our clients.' Once a complaint is filed with the Iowa Civil Rights Commission, the commission may choose to investigate and act as a mediator in the dispute. After 60 days, the party filing the complaint has the option of pulling the complaint and requesting a 'right to sue' letter, allowing them to seek a resolution in district court. The civil rights complaint is a separate proceeding from the lawsuit the ACLU of Iowa filed in April on behalf of the Iowa Atheists and Freethinkers. That lawsuit seeks to compel the governor's office to produce public records regarding the denial of the temple's application for its 2024 winter celebration. That litigation is still pending. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Iowa ACLU sends letters to cities calling for removal of drag restrictions
Students got signatures and pictures with drag queens who spoke at Iowa Safe Schools' Annual Governor's Conference on LGBTQ Youth April 28, 2023 at Prairie Meadows in Altoona. (Photo by Robin Opsahl/Iowa Capital Dispatch) The American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa sent letters Wednesday to five Iowa city councils calling for a change to local statutes that classify 'female impersonators' and 'male impersonators' as adult entertainment, saying such measures are unconstitutional. The letters were sent to the city councils of Carroll, Harlan, Mt. Pleasant, Polk City and Webster City. The five Iowa municipalities have restrictions on performances — typically referring to drag shows — as adult entertainment. In the letters to the city councils, ACLU Staff Attorney Shefali Aurora wrote that the prohibitions on drag performances violate the state and U.S. constitutions, as they conflict with the First Amendment by restricting a form of expression that's protected under free speech rights. Aurora also argued the ordinances violate constitutional equal protection rights, as the measures target the LGBTQ community on the basis of sex and gender expression. Aurora said in a news conference Wednesday the ordinances are restricting performances that are neither obscene or sexual. 'Not all drag is obscenity,' Aurora said. 'A lot of drag performances are, in fact, family friendly. Too often, drag is equated with sexualized performances. But drag is not, by definition, adult entertainment. It can simply be someone wearing clothing and accessories conventionally worn by a person of a different gender.' Other performances that entail stories involving a person dressed in a manner that does not traditionally correspond with their gender at birth — such as movies like 'Mulan' or 'Mrs. Doubtfire' — could be restricted from being shown under such local ordinances. A statewide measure to ban minors' attendance at drag performances was discussed during the 2025 legislative session but ultimately did not advance. This proposed legislation contained similar language that defined drag as performances where the main aspect is 'a performer who exhibits a gender identity that is different than the performer's gender assigned at birth through the use of clothing, makeup, accessories, or other gender signifiers.' The bill, which was amended, received heavy criticism not just for limiting family-friendly drag shows but potentially impacting transgender people's ability to be in non-drag public performances and preventing local theaters from performing classic art such as Shakespeare's 'Twelfth Night,' as it contains a character that dresses as the opposite gender. Aurora said this is not the first time the ACLU has sent letters to local governments about similar anti-drag ordinances. In the past, the organization has contacted Eagle Grove, Knoxville, Newton, Dyersville, Pella, Waukee and Grinnell — communities that agreed to amend their ordinances after receiving communications from the ACLU on the issue. In 2021, Doña Martha's Office in Eagle Grove had canceled a drag show after receiving a letter from the city attorney that called for the performances to cease, claiming they violated municipal code. Aurora said Eagle Grove later agreed to amend the restriction on 'female impersonators' as part of the city's definition of adult entertainment. While the ACLU is encouraging all cities to review their ordinances and remove language related to drag performances as inherently obscene, Aurora said the latest letters were sent as many Iowa communities are celebrating Pride month, holding events that sometimes host drag performances. 'We thought it was particularly important to raise this issue again this month, with it being Pride, which is why we're sending out the letters this week, just to bring that to the forefront,' Aurora said.
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Iowa Legislature adjourns 2025 session with many GOP priorities checked off
A portion of Iowa Capitol rotunda as seen May 14, 2025. (Photo by Robin Opsahl/Iowa Capital Dispatch) The Iowa Legislature adjourned Thursday at 6:01 a.m. in the Senate and 6:31 a.m. in the House, finishing the 2025 legislative session with many priorities from the majority party met — but with several major goals, including property taxes, not making the cut. While leaders reflected on successfully moving forward on many of their top objectives, the final few days of the 2025 legislative session were tense between some members of the majority party. Twelve Republican senators had announced they would not vote in support of any budget bills until the Senate voted on House File 639, a bill containing multiple measures related to the use of eminent domain in carbon sequestration pipeline projects. On Monday, the bill passed the Senate 27-22 following hours of heated debate and days of closed-door meetings discussing the measure, which included many barbed comments traded between Republicans. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Rep. Steven Holt, R-Denison, told reporters he believed the eminent domain legislation was the most pivotal bill to move during the 2025 session. 'The fact that it was finally taken up in the Senate certainly sticks out to me,' Holt said. 'But unfortunately, it also sticks out to me … as a Republican, the unfortunate debate that occurred in the Senate, in terms of Republicans sort of going after one another. It's something that we don't normally see, and I hope we never see again.' Holt said he was 'confident' that Gov. Kim Reynolds will sign the bill into law, though other lawmakers have expressed doubts that she will grant the measure final approval. While the pipeline bill was brought up for debate, another high-profile measure from the session was not — the Republicans' property tax proposal. The Senate Ways and Means Committee approved Senate File 651, the most recent version of the proposal eliminating Iowa's 'rollback' system of calculating local property taxes, in a meeting earlier in May, but the measure was not brought for floor debate in either chamber. Here's what Iowa lawmakers did on marathon final day of session House Minority Leader Jennifer Konfrst said her biggest takeaway from the 2025 legislative session was that lawmakers did nothing to lower costs for Iowa families. 'If anything, all they did was raise costs, especially when it comes to property taxes, that now could go up and count the districts across the state because they didn't fund public education enough,' Konfrst said, referring to the K-12 funding package that Democrats said will trigger property tax increases in many Iowa public schools. 'They did nothing, nothing for housing … They did nothing to fix health care costs, except put 182,000 people, their health insurance at risk. They did absolutely nothing to help the economy.' Reynolds said in a statement early Thursday property taxes would be a top issue in the 2026 session, alongside further government efficiency efforts. 'I look forward to continuing this work next session — especially when it comes to reducing Iowans' property tax burden,' Reynolds said in the statement. 'And to make sure tax cuts remain sustainable, even as we continue to make smart investments, we'll keep streamlining government. Our alignment efforts, so far, have already saved taxpayers more than $250 million, and we're just getting started.' Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver said the Legislature did take action to lower costs for Iowans as the the state's economy 'is under a lot of pressure from outside issues,' pointing to the bill passed Thursday to reduce unemployment insurance taxes, a priority of Reynolds. 'At the start of this legislative session, we told Iowans, 'We hear you,'' Whitver said in a statement on his closing remarks for the session. 'We hear your concerns about the high costs in our everyday lives, the concerns about costs and access to health care, and concerns about safe communities.' In the final days of session, the Legislature approved some of the top proposals laid out by Reynolds for the 2025 legislative session, including the unemployment insurance taxes, as well as the bill on paid parental leave for government employees and another aiding rural health care and expanding medical residency slots. Several of the goals she laid out in her January Condition of the State address — like the two bills restricting cellphone use during class time and behind the wheel of a car, and her bill providing natural disaster aid for communities impacted by 2024 floods and tornadoes, were all signed into law earlier this session. But there were some bills that did not make it to her desk. The House did not take up Senate File 445, the governor's child care infrastructure bill to shift funding from Early Childhood Iowa (ECI) and some federal funds to establish a new grant program for preschool and child care centers providing full-day care for children, though it was passed by the Senate. Her energy proposal that would have given existing utility companies the right of first refusal to new transmission projects — which received pushback from the U.S. Department of Justice — also did not advance. The first measure signed into law in 2025 was the repeal of gender identity protections under the Iowa Civil Rights Act. The law came up in budget discussions in the days before session ended, as the health and human services spending bill included a restriction on Medicaid coverage for sex reassignment surgery and hormone replacement therapy for transgender individuals. Some GOP lawmakers said this limit is now legal because of 'gender identity' was removed as a protected class under state civil rights law, but Democrats argued the measure remains unconstitutional — as ruled previously in courts — under the Equal Protections Clause. Republican legislative leaders did not mention the gender identity law in their closing comments, but did praise the passage of a bill setting Medicaid work requirements on Iowa's expanded Medicaid program. The bill sent to Reynolds Wednesday would set an 80-hour work requirement per month for people on the Iowa Health and Wellness Plan, or IHAWP, to retain eligibility for health coverage. IHAWP provides Medicaid coverage for low-income, able-bodied adults between ages 19 to 64. The bill passed includes certain exceptions to the work requirements. It also includes 'trigger' language that would end the program if the federal government first allows Iowa to enact work requirements and then later revokes approval. The governor and Iowa Department of Health and Human Services have independently pursued IHAWP work requirements, submitting a federal waiver for similar requirements at 100 hours per month to keep health coverage with exceptions. Senate President Amy Sinclair said in her closing comments for the session work requirements are 'common sense.' 'There is dignity in work, and the vast majority of Iowans know this,' Sinclair said in the written comments. 'Having a sense of purpose and accomplishment is not only good for one's well-being, but it is good for our state. Enacting policies that help put people back to work, like work requirements for able-bodied Iowans on assistance programs, provides opportunities for Iowans to earn a living, find a sense of purpose, and contribute to the growth of our economy.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Iowa Senate sends expanded Medicaid work requirements bill back to the House
Sen. Mike Klimesh, R-Spillville, spoke May 13, 2025 on the legislation to implement work requirements for Iowa's expanded Medicaid program. (Photo by Robin Opsahl/Iowa Capital Dispatch) The Iowa Senate on Tuesday sent back to the House a bill to implement work requirements for the Medicaid program, although the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services has already requested a waiver from the federal government to implement similar requirements. There are some differences between Senate File 615 and the waiver request announced by Gov. Kim Reynolds in April. The legislative proposal would require people who receive health coverage through Iowa Health and Wellness Plan (IHAWP), the Medicaid coverage available for low-income, able-bodied adults from ages 19 to 64, to work at least 80 hours each month to stay in the program. The HHS proposal sets a higher work requirement of 100 hours per month, and includes other means to retain IHAWP coverage, such as being enrolled in education or job skills programs, or earning the equivalent in wages to working 100 hours a month at $7.25 per hour. Both versions of the proposal contain exceptions for certain groups, including people with disabilities, individuals who are in a substance abuse treatment program for up to six months, and those with children under age 6. While the legislative proposal has a lower monthly work requirement, it also contains a provision that would end the IHAWP program entirely if work requirements are ever approved by the federal government and later revoked. Iowa HHS would be directed to discontinue the expanded Medicaid program if federal law or regulations are changed to exclude work requirements in the future — contingent on the federal government having previously approved Iowa's implementation of these restrictions. Ending IHAWP would be subject to federal approval. If ending the program is not allowed, the state department would be directed to implement an alternative plan. Both the Senate and House have approved this measure, but the House had sent the legislation back to the Senate with an amendment clarifying the language calling for the discontinuation of IHAWP if the federal government revokes work requirement approval, in addition to adding a requirement for HHS to conduct and submit a report to lawmakers on the Medicaid for Employed People with Disabilities (MEPD) program by Dec. 15, 2025 — before the 2026 legislative session. The Senate amended the House's change to remove the language calling for a MEPD report. Sen. Mike Klimesh, R-Spillville, said the report was unnecessary as conversations on this topic will occur 'on a voluntary basis' before the legislature reconvenes in 2026. Democrats criticized the measure, which they said will remove, due to reporting requirements, low-income people who are working and are in need of health coverage. Sen. Sarah Trone Garriott, D-West Des Moines, compared the feedback lawmakers received at the subcommittee meetings discussing IHAWP work requirements to the subcommittee held on the 'Work Without Worry' legislation that proposed removing Medicaid income and asset limits for Iowans with disabilities. While advocates and Iowans who attended at the 'Work Without Worry' bill subcommittee praised the measure for allowing them to return to the workforce without risking the loss of health coverage, people at the subcommittee meeting for the bill setting Medicaid work requirements overwhelmingly spoke against the proposal. 'Everyone who was a local Iowan showing up on behalf of folks with disabilities, children, pregnant mothers, just folks in the population who are low income and struggling — trying so hard to make ends meet — they said this bill will hurt Iowans,' Trone Garriott said. 'It will push people off of their health care. In other states where it's been implemented, legislation like this has just made it harder for people who do qualify to actually get the paperwork done and stay on.' While supporters have said work requirements will help reduce the costs of Medicaid, Trone Garriott said other states that have implemented similar work requirements have not seen significant savings, and that these requirements will raise overall health care costs in the state because it will cause more people to be uninsured. 'We have a growing number of people who are uninsured when measures like this are enacted, and those folks end up seeking charity care at emergency rooms and hospitals,' she said. 'Charity care is not free. A health care provider needs to spread out the cost, shift those costs on the other folks in order to keep paying the bills and keeping their doors open. It raises costs on everyone when folks are not insured.' Senate Minority Leader Janice Weiner also said the legislature is moving forward with this measure 'without having any firm idea what the fiscal impact will be.' The Legislative Services Agency fiscal notes on the bill stated the nonpartisan agency did not receive responses to multiple requests for information from HHS about the financial impact of implementing work requirements. Klimesh said HHS has included fiscal impact estimates in its waiver request over a demonstration period of five years that have found a cumulative savings of $50 million for the state, and held public hearings on the proposal, a part of the process of seeking approval from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Klimesh also pointed to movement by the U.S. Congressional Committee on Energy and Commerce to make federal changes to Medicaid which includes requirements for able-bodied people between ages 19 to 65 to work, attend educational programs or participate in community service for at least 80 hours a month to stay eligible for coverage. 'Essentially, if you look at the blueprints the federal government is utilizing, it almost lines up specifically with what the state's requirements are,' Klimesh said. The bill was approved as amended in a 33-13 vote, and returns to the Iowa House.
