Letters to the editor: Iowa Republicans build up big government

Iowa Republicans build up big government

If Iowa Republicans were serious about protecting children, and smaller government, our public schools would be fully funded and they wouldn’t be wanting to rollback long established protections governing child labor, as in Senate File 542. Recently the Senate and House passed bans on gender-affirming medical care for transgender children. Banning all gender-affirming medical care, how is that smaller government?

The Senate passed Senate File 482 prohibiting access to bathrooms in public schools based on the gender identity that aligns with the person rather than the gender that was assigned at birth. How is this smaller government? The House passed House File 348, the "don’t say gay or trans" bill in public schools. Again I ask, how is this smaller government? Don’t believe them when they tell you they want smaller government.

If Republicans wanted less government interference, they would stop pushing bills that are copycat from other states.

On the flip side, Democrats believe the purpose of government is to act on behalf of the public good, to create and execute policies and laws that promote and protect everyone’s human rights equally, to protect our shared environment, to promote justice, safety and security and to oversee the equitable distribution of resources, affording all citizens the opportunity to attain their highest level of social, cultural, economic, mental and physical well-being.

Let’s remember this when elections come around.

Pat Bowen, Iowa City

Stop tax money to anti-abortion centers

Why does the Iowa Legislature allocate $500,000 to 43 anti-abortion centers under the More Options for Maternal Support program? And now the House (House File 427) and Senate (Senate File 324) propose $2 million of our taxpayer money for those non-medical people with misleading websites? Our tax money is needed for real medical care by physicians, EMTs, rural hospitals. Call and complain to your local representative.

Judy Pfohl, Iowa City

Income tax plan is bad news for Iowans

The nonprofit Common Good Iowa reports that “Senate Study Bill 1126 would accelerate tax cuts passed last year and eventually eliminate the state income tax.” That might sound good to you, but consider what the consequences would be. The bill would reduce the revenue for Iowa’s general fund by about half. This means that programs currently funded would have to be cut by half.

What current expenditures from the Iowa general fund are the Republicans planning to cut? They haven’t said.Over 50% of the Iowa general fund supports education and almost 30% supports health and human services. Would passing Senate Study Bill 1126 mean cutting state support for education, health, and human services by half? Does this mean hospitals would have to fire doctors and nurses? Or close? Does it mean increasing class size for teachers? Or ending bus transportation?

Republicans need to explain what they would cut from the budgets for education as well as for health and human services.

We should also ask legislators to explain why they think this idea is fair. Ending a progressive income tax, which requires those with more income to pay a greater percentage than those with less income, will increase costs for lower-income and moderate-income households. At the same time, Senate Study Bill 1126 would send more money out of the state to companies that should be paying their fair share of taxes to Iowa.

We should ask Republican legislators why they believe a bill increasing economic inequity in Iowa would be best for the majority of Iowa’s families.

Robert Traer, Iowa City

GOP isn't actually responding to voters

Speaker Pat Grassley describes Iowa Republican bills as “issues voters expressed concern about” such as private school scholarships and liability limits. Also, “I think that’s what our number one priority is, is we need to campaign on a set of policies and whatever those are, if Iowans reward us with majorities, I think we want to follow through with that.”

Problem: Republicans never explained their promises. Gov. KIm Reynolds had one debate without mentioning her school choice plan, 10,000 low-income student scholarships, became spending $1 billion on vouchers for all students. Republicans often failed to participate in voter forums or answer questionnaires from newspapers leaving constituents in the dark about their issues.

Dr. Ryan Wise, dean of the School of Education at Drake University, explained that education majors are trained not to push political agendas, but to create learning communities fostering academic success and civic engagement. GOP-controlled curriculum and reading lists will not prepare Iowa students to be productive, informed citizens in a diverse, globally interconnected world.

Will low-income families now jump through hoops to qualify for SNAP? Clearly, parents’ rights no longer apply to complex decisions regarding appropriate medical care for a trans child.

Lack of GOP transparency had consequences. Iowans must pay attention.

Diane M. Duncan-Goldsmith, Iowa City

Help feed our neighbors

Eastern Iowans: our local food bank in Iowa City needs monetary or food donations to help keep our neighbors fed.

I received their email stating their donations are down and their inventory is scarce. There were “1,640 more visits to the Food Bank in January than the month prior.”

Additionally, pandemic aid is ending, which means there will be about $95 less per month in consumer benefits for food. Likewise, food banks will no longer receive the added allotment from the USDA.

If Iowa City is having problems, you can bet everyone is.

If you are able, please consider a donation at 1121 S. Gilbert Court, Iowa City, IA 52240, or at builtbycommunity.org/donate.

Ellen Ballas, Iowa City

This article originally appeared on Iowa City Press-Citizen: Letters to the editor: Iowa Republicans build up big government