Essential Estrogen

While reading information at the Center for American Woman and Politics, I came across something a little shocking:

US Congress - Iowa is among the four states that have never sent a woman to either the Senate or the House. The other states are Delaware, Mississippi and Vermont.

It's time we change that.

A few other women firsts in Iowa:

• May E. Francis served as our first Supervisor of Public Instruction. She was elected and served in that capacity from 1923 to 1926. Other women to hold that office have been Agnes Samuelson and Jessie Parker.
• Ola Miller was our first woman elected as Secretary of State. She served from 1933 to 1937. (She would have served longer, but died while in office.) Other women who have served as Sec. of State are Mary Jane Odell and Elaine Baxter.
• Jo Ann Zimmerman was our state's first female Lieutenant Governor. She served from 1987 to 1991 along with Gov. Terry Branstad. Other female Lieutenant Governors are Joy Corning, Sally Pederson and (currently) Patty Judge.
• Bonnie Campbell served from 1991 to 1995 as the state's first female Attorney General.
• Patty Judge -- current Lt. Gov. -- was our state's first Secretary of Agriculture. She served from 1999 to 2007.

Radio Iowa is reporting that 46-year-old Command Sergeant Major Marilyn Gabbard of Polk City died Saturday during a helicopter crash in Iraq.

Gabbard joined the national guard in October 1979 as a private climbed up the ranks from there. She was the first female Command Sergeant Major in the Iowa National Guard and also the first member of the Iowa Guard to die in combat.

She is survived by her husband Edwards - himself a retired guardmember - one daughter, five step-daughters and one step-son. No funeral information has been announced at this time.

Our warm thanks and prayers to the Gabbard family.

I was so excited to hear Gov. Chet Culver's budget proposal before the joint meeting of the legislature today. It came just off the heels of the minimum wage hike (which was a good and needed thing, even if I think the increases should have been spaced out a bit more) and I was ready for more good news. With such important causes in the budget such as healthcare for Iowa's most vulnerable, increases in teacher pay and lifting the ban on some stem cell research, I should have been delighted. Right?

I alternated between watching the address on television and listening to it on the radio. There were a few places, as I walked between the two, I missed words and sentences. When the speech ended, I went back over what I'd heard. Stem cell research? Check. Cigarette tax for healthcare? Check. Continuance of semi-vague campaign rhetoric? Check. Funding increases for education? Check. Women's issues? Che... wait a minute.

Unsure if I'd actually missed something within the speech, I trotted over to the Des Moines Register site to double-check the written version of the speech. I skimmed it and saw no mention of women/woman/gals/etc. Hmmm. I then did a word search on the page and found only one instance of the word 'women' in his speech:

Finally, there are some additional important priorities in this budget. They are: ... protecting and expanding access to shelter services for at-risk women, mothers and children. I can tell you the First Lady will continue to be a real advocate on behalf of shelter service care providers and the vulnerable individuals who desperately need them. Thank you dear for your efforts, and we will direct these important resources into shelter care.

The logical side of me keeps up the steady "be happy" drumbeat. It's a blessing to hear anything positive about women in the speech. (Seriously, whenever you hear the word 'woman' or 'women' come out of GW's mouth, you just have to cringe at what might follow.) The emotional side of me, however, is still feeling a bit pandered to by the Culver campaign.

You see, a year ago Chet Culver was in a heated contest for the Gubernatorial primary against Mike Blouin (former Director of Economic Development who has recently been relieved of his duties in that state agency -- I can't imagine why Chet would do that, Mike! -- and has taken a post at the Greater Dubuque Development Corporation). Both Culver and Judge stirred the women's rights activists throughout the state by pointing out Blouin's issues with choice. It was arguably that one issue which brought Culver and Judge through the primary and into the general contest.

Further, when I attended the inauguration ceremonies in Des Moines earlier this month, I was asked by a priest during his invocation to "pray for those unborn, wishing to be citizens." WHAT?!? We have all these walking-around-outside-the-womb children dying overseas, but this man wants me to focus my attention on another woman's uterus?

In the budget speech, it is good to note that Culver honored the first woman Command Sergeant Major in the Iowa National Guard. Unfortunately, the honoring came too late for her to enjoy it. Command Sgt. Maj. Marilyn Gabbard died following a helicopter crash in Iraq. Deepest condolences to her family.

While I don't expect every good thing coming out of Des Moines to be linked specifically to women, I would remind both Culver and our state legislators of Abigail Adams' words to her husband John:

"...in the new code of laws which I suppose it will be necessary for you to make, I desire you would remember the ladies and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors."

I can already tell there will be quite a few posts about Senate Minority Leader Mary Lundby. It's not that I think she is such a bad person or even that she's a bad legislator, it's just that - in her new leadership position - she's going to be asked about everything and quoted all over the state.

This thought-provoking quote after yesterday's budget address by Gov. Chet Culver was reported by the Sioux City Journal:

"These are the things he talked about in the campaign and it's nice to see a governor that has some promises he's following through on," said Senate Minority Leader Mary Lundby, R-Marion.

Was that an off-hand jab at our former governor and current 2008 presidential hopeful, Mary? Perhaps it was intended instead for Branstad?

This nugget of knowledge comes to us from Iowa Sen. Mary Lundby, courtesy of the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier. You see, it seems Iowa Sen. Dick Dearden still feels a bit testy about the 2001 smack-down former Gov. Tom Vilsack gave his bill which proposed a dove hunting season in Iowa. He plans -- in a year where majorities in both houses and the governor's office could lead to real progress in Iowa -- to re-introduce the bill with hopes new Gov. Culver will place pen to paper.

"My constituents overwhelmingly do not want to blow little mourning doves out of the air with a gun," [Lundby] said. "Hunters in Iowa are about six percent or less of the population, the rest of us spend millions of dollars a year buying bird seed." Of Dearden's plan, she added, "I think the Sen. Dearden has promised his gun friends and his dove-killing friends that he'd try again and he's trying again. I think he'll get shot down."

Here's hoping the pun was intended.

As much as I'd like to give cheers to Lundby for her stance, I'm still trying to wrap my head around the whole "dove-killing friends" line. Since I can't give cheers to either Lundby or Dearden on this one, I'm glad there was one more person quoted in the article:

"I hope not. We don't have to do that," [Senate Pres. Jack] Kibbie said when asked about the legislation's prospects. "I think we've got a lot more important things to do than the dove season."

Preach it, brother, preach it!

While this isn't necessarily political, it's important! While reading through today's Des Moines Register I came across this article on Project AWARE. Contained within was the following information:

On the Turkey and Wapsipinicon, the Raccoon and South Skunk, on the Iowa and Boone and Missouri rivers, Iowans took their nearby streams into their own hands, putting on gloves and leaping into the muck. "It's hard to describe the magic that goes on. There is a special breed of person that really cares about the environment," said KJ Rebarcak of rural Long Grove, who participated in last year's AWARE. Rebarcak was so inspired that along with friend Melisa Petersen she organized their own cleanup on the Wapsipinicon in Clinton County. She floated the same stretch of the river on her first paddling trip with Petersen five years ago and found it offered her peace, something you can't measure with hard figures. She could measure this: Last summer, 25 volunteers pulled an astounding 11,592 pounds of trash out of 22 Wapsi river miles.

We applaud Rebarcak, Petersen and all the wonderful volunteers who are caring for Iowa's environment!

During a recent survey hired out by the Legislature's Sustainable Natural Resource Funding Advisory Committee, 800 Iowans ranked pollution of rivers, lakes and streams as their number two priority. (The top slot went to lack of affordable healthcare.) While some are just beginning to understand the importance of Iowa's lands and rivers being clean, other Iowan's began doing something about it more than five years ago. That's when Project AWARE began with 35 hearty volunteers. This incentive will continue this year on the Raccoon River. More information is available by clicking the logo to the right or the link above.

Iowa is one of several states currently considering expanding health care coverage. The groundwork is currently being done by an Iowa legislative panel which is looking seriously at a formula of universal health care, similar to what Massachusetts now has in place.

Rep. Linda Miller (R-Bettendorf) is not only a legislator on the panel, but a nurse. She told Sioux City Journal today that "Iowans expect an effort to improve the health system:

"I've seen how the actual system currently works for people, and it's not very good," Miller said.

She said she doesn't believe the idea of universal health care coverage comes down to being a Republican or Democratic idea.

Miller emphasizes that universal health care and government control of health care sometimes are confused but are two separate issues.

"Having the government tell us how to practice medicine is not anybody's idea of universal health care," Miller said.

Kudos to Miller for seeing a problem and looking outside of her party's box for ways to fix it!

The vast majority of Iowans without health care coverage are young and employed (wages too low to buy into employee run health care services or work for employers who do not offer such a plan). While Iowa's rate of uninsured is smaller than than the national one, it remains a growing problem.

Rep. Joe Oldson is a Democratic woman elected to serve House District 61.

Contact Information:
Rep. Jo Oldson
Iowa Legislature
Second Floor, State Capitol
Des Moines, IA 50319
515.281.3221
515.281.5868 - fax

Rep. Jo Oldson
418 38th Place
Des Moines, IA 50312
515.255.2805

jo.oldson@legis.state.ia.us

Oldson is serving her third term in the Iowa House. She has worked in various positions in state government over the last 16 years -- the Office of the Insurance Commissioner for 1990 to 1998; policy adviser to former Gov. Tom Vilsack in 1999 and 2000. In addition, she has served on he Young Women's Resource board of directors from 1991 to 2005, serving as president from 1998 to 1999.

She holds a bachelor's degree in political science and a law degree, both from Drake. She is a protestant and is married to Brice Oakley (former Republican state representative and current lobbyist).

Committee Assignments: Commerce, Judiciary and Appropriations (Chair -- the first female chair in Iowa's history)

• Bills Sponsored
• Amendments Sponsored
• Subcommittee Assignments

Sen. Mary Lundby is a Republican woman elected to serve Senate District 18.

Contact Information:
Sen. Mary Lundby
Iowa Legislature
Second Floor, State Capitol
Des Moines, IA 50319

Sen. Mary Lundby
P.O. Box 648
Marion, IA 52302-6673
319.377.6673

mary.lundby@legis.state.ia.us

Lundby has served in the Iowa Senate since 1994. In addition, she is a former member of the Iowa House, having served there from 1986 to 1994. She was elected Speaker of the House and served in that capacity in 1992 to 1994.

Prior to her election to the House, Lundby served as the co-chair of the Linn County Republican Party and as a staff assistant to former Sen. Roger Jepsen. She is a Catholic, is married to Michael and has one child.

Committee Assignments: Government Oversight, Natural Resources and Environment, Ways and Means, and Rules and Administration (Ranking Member).

• Bills Sponsored
• Amendments Sponsored
• Subcommittee Assignments

In today's Fort Dodge Messenger Iowa Rep. Helen Miler (D-Fort Dodge) provided some details about a bill she's working on which should benefit Iowa's working families.

One of the growing problems for working families is that the school day ends at roughly 3 p.m., but the work day doesn't. Almost one in three Iowa children of working families are unsupervised in the afternoons, according to the Afterschool Alliance. The data gathered by that group in 2005 showed just 11 percent of the children in working families are in afterschool programs, while 32 percent of them are "latchkey kids" with no adult supervision in the afternoon.

‘‘I do support (additional state funding) because I believe we have got to do something with these children,’’ said Rep. Miller.

She pointed out that Iowa leads the nation in the percentage of families in which both parents work — or, in single-parent households, in which the only parent works. Miller termed the hours after school a ‘‘huge chunk of time that children can get into trouble.’’

Miller went on to add a few details about a bill she plans to introduce. The bill would fund after-school art activities that tapped the skills students were learning in other classes. The thinking is that the legislature might be more prone to fund programs associated with school.

Although conventional wisdom has dictated that middle school children are involved in activities following the school day and, therefore, do not have the same needs of younger children, crime statistics have shown this not to be the case. Juvenile crime rates, according to Iowa Afterschool Alliance coordinator Rachel Scott, triple between 3 and 6 p.m.

On a national level

• Two in five middle school children (grades six to eight) in working families (40%) are unsupervised in the afternoons.
• 9.7 million children in working families who do not participate in afterschool programs would be likely to participate if a program were available.
• 14% of children, kindergarten through 12th grade, in working families attend afterschool programs, compared to 11% of all K-12 children. 19% of the children of single working mothers participate in afterschool programs.
• Just 7% of children in rural working families attend afterschool programs.
• 31% of Caucasian, 25% of African American and Hispanic, and 21% of Asian Pacific Islander children in working families are in self-care in the afternoons.

During the past year, the Iowa legislature has alloted $150,000 for afterschool programs. Advocates argue $4 million is needed.

Rep. Swati Dandekar is a Democratic woman elected to serve House District 36.

Contact Information:
Rep. Swati Dandekar
Iowa Legislature
Second Floor, State Capitol
Des Moines, IA 50319

Rep. Swati Dandekar
2731 28th Avenue
Marion, IA 52302
319.377.2087

swati.dandekar@legis.state.ia.us

Dandekar is the first Indian born American citizen to win a state legislature seat in the United States. She is now in her fourth term in office. She has been a member of the Vision Iowa Board since its inception in 2000. She was the chair of the Hall of Pride Criteria Committee and also a member of the Vision Iowa's Negotiating Team. Previous to running for the Iowa House, she served on the Linn-Mar Community School District Board of Directors.

She and her husband, Arvind (business owner), migrated to the U.S. in 1973. They have two adult sons.

Committee Assignements: Appropriations, Economic Growth, and Transportation. Dandekar also chairs the Economic Development Appropriations Subcommittee.

• Bills Sponsored
• Amendments Sponsored
• Subcommittee assignments

Sen. Staci Appel is a Democratic woman elected to serve Senate District 37.

Contact Information:
Sen. Staci Appel
Iowa Legislature
Second Floor, State Capitol
Des Moines, IA 50319
515.281.3371

Sen. Staci Appel
10901 180th Avenue
Ackworth, IA 50001
515.961.6982

staci.appel@legis.state.ia.us

Appel is serving her first term in the Iowa Senate. She is an Iowa native from rural Ackworth and was previously a stay-at-home-mom and community volunteer. Prior to taking time off to concentrate on family and charitable organizations, she was a financial consultant.

She is married to Brent (Iowa Supreme Court Justice) and they have five children.

Committee Assignments: Agriculture, State Government, Ways and Means and Education (vice chair). She also serves as the vice chair of the Administration and Regulation Appropriations Subcommittee.

• Bills Sponsored
• Amendments Sponsored
• Subcommittee Assignements

Elsewhere on this site we have a list of upcoming political events. If you had quickly scanned the list before today, you'd have noticed something missing: IOWA

It seems to those of us buried in the grassroots on both sides of the sidewalk that we are living in an age without leadership -- at least without leadership that plans to actually take action to preserve Iowa's First in the Nation status.

Yeah, we all know the Ames straw poll on the Republican side of things is nothing more than a glorified fundraiser. We know this. They know this. The candidates know this. Soon we'll see buses chartered by candidates traveling down the road to Ames, filled to the brim with Republicans who will walk into a room in which the outcome results are already known. Whomever spends the most, gets the most out of the straw poll. Outside of the revenue, however, the GOP leadership in Iowa seems genuinely disinterested in the process. Case in point: To date, the only event the Iowa GOP is planning is an annual fundraising dinner in April.

On the Democratic Party side of things, it's difficult to tell if the slights against our own state are intentional or accidental. Nevada -- you know, the spoiler state the DNC set between Iowa and New Hampshire -- already has a events calendar for the candidates. (Of course, this could be because Nevada hired one of the most adept political folks in Iowa to run their first ever caucuses -- but that's fodder for a whole other post.) Both New Hampshire and South Carolina have also gotten in on the goods by setting debates and candidate forums.

Oh, Iowa, where for art thou?

To date, the Iowa Democratic Party has set two fundraiser dinners, both of them annual affairs, and one... yep, count it, ONE... Presidential forum. The forum will be co-sponsored by the IDP, ABC News and ABC5/WOI-TV and held on Aug. 19 in Des Moines, televised live on "This Week" with George Stephanopoulos. From the IDP press release yesterday:

“The Iowa Democratic Party is proud to co-sponsor this debate with ABC News and ABC5/WOI-TV,” said Iowa Democratic Party Chair Scott Brennan. “We welcome all of the candidates to Iowa, and encourage them to participate in the debate and share their vision for our country with Iowans and Americans.”

ABC News chief Washington correspondent and anchor of This Week George Stephanopoulos said, “I think it’s terrific that we are able to continue our On the Trail series in Iowa with a live show from a state crucial to the election process. This is an historic election and I look forward to bringing our viewers a discussion that will further inform them about where the candidates stand on critical issues.”

Why is Stephanopoulos the one to highlight Iowa's importance in the political process? Of course, we all agree and applaud Chair Brennan for his "welcome" message to all the candidates, but where is his "Rah-Rah" for Iowa? Further, why is Iowa... the FIRST IN THE NATION... the last of the four beginning states to actually start developing events to bring the candidates into our state?

This was supposed to be posted yesterday, but we've spent the last 24 hours searching for a list of the individuals in your community who serve on the State Central Committees of each party. Near as we can tell, such information within the Democratic Party is a classified government secret that we'd have to kill you for knowing. In stark contrast, members of the GOP's SCC are laid out for display on the Iowa GOP site. In lieu of offering the same for the Democrats then, we do have a few of the electeds from the SCC for your viewing pleasure.

Democratic SCC Officers:

• Chair Scott Brennan
• First Vice Chair Sarah Swisher
• Second Vice Chair Phyllis Thede
• Treasurer Ken Sagar
• Secretary Dori Rammelsberg-Dvorak

We encourage all of our readers to contact their leadership and demand both groups begin promoting Iowa's First in the Nation before it is lost.

As for us here at EE, we have our own message to send to the SCC members and paid officials of both parties, "Get out there and promote Iowa... or just get out."

Rep. Pam Jochum (D-Dubuque), chair of the State Government Committee, appeared on WOI-TV last night to tout her intentions of strengthening existing open records law.

Typically, when someone begins to discuss making more information public record, I automatically assume a position of standing ovation. After further reading of House Study Bill 38, however, I'm wary.

This bill calls for the full disclosure of information pertaining to individuals who are being considered for appointment, hiring, performance evaluations or discharge is being discussed by a government body.

Currently, the law allows government bodies who are considering personnel matters to move into a closed session. Closed sessions are, as the name implies, closed to the general public and press. Although the current law states this should be done "when necessary to prevent needless and irreparable injury to the individual's reputation" and if "the individual requests a closed session," those who attend open meetings will tell you that very few government bodies behave in this manner. Whenever an agenda item launches into the discussion of personnel matters of any sort 9 out of 10 government bodies will move into closed session.

The new bill requires the individual being discussed (regardless of reason) to request a closed session in writing and provide reason for the request. The body must then determine if such a close session is necessary to prevent "needless and irreparable injury to the individual's reputation."

It is interesting to note which lobbyist groups have stated opposition or approval to this bill. Most are currently undecided as to their feelings toward the proposed change in legislation. For those who have taken a stance, it seems this legislation pits two predominantly left-leaning groups against one another. The first group to voice its displeasure with the legislation was AFSCME Iowa Council 61. One of the first to state its approval was the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa. The only other group to come out against the proposed legislation is the Iowa Hospital Association. Those on the approving side are the Iowa Broadcasters Association, Iowa Newspaper Association and Citizens Aide/Ombudsman.

In total, this bill takes the matter of closed session out of a government body's hands. For better or for worse, the state will be dictating the body hold such discussions in public unless the individual being discussed acts to prevent it. Even then, the individual must show just cause for the closed session. Even if the request is deemed worthy, the body is still required to release the individual's name, city of residence, employment history and educational history. (Within the bill the language is unclear if this requirement is for any applicant, appointee, person being reviewed or person being reprimanded or if it is limited to only final applicants.)

It is such ambiguity which makes this bill questionable. Should all information of applicants for positions be made public record, how will that affect the applicant's current employment? While already facing a shortage of school administrators, would school districts have an even more difficult time in persuading applicants to come to Iowa with such new laws in place? What if I'm an employee and had to take extended periods of time away from work because I suffered from AIDS? Would I really want the particulars of my situation discussed in open session? Would my reasoning for wanting to keep it private be seen as "necessary"?

In all, it's good to note this is a study bill. Obviously, our state legislators, Jochum included, need to consider all the ramifications of this initiative.

Iowa State Rep. Sandy Greiner (R-Keota) told the Washington County Pork Producers that she will not seek re-election when her term expires in 2008. Why? According to Greiner, "the chips are down" and "our voices are not going to be heard."

In other words, Greiner only likes to play when she can be the leader. Sorry, hun, life doesn't always work that way and, if that's the only way you can do business, we're glad to see you take your toys and leave the sandbox.

Rep. Carmine Boal (R-Ankeny) recently wrote an op-ed piece for the Des Moines Register in which she attempted to spank the Iowa Democratic majority over HF 149, the antiharrassment and antibullying legislation. She fell quite short of her mark, however, when statements made in her piece are placed against the documents to which she refers.

Boal writes:

Upon researching the question, I found that in order to be accredited by the state of Iowa all public and non-public schools must have a student discipline policy addressing harassment per Iowa Administrative Code 281-12.

The truth is that Code 281-12 reads differently than what HF 149 proposed. Here is a section 12.5(8) -- which must be what Boal refers to since it appears to be the only language within the document which discusses harassment:

12.5(8) Multicultural and gender fair approaches to the educational program. The board shall establish a policy to ensure that students are free from discriminatory practices in the educational program as required by Iowa Code section 256.11. In developing or revising the policy, parents, students, instructional and noninstructional staff, and community members shall be involved. Each school or school district shall incorporate multicultural and gender fair goals for the educational program into its comprehensive school improvement plan. Incorporation shall include the following:

a. Multicultural approaches to the educational program. These shall be defined as approaches which foster knowledge of, and respect and appreciation for, the historical and contemporary contributions of diverse cultural groups, including race, color, national origin, gender, disability, religion, creed, and socioeconomic background. The contributions and perspectives of Asian Americans, African Americans, Hispanic Americans, American Indians, European Americans, and persons with disabilities shall be included in the program.

b. Gender fair approaches to the educational program. These shall be defined as approaches which foster knowledge of, and respect and appreciation for, the historical and contemporary contributions of women and men to society. The program shall reflect the wide variety of roles open to both women and men and shall provide equal opportunity to both sexes.

The overall thrust of Boal's argument against this piece of legislation isn't made evident in her writing until eight paragraphs into her piece. At that point, she encourages the reader to question why "the majority party" would want to list the "traits or characteristics upon which harassment or bullying can be based." Even here, however, Boal leads her readers to believe that the legislation has limited the traits and characteristics to only those listed. In truth, HF 149 reads:

b. "Trait or characteristic of the student" includes but is not limited to age, color, creed, national origin, race, religion, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, physical attributes, physical or mental ability or disability, ancestry, political party preference, political belief, socioeconomic status, or familial status.

True to her GOP talking points, Boal seems poised to strike fear into the hearts of all Iowans based on a few key words within the legislation: "sex," "sexual orientation," "gender identity," and, perhaps, "political party preference" as well. I'm not sure why the GOP feels only certain Iowa students need protection from bullying. Shouldn't we be the state which paints with a broad brush when it comes to student safety? Obviously, for some in the Iowa legislature, student safety isn't a primary concern when it clashes with party ideology. Shame on them!

Finally, the one part of the bill which seemed to give Boal -- and we imagine most of her GOP counterparts pleasure -- was an amendment which allowed non-public to be immune to the new legislation.

Despite Boal's misgivings, the bill passed the House and has been sent to the Senate where it is now SF 61. Gov. Chet Culver has stated he will sign this legislation if it is passed by both houses.

Here's our shout out to the Iowa Senate: Iowa Administrative Code 281-12 already includes an exemption request process. Let all the non-public schools who wish to be accredited by the state explain in detail why they find some Iowa students not worth protecting.

Iowa Gov. Chet Culver will be appointing Lt. Gov. Patty Judge to be his top advisor on homeland security.

As a part of that appointment, she will lead a team of top advisors including Iowa National Guard Gen. Ron Dardis, Dept. of Public Safety Commissioner Gene Meyer and Division of Homeland Security Administrator David Miller. Judge will take the lead role from Dardis, who has led the effort since July 2005.

In a news conference this morning, Culver said Iowa needs to be "prepared to manage the unimaginable." He went on to add that Judge has been on the front lines of doing just that. While serving two terms as Iowa's Secretary of Agriculture, she led efforts to create the Center for Agriculture Security and served on national groups exploring strategies for safeguarding the nation's food supply. She also was among a key group of Iowa agency administrators who took part in preparedness drills and briefings.

She will now be in charge of communicating with federal and state agencies, coordinating response plans and overseeing budget issues. Dardis was in attendance at the morning news conference and added that lieutenant governors in three other states fill similar roles.

Perhaps the most unexpected response to the news came from Senate Minority Leader Mary Lundby who not only welcomed Judge's appointment but stated she believed the Lieutenant Governor would "do a wonderful job."

Kudos to Culver and Lundby for seeing Judge's expertise in this issue and big kudos to Judge for being the first woman in Iowa to fulfill such an important role.

A public hearing on the bill easing state restrictions on stem cell research has been scheduled for 7 to 10 p.m. on Wednesday in the Iowa House chamber.

The bill, which is being erroneously painted as lifting Iowa's ban on human cloning, allows medical researchers to create embryonic stem cells through cloning. Rep. Lisa Heddens (D-Ames) put the claims against the bill into very simple terms:

"The opponents of this legislation claim that this bill is about state-funded human cloning. This is a totally false claim. The bill continues to prohibit human reproductive cloning. While embryonic stem cell research is already being done in Iowa, none of that research can be applied to patients in the form of treatment and therapies. The proposed legislation would allow that to happen."

The bill was approved 12-9 (party-line) by the House Human Resources Committee and is soon expected to be debated on the floor.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Davenport has filed a motion in U.S. Bankruptcy Court announcing its intentions to sell a bishop's house, a single-family home and a 25-acre farm. The motion is part of the group's Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing as protection against claims of sexual abuse by its priests.

According to reports this morning, the diocese has owned the properties for several years and no longer have any use for them. The two homes are assessed at a total of roughly $278,000. The farm is valued at over $300,000.

While not included in the filed motion, there are rumors that the chancery, worth more than $2 million, will also be sold.

Yet no bankruptcy proceedings, selling of properties or monetary exchange can fix what, by all accounts, the Catholic church allowed to happen in many of its own parishes.

Mark Langgin at Bleeding Heartland was, we believe, the first in the Iowa blogosphere to report on the absence of some GOP Iowa House members from a public hearing they called. Mark's report was then followed by Geraldine at Iowa Progress. So, while it isn't 'our' story, it still deserves a few lines here since three of the four negligent representatives were women.

Without recapping the story, we do hope there was a circumstance which required Rep. Carmine Boal (R-Ankeny), Rep. Linda Miller (R-Bettendorf) and Rep. Tami Wiencek (R-Waterloo) to miss a meeting they scheduled. To do so without a legitimate excuse is unacceptable.

Love her or hate her, few will argue with Lt. Gov. Patty Judge's tenacity. Someone, however, should have warned Iowa's new Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey that Judge doesn't limit herself by title.

On Saturday, Iowa was hit by a major winter event which caused widespread power outages throughout many counties. Governor Chet Culver, on the Hill at the time, contacted state officials immediately and began lobbying for states of emergency in various counties to protect the people of Iowa. It seems Patty, knowing Iowans themselves were in good hands, reached back to her own agricultural roots to contact livestock groups including the Iowa Pork Producers Association.

According to officials at the IPPA, Judge contacted their offices early Sunday and offered the state's help to their livestock producers and wanted their help in identifying losses and damage. At that point, the group estimated nearly 110,000 rural electric cooperative customers remained without power and anticipated the agricultural losses to be high.

Such 'taking the bull by the horns' initiative appears to have rubbed Northey the wrong way. Upon learning of Judge's early contacts to the livestock producers, a person in the freshman official's office said Northey contacted key reporters to ensure he would be associated with the assistance coming to the rural families and farmers.

Northey spent most of Monday at the state's emergency operations center, where he could keep a close eye on the power outages and be available to reporters. As a side note, producers in need of generators can call (515) 281-5798; those who are suffering massive livestock casualties should phone their local Emergency Management Agency, county sheriff's department or the ag desk at the State Emergency Operations Center, (515) 323-4267.

As of this morning, Iowa's Rural Electric Co-ops estimated 40,000 customers remain without power. In total the storm left more than 4,000 electrical poles and unknown numbers of power lines in its wake. While the group is working to restore power as quickly as possible, some rural customers will not see relief for 10-12 days. Unfortunately for everyone another winter storm is expected to sweep through the state on Wednesday evening.

Yesterday, members of the House Education Committee continued the life of HSB 87 which provides some definition changes for sex education in Iowa classrooms, both private and public. By a vote of 17 to six, the committee agreed all sex education in Iowa should be both 'age-appropriate' and 'science-based.'

Democrats serving in the statehouse have long targeted this change in sex ed, but had previously not had the political muscle to make the change. Their majority in both houses and the Governor's Office makes this bill viable.

While the bill makes no distinction between Iowa's public schools and the myriad of non-public schools (secular or religion based), Committee Vice Chair Rep. Mary Mascher (D-HD 77) told Radio Iowa this morning that the measure does not dismantle abstinence-only programs.

"Just because they're offering abstinence-only, they cannot offer inaccurate information in that program either," she said.

The bill does target unscientific material which has been used in some Iowa schools during sex education. Information such as the ability of an individual to contract HIV from body sweat and/or tears would no longer be allowed if this bill passes.

In addition, the new section (280.28) would require nonpublic schools who elect not to provide comprehensive sexual health education (as outlined in the bill) to send send a notice to parent(s)/guardian(s) at the beginning of the year that explains such education is required by the state, the criteria outline for such education, and that such education is not being provided to the student.

Quite frankly, we do not believe this bill goes far enough in requiring all Iowa schools to teach students about themselves, their bodies, and the possibility of disease. That being said, then, it is difficult to understand why this bill has already met with opposition from the Iowa Family Policy Center, Iowa Right to Life Committee, and the Iowa Christian Alliance. Those favoring the bill include the Iowa Department of Education, Iowa State Education Association, GLBT Youth in Iowa Schools Task Force, Iowa Medical Society, Iowa Commission on the Status of Women and the League of Women Voters of Iowa (among many others).

Originally, the Iowa Association of Christian Schools were against this bill. As of Feb. 22, however, their opinion (as portrayed by their lobbyist Eric Goranson) has changed to undecided. We've attempted contact with that group to see why their opinion changed and will report back if and when we're granted an interview.

In our opinion, requiring schools to provide "just the facts" when it comes to sexual education is a long overdue mandate. No one, regardless of their particular religious ilk, should be allowed to spread disinformation on such a critical topic. To purposefully do so in other potentially life-threatening situations would be criminal and there should be no distinction made with this circumstance.

Iowans can say what they will about former Governor and former Presidential hopeful Tom Vilsack (goodness knows we have), but it's difficult to bash former First Lady Christie Vilsack.

Yesterday evening a small day school in the northeast corner of South Dakota was honored with the first ever Verizon Tech Savvy Award and given a $25,000 prize to continue and expand a school program. The program allows teachers to help American Indian parents write and produce children's books in the native Dakotah language. It fulfills a need for the parents while fulfilling a need in the community -- closing the digital generation gap between parents and children.

The awards are a joint creation of National Conference on Family Literacy, the Verizon Foundation and our very own former First Lady Christie Vilsack. The Tech Savvy is the first national award designed to provide an incentive for grassroots, community-based nonprofit organizations and schools to create programs that demystify technology for parents, enabling them to better guide their children in the use of new media.

In addition to the South Dakota grand prize winner, four additional programs were given regional awards of $5,000 at the banquet. Those four programs are:

• Rhode Island Family Literacy Initiative - Providence, RI - Program teams an English-as-a-second language child with a technology teacher and children's teacher to increase parents' computer and tech skills while improving English comprehension skills.
• Iowa Central Community College - Fort Dodge, IA - Program teaches parents who to use the Internet to communicate with their children's teachers, learn about the web sites their children visit and enhance writing and basic computer skills.
• Forrest Outreach Foundation - Addison, TX - Click-For-Success Prorgram offers weekly computer club classes and home visits where mentors help parents and children work together to improve computer skills.
• LTSC Community Development Corp. - Los Angeles, CA - DISKovery Angelina Program helps immigrants learn to use computers to navigate the challenges of everyday life, including finding public transportation, child care programs and legal services.

"Literacy is no longer just about learning to read," Vilsack said. She added that she hoped the Tech Savvy Awards to draw attention to the need for technological literacy among entire families and spark discussion about the values which emanate from web sites and the importance of technology in our schools.

More than 1,600 educators and advocates traveled to Orlando, FL for the 16th National Conference on Family Literacy. Ironically, Florida ranks 45th in the country in linguistic integration and 47th in high school graduation. Christie Vilsack and Verizon Foundation President Patrick Gaston presented the awards last night.

Kudos to you, Christie! From looking over her web site, we know that Christie will continue to stay involved in our communities -- and that her involvement will bring about great things. (We promise to blog about the Belle Babb Mansfield project soon too!)

Hey, Mari, we know Christie has set the bar high, but we also expect great things from you too as you work for Iowa's women and children's services! Matter-of-fact, we're watching closely to see how much muscle you might flex in the upcoming budgeting battles.

Former Sen. John Edwards has announced a list of people who previously were number ones for former Gov. Tom Vilsack who have now committed to his campaign.

While we aren't typically the gals who bitch about people getting involved in the process, this list gives us pause (as we did after glancing through Vilsack's list). While there will always be some who will feel strongly about a particular candidate early on, is it really in the best interest of our state for elected officials to be endorsing any one candidate at this stage in the game?

If you look at the Edwards list -- and keep in mind these are only the previous Vilsack supports and not his entire list of Iowa ones -- you'll notice quickly at the top several Iowa Democratic Party Officials.

The time has come, we think for elected officials to have impartiality until caucus night written into their duties. That is, county chairs and other members of county executive boards, district central committee and state central committee members should not be allowed to endorse. Why?

Not to pick on the good folks down by Mt. Pleasant, but let's look at Edwards' list for Henry County. We've got the Chair, Vice-Chair and Secretary all endorsing Edwards. (Note that this all means each of these people endorsed Vilsack -- which is probably understandable given the logistics.)