State Issues

• KHN: Over Half of States Have Rolled Back Public Health Powers in Pandemic

  September 17, 2021: Republican legislators in more than half of U.S. states, spurred on by voters angry about lockdowns and mask mandates, are taking away the powers state and local officials use to protect the public against infectious diseases. People celebrate...Read more >

• Is it really a great time to cut taxes?

  May 24, 2021:   Senator Cournoyer [District 49] may truly believe Iowa is in a great position to cut taxes (NSP 5/12/21) but I sometimes struggle with Republican math. They are shifting mental health funding from property taxes to the state but the claimed...Read more >

• Iowa Republicans shut out seniors from the political process at the Statehouse

  February 08, 2021: The Iowa Alliance for Retired Americans has been lobbying at the Iowa State Capitol on numerous issues for years. We are seniors, retirees, and advocates for Iowans. Now the Republican-controlled Iowa House of Representatives is making it unsafe for ...Read more >

• Iowa Republicans fail to uphold promises of Older Americans Act

  July 20, 2020:   President Lyndon Johnson signed the Older Americans Act into law on July 14, 1965. It responded to the need for community services, evidence-based health promotion, disease prevention programs, civic engagement, and elder justice for senior...Read more >

• State agency reports dramatic drop in advocacy for older Iowans

  July 20, 2020:   DES MOINES — The state agency tasked with advocating for Iowans in nursing homes dramatically scaled back visits to those facilities last year even before the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new state report. The newly released annua...Read more >

• The Pandemic is Ruining the Quality of Life for Iowa Seniors – Mike McCarthy, Iowa Alliance President

  July 06, 2020:   As the COVID-19 pandemic rages in America, older Americans face extraordinary risks. In fact, eighty percent of coronavirus deaths in America are people over the age of 65. But despite that fact, Donald Trump and his Republican allies have ne...Read more >

• Senator Joni Ernst’s Anti-Retiree Voting Record

  May 20, 2020:   Shame on Senator Joni Ernst who earned a 20% score on retiree issues for 2019. We will remember this.   The Alliance for Retired Americans’ annual voting record scores every U.S. Representative and Senator on issues affect...Read more >

• Naomi McCormick – Profits Cannot Take Priority Over People – Letter to The Editor

  May 18, 2020: I live in Black Hawk County and I’m scared. We have more reported COVID-19 cases than any other Iowa county. Ninety percent of the cases have been attributed or related to the Tyson plant. Without significant changes, the meatpacking industry is a...Read more >

• Iowa ARA VP, Kay Pence – Meat processing: Essential Workers should not be treated as disposable widgets – Letter to the Editor

  May 18, 2020: Last week The NSP reported “the unthinkable: Mass killing of perfectly healthy livestock on a scale never seen in the country.” I was glad to see workers finally mentioned on page 4. I was beginning to fear disposal of euthanized hogs was the ...Read more >

• Living Below The Line: Economic Insecurity Among Iowa’s Elders

  January 04, 2016: Iowa elders face an array of economic security challenges—rising food, health care and housing costs, long-term care needs, a soft labor market and others. To better capture and understand the challenges faced by Iowa’s seniors, their families, a...Read more >