Iowa Republicans and child abuse

Iowa had the dubious distinction over the weekend of being featured (again) in The Washington Post as its reporters track the influence of outside interests in the output of state legislatures with Republican supermajorities across the United States.

The piece is headlined, "The conservative campaign to rewrite child labor laws."

The reference is to Iowa Senate File 542, which relaxes Iowa's child labor regulations in many ways. The great majority of these regulations had been developed over the years to prevent the exploitation of children and to keep them physically safe.

SF542's companion, House File 647, has not yet been debated in the house and Laura Belin, among the most astute of Iowa's legislative analysts, speculated late last week at "Bleeding Heartland" that this could mean "House Republicans are working on an amendment, or don't have the votes to pass the bill. Another possibility: this bill will become a bargaining chip in further negotiations over the budget or property taxes."

Most likely, the legislation will be enacted as this year's legislative session moves toward its close --- another swipe at youngsters from the political party that likes to present itself as "pro-family." Already, legislation that will pour public education funds into the coffers of private schools, specifically target LGBTQ+ children and weaken public school standards has been enacted.

We need to be working on a more apt description for the Hawkeye state. "Iowa nice" isn't working these days. How about, "Tennessee without the music" or "Arkansas without the Huckabees."