Attempts in previous years to add requirements for Iowans who receive public benefits like Medicaid and food assistance failed to pass both chambers in the Iowa Legislature. A renewed effort is under way this year, with a new approach: Instead of pushing for just one or two big bills addressing public assistance programs, statehouse Republicans have broken the myriad proposals into a slew of bills running separately.
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Only three groups lobbied to pass the lousy elections bill that just tore like a bullet train through the Iowa Legislature, fueled by fictional fraud.
There’s the Iowa Minute Man Civil Defense Corps, which supports right-wing legislation. And the Kirkwood Institute, led by Iowa attorney Alan Ostergren, who helped the Republican National Committee and the Trump campaign sue “rogue” auditors last year.
And then there’s the Opportunity Solutions Project, based in Tallahassee, Fla. Its lobbyist at the Statehouse, Andy Conlin of West Des Moines, is registered in favor of the elections bill, as well as measures that would cut unemployment benefits and kick folks off public assistance programs.