Action alert on water quality   The Iowa Catholic Conference encourages you to contact your senator and representative in support of funding to maintain Iowa’s water quality monitoring network headquartered at the University of Iowa. As Catholics, we believe that access to clean, safe drinking water is an inalienable human right essential for life and human dignity. The current House version of the agriculture budget bill includes $300,000, half of the requested funding for the network.  ...

Happy Easter Monday! Public activity at the Capitol is slowing down as budget negotiations between the chambers continue.  The House version of the “education omnibus” bill, HF 2713, has passed the House Appropriations Committee by a vote of 17-6. The bill ensures that school districts cannot unfairly block community providers such as Catholic preschools from participating in the Statewide Voluntary Preschool Program. Another part of the proposal allows for a second fall ESA sign-up period...

This week at the Statehouse   A priority of the Iowa Catholic Conference has passed the legislature and is eligible for the governor’s signature. The “Med Act,” HF 571, provides additional conscience protections for medical professionals. We believe that no one should be forced to participate in providing a procedure or medication to which they may have to violate their oath to Do No Harm. As Dr. Lauris Kaldjian, director of the University of Iowa’s medical school bioethics program has said,...