Iowa Environment Calendar Of Upcoming Events

Posted on September 21, 2026 by Trish Nelson

Rob Hogg

From our inbox – And now a word from former state senator Rob Hogg, author of America’s Climate Century: What Climate Change Means for America in the 21st Century and What Americans Can Do about It

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

Sept. 22 – 4-5 pm – Cedar Rapids – Save Morgan Valley, the citizen organization opposing the proposed massive 720 megawatt Morgan Valley fossil gas plant along Highway 30 in western Linn County, is holding a demonstration in opposition to the proposal at Cedar Rapids city hall, 101 First Street SE, Cedar Rapids.

Sept. 28 – 6 pm – Cedar Rapids – The Linn County Planning and Zoning Committee will be considering rezoning farm land to industrial along Highway 30 in western Linn County for the proposed Morgan Valley fossil gas plant. This is not at the county building. It will be held at the Kirkwood Hotel – Ballroom B, 7725 Kirkwood Blvd SW, in Cedar Rapids. Public comment is allowed for up to 5 minutes. Please speak up to help stop it or at least get more public information about its impact on neighbors, land, water, climate, and our health.

Sept. 29 – Des Moines – The Iowa Environmental Council is holding its annual conference at Drake University in Des Moines on Tuesday, September 29. I won’t be able to attend this year, but it is always a valuable conference.

Oct. 5 – noon to 1:00 pm – Online – The Iowa Faith and Climate Network is presenting a one-hour virtual session on “Worship for the Shalon of all Creation” with the Rev. Karla Detweiler of the Mennonite Church USA. Karla spoke previously at the Called to Climate Action conference in 2025. To get a link, you must register at the network’s website events page.

Oct. 10 – 9 am to 2 pm – Coralville – For the Season of Creation, St. Thomas More Parish, 3000 12th Avenue, Coralville, is hosting “Re-Bonding, Restoring Relationship in the Web of Life,” a conference and workshop to address land and yard management and water and forest conservation. There is no charge to attend. Keynote speaker is Connie Mutel.

Oct. 10 – 10:00-11:30 am – Des Moines – “Belonging to the Earth” will be presented by the Iowa Faith and Climate Network at a workshop at the Being New Spirituality Center, Grace Lutheran Church, 5201 Urbandale Ave, in Des Moines. “Belonging to the Earth” is a new study guide for faith-based environmental stewardship available for download at the Iowa Faith and Climate Network website.

Oct. 11 – 9 am – Cedar Rapids – Christ Episcopal Church is hosting Marty St. Clair from the Iowa Faith and Climate Network Speakers’ Bureau to discuss clean water at the church’s adult forum. The church is located at 220 40th Street NE in Cedar Rapids.

Oct. 14 – Statewide – 8 am to 4:30 pm – Early voting in the 2026 general elections begins at county auditor’s offices across Iowa. Get your vote in early so if there is any problem, you have time to fix it. Make sure the people in your life have a plan to vote. Voting runs through Tuesday, November 3.

Oct. 18 – 1:30 to 3:00 pm – Linn County – The Cedar-Wapsie Group of the Sierra Club and Save Morgan Valley are holding an open house/outing at the site of the proposed Morgan Valley fossil gas plant. We will visit the home and restored prairie of an immediate neighbor to the site at 3388 73rd Street, Fairfax (the southwest corner of the intersection of Highway 30 and the Linn-Benton Road). Visitors should go south from Highway 30 past the first house toward the big red barn to the south. You can come for some or all of the time listed.

Oct. 28 – Online – noon to 1:00 pm – The Iowa Faith and Climate Network is offering a one-hour online session “Haunting Expectations” about climate science – how climate change is and is expected to affect Iowa – with Prof. Bill Gutowski from Iowa State University. You can register at the network’s events page.

I hope this information is helpful. Take care, and keep speaking up and taking action for climate, water, and the environment.

Rob

Rob Hogg (retired state senator)
Linn County, Iowa
(319) 247-0223

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The NDAA Is Abominable, Absurd, And Abhorrent

Posted on September 20, 2026 by Paul Deaton
Ed Flaherty of Veterans For Peace addressing about 75 people gathered to protest the military action in Venezuela.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed the FY 2027 National Defense Authorization Act. or NDAA, in July.  The Senate must now take it up.  The House-passed NDAA is abominable, absurd, and abhorrent.  The US Senate must reject the House version, and we must  tell Senators Grassley and Ernst that common sense and human decency dictate  rejection.

Abominable, absurd and abhorrent!  Why?

Abominable because of the unfathomable amount of money that is proposed for the US military.  The NDAA itself calls for $1.15 trillion.  There is  a separate request for  $350 billion  on top of the NDAA amount, and there is another separate request for $80 billion to replenish munitions spent in our illegal and needless war  on Iran.  So if the Trump Pentagon gets these approved, we will be spending $1.580 trillion on the military in FY 2027, as opposed to a 2026 budget of $891 billion.  That is a 77% increase in one year.  This does not include the billions earmarked for the Veterans Administration or the Department of Homeland Security. Our national debt has just passed the $40 trillion mark, and the proposed increases to the military budget will add considerably more to that debt.   For perspective, consider the $4.4 billion FY 2027 request for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Proposed military spending is 359 times the NOAA budget.   At a time when families in America struggle with housing costs, medical bills, and climate-related disasters, pouring unprecedented sums into military spending diverts resources from urgent needs of our communities.

Absurd?  Why?  The House bill(Section 219), and the proposed Senate bill( Section 1217) mandate  that Israel  be given unprecedented access to the US military establishment, with  privileges that violate our national security.   Sections 219 and 1217  direct the Secretary of Defense to expand integration of the US and Israeli military sectors.    The measures direct the Department of Defense to appoint a senior “executive agent” to integrate Israeli defense technology directly into sensitive US weapons systems, including artificial intelligence, cyber warfare, autonomous systems, and quantum computing.  Nothing like this has ever been done before  in US history.  No other nation has ever been given the access to US military resources that Section 219 and 1217  propose to give to Israel.  It is an affront to US sovereignty, and is frankly absurd.

Why abhorrent?  The House bill includes the “Save America Act”.  This act proposes to repress  US voting by demanding proof of citizenship of everyone seeking to register to vote or to change their registration. A US passport or verified birth certificate would be required.  It also mandates criminal penalties for election workers if they make any registration mistakes.  The “Save America Act” has failed to get US Senate approval when presented on its own.  The attempt to insert it into the Senate NDAA bill is abhorrent, not only because of its malicious intent but because it has no place in a bill to fund the US military.

There are numerous  reasons to reject the proposed NDAA  in addition to those described above.  For example, the Defense Department has never passed an audit.  An appropriate substitute for the proposed NDAA would be acceptance of Senator Ed Markey’s substitute bill, which would cap Pentagon spending at $750 billion.  While there is only a slight chance of something so reasonable being accepted, there is time to contact our senators, and it is our responsibility as citizens and taxpayers to do so. Demand that the  funding be substantially reduced, that the Israeli section be eliminated, and that insertion of the “Save” act be rejected.

Ed Flaherty, Iowa City
John Jadryev, Iowa City
Ross Porch, Iowa City
Bob Mueller, Mt. Pleasant
Mike Finley, Iowa City
Donna Hirst, Iowa City
Patrick Bosold, Fairfield
Art Roche, Dubuque
David Hempel, Iowa City
Paul Deaton, Solon
Pamela Fitzgerald, Iowa City
Mary Martin, Boyce, VA
Dennis Bricker, Iowa City
David Quegg, Iowa City
Donna Kann,Iowa City
Barbara Zilles, Iowa City
Pat Bowen, Iowa City
Rick Chambers, Iowa City
Jim Hesseltine, Iowa City
Maggie Hogan, Iowa City
David Martin, Iowa City
Gordon Goldsmith, Iowa City
John Fyotek, Iowa City
Joe Aossey, Cedar Rapids
Evalee Mickey, North Liberty
Louis DeGrazia, Iowa City
Joe Stutler, Cedar Rapids
Al Hood, Iowa City
Jerry Bloomer, Burlington
Robert Fischer, Decorah
Harold Frakes, Brighton
Pat Cummings, Davenport
Andrew Callahan, Cedar Rapids
Jeff Mason, Rock Island,IL
Nick Tsacudakis, Davenport
Jim Laughlin, West Branch
Matt Erickson, Davenport
Frank Potter, Dubuque

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Power Plants And The EPA

Posted on September 19, 2026 by Paul Deaton
Peoples’ Coalition at the Coralville Independence Day Parade

On Monday, Sept. 14, the Environmental Protection Agency did two things that were expected since President Trump was re-elected.

  • EPA finalized repeal of the Biden-era greenhouse-gas standards for coal-fired power plants and newly built natural-gas power plants.
  • It also proposed rescission of greenhouse gas regulation related to the now rescinded endangerment finding as it pertains to power plants, saying in essence, greenhouse gas emissions from power plants are not the kind of dangerous air pollution EPA is permitted to regulate under the Clean Air Act.

Both are expected to face legal challenges.

Nothing in the science of climate change is different because of EPA action this week compared to previous. It remains a fact that carbon dioxide contributes to a warming planet, and such warming has negative consequences for humans. What has changed is power plant operators would be freed from a financial burden of compliance that protects public health. Will people die because of these changes? No one in authority appears to be thinking or caring about an answer to that question.

I have been writing about power plants and their pollution since I began posting on Blog for Iowa in February 2009. My first post was titled, “Open Letter to Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Concerning the Proposed Marshalltown Coal Plant.”

I have opinions about this week’s EPA actions by the EPA. However, let’s discuss what’s going on in the Trump administration’s EPA.

Trump’s EPA targeted the Greenhouse Gas Endangerment Finding, a 2009 determination by the EPA under the Clean Air Act, stating that greenhouse gases threaten public health and welfare. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin finalized repeal of the endangerment finding on February 12, 2026. That is that, well, not really. The struggle over rescission has now moved to the legal system. Will the U.S. Supreme Court uphold the rescission? I assume the issue will make it to and be decided by SCOTUS. That will be a consequential decision.

This week’s proposal pertains to eliminating greenhouse gas regulation for power plants, which are point source polluters. EPA’s proposal argues that Clean Air Act does not give EPA authority to regulate power-plant CO2 on the basis of climate change. If the courts determine rescission of the endangerment finding is valid, then this could come into play. The news cycle is faster than our legal system can move.

The reaction to this news was immediate. Brian Campbell, Executive Director of Physicians for Social Responsibility, represents one of several organizations to move quickly. He issued this action alert:

Monday, the Trump Administration took another reckless step backward in the fight against climate change by repealing power plant emissions standards for carbon — allowing dirty coal and gas plants to pump toxic, planet-warming pollution into our air without any restrictions. Contrary to what the EPA claimed in their press release, we know that power plant CO2 emissions and co-pollutants have very real impacts on Americans’ health — causing asthma, heart disease, and respiratory illnesses — while driving climate catastrophes and extreme weather events across the globe. We published a report on this just last year!

As health professionals and advocates, we know climate change is a health emergency, created by the fossil fuel industry, and Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) is taking action by: Filing two lawsuits against the Trump Administration and its attempt to repeal the endangerment finding on greenhouse gases and rollback of standards on toxic mercury emissions, activating our network to testify at EPA’s upcoming hearings, and to submit a flood of public comments on their proposal to gut pollution limits on power plants—mobilizing health professionals and their trusted voices to expose and raise awareness of the direct health impacts of these rollbacks on families and communities.

We need your help to power these legal and advocacy battles, because this Administration cares more about lining the pockets of fossil fuel companies than protecting your health and the health of our loved ones.

Demand Climate Action NOW. Let’s fight back together.

When President Richard Nixon established the Environmental Protection Agency in 1970, those of us who advocated for protecting the environment felt it was a positive move. It was, although like anything related to politics, change was not permanent. Reach out to your local environmental group and see how you can get involved. We are needed now, more than ever.

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Answer: Fifteen Thousand Three Hundred And Twenty-Five Million

Posted on September 18, 2026 by Trish Nelson

Question:  What is the number of CAFOs and hogs in Iowa?  Yep, 15,300 CAFOs and 25 million hogs.

Jefferson County Farmers and Neighbors have been leaders in the fight against CAFO proliferation in Iowa. They deserve our support in the quest to save Iowa from the ravages of BIG AG. Please check out their message and make a donation if you can. 

From our inbox – 

15,300!

That’s how many CAFOs there are in Iowa. About 2/3 of those buildings confine 25 million hogs at any one time during the year.

And it’s not 15,000 CAFO operators and owners running these confinements (many people or corporations own multiple confinements). Actually, there’s barely 5,200 “hog farmers” left in Iowa according the 2022 USDA’s ag census.

Since factory farms were allowed to be built unchecked in Iowa due to 30 years of failed regulations, Iowa has lost over 90% of its family hog farms that used to be the backbone of our small-town rural economies.

This has not only had a major impact on the 3.2 million people in Iowa, but it’s also forced tens of thousands of independent farmers off the land and created an industry of corporate consolidation that cares only about profit and not about your safety or quality of life.

How fair is that?

At JFAN, we don’t think it’s at all fair that a mere 0.002% of Iowa’s population operates factory farms that can damage the water quality, public health, and the quality of life of over 3 million people.

  • 0002% of Iowa’s population that have more rights to build and operate a CAFO than you have to say no.
  • That’s why JFAN has worked for over 21 years to safeguard Jefferson County from becoming overrun with CAFOs. To protect your right to a good and safe quality of life
  • That’s why we work with state and national partners to fight back against an industry that cares more about its bottom line than the well-being of Iowa’s citizens.

We work hard for Jefferson County and beyond – and we need you by our side!

Please support JFAN during our annual fundraising drive.

We are only halfway towards our $30,000 match with less than a week to go. These are critical funds that fuel our staff and operations so we can do all in our power to fight against unbridled CAFO growth to protect all you hold dear.

Donate here or send a check payable to: JFAN to PO Box 811, Fairfield, IA 52556.

JFAN will work as hard as we need for Jefferson County and for Iowa. But we can’t do this alone.

It takes us working all together to stand up against a powerful industry.

We are up to the task – and have been for 21 years. Please partner with JFAN today with a generous tax-deductible donation and stand with us as we fight for you. Together, with your help, we can work to keep Jefferson County safe and fight for a better Iowa.

With appreciation,
Diane Rosenberg

Jefferson County Farmers & Neighbors, Inc.
JFANIowa.org
P.O. Box 811
Fairfield, IA 52556
641-209-6600
Follow us on Facebook and Twitter

JFAN is funded by grassroots support and gratefully welcomes your donations. JFANIowa.org/donate-today

JFAN is a member of the Iowa Alliance for Responsible Agriculture (IARA)

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Two Easy Things You Can Do This Week

Posted on September 17, 2026 by Trish Nelson

From our inbox – Here is an action alert/learning opportunity from Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement.  Please like and share on your social networks.  All hands on deck! 

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There’s a lot to be paying attention to right now, I know.

We want to provide you with two ways to learn about – and take action on – two important Iowa-centered election topics.

If you think Iowans deserve: fair, free, and safe elections AND a fair tax system that makes corporations and the super-rich pay their fair share — RSVP for one or both of these election-related Zooms!

1. Election Protection Teach-In (this week!)

Wednesday, September 16 at 6:30 pm

We want to equip more Iowans with the tools they need to fight election disinformation and protect our sacred right to vote from those looking to seize and hold onto power.

To help us get informed and organized to say “Hands off our Vote!,” we’re hosting Maxwell Love, project director for Hold the Line, to lead a zoom teach-in with us. Click here to register!

Hold the Line equips people across the country with evidence-based, nonpartisan frameworks to help understand threats to democratic institutions; organize effective collective action; and defend free, fair, and safe elections.

This was the most attended workshop at our summer convention.

2. Vote NO on Iowa’s Amendment 1 teach-in

Monday, October 6 at 6:30 pm

CCI Action joined Common Good’s Fair Taxes for Iowa’s Future, a campaign to educate Iowans on why Amendment 1 is wrong for Iowa’s future.

And, we’ve invited Kylie Spies from Common Good Iowa to help us understand what’s in Amendment 1 – aka the Millionaire Protection Act – which will be on the ballot for all Iowans this November. Click here to register and learn more!

We need to protect our schools, our health and our water – not provide more tax breaks for the super-rich nor concentrate tax veto power into the hands of a powerful minority. If you’re involved in our public-school strong campaign, you don’t want to miss it.

We’re stronger together! These Zoom meetings will be part training, part strategy, and all CCI Action!

Early voting starts October 14 and we need all hands on deck to win the future for our people.

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Virtual Town Hall With Chris Jones and Sarah Vogel Tonight

Posted on September 16, 2026 by Trish Nelson


From the Chris Jones for Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Campaign:

We’d like to invite you to a special Virtual Town Hall with Chris Jones Wednesday, September 16 at 7:30 pm Central.

Join us for a powerful online conversation between Sarah Vogel, former North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner and author of The North Dakota Nine and the Fight to Save the Family Farm; and Chris Jones, water quality scientist, author, and candidate for Iowa Secretary of Agriculture.

Start:  Wednesday, September 16, 2026 — at 7:30 PM Central Time

This will be a conversation that you won’t want to miss!

Click here to RSVP and get the Zoom link to join.

About Sarah Vogel:
From taking on USDA during the 1980s farm crisis to taking on corporate agribusiness in the heart of the Corn Belt today, Sarah and Chris know firsthand that corporate profits must not come at the expense of clean water, healthy soil, and family farmers – and how to make change happen.

Sarah’s proven track record of making a state ag department work for real people brings a grounded, battle-tested roadmap to Chris’s vision for a clean, sustainable, and prosperous rural Iowa.

Come find out how transforming state agriculture is actually going to work, and why this fight matters now more than ever.

RSVP here to be emailed the info to join the exciting call.

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The Ellisons’ Takeover Attempt of Warner Bros

Posted on September 15, 2026 by Trish Nelson


The following video by Media and Democracy Project opens referencing a quote by our friend, former FCC Commissioner Nicholas Johnson.

“Whatever is your first priority, you have little hope of making any progress with it if you can’t get media coverage – fair and favorable media coverage.” –  Your Second Priority: A Former FCC Commissioner Speaks Out, by Nicholas Johnson

Here is MAD’s description of this event.

Democracy is under siege. Oligarchs Larry and David Ellison are consolidating their personal control of information, and media. TikTokUS, CBS News are under their control and they are attempting to use massive debt and foreign cash to take over Warner Bros Discovery (HBO, CNN and many cable channels and media properties). This is not an ordinary merger. This is a debt time-bomb and would mean harmful hyper-consolidation of the media and entertainment industry under the control of one family – while saddling a merged company with $80+ billion dollars in debt.

Watch and learn from a distinguished panel of experts about the largest attempted leveraged buyout in history – and why that matters to the American media landscape, national security, press freedom, workers, consumers and democracy.

Why does the massive debt used to finance the takeover matter? What would the 39%+ foreign ownership by 3 petro-state (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar) sovereign wealth funds mean for Americans? Past mega-mergers have failed consumers, employees, shareholders – could this be different?

How do Data Centers, AI and Larry Ellison’s personal finances impact the deal and stability of a possible merged entity?

Panelists:

Alvaro Bedoya: Senior Advisor, American Economic Liberties Project and served as a Federal Trade Commissioner from 2022 to 2025.

Pete Johnson: Visiting Assistant Professor at NYU’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study. He specializes in US film and television industry history, media finance and economics, and the role of narrative in shaping business outcomes.

Deborah Jaramillo: Professor of Film and Television Studies, and Director of Graduate Studies for the American Studies Program at Boston, University

Twelve state Attorneys General have filed a lawsuit to #BlockTheMerger on the grounds it violates anti-consolidation laws, but have not emphasized the hazards of debt and financing – and national security and press freedom.

Jaramillo and Johnson are co-authors of the insightful and powerful analysis that demonstrates the harms of the attempted-takeover: “The Costs of Consolidation: Arguments and Evidence for Blocking the Paramount-Warner Bros. Merger” https://macrolab.ucsd.edu/paramount-warner-merger/  

 

Follow Meda and Democracy Project on BlueSky.

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Amendment One Poses Questions. The Answer is ‘No’

Posted on September 14, 2026 by Trish Nelson

by Mike Owen
(previously published in the QC Times)

Listen to the article here

One way to approach Iowa’s constitutional amendment question is to ask yourself serious questions.

  • Do you trust legislators elected in 2022 and 2024 to dictate options for policymakers in 2030? 2040? Even 40 or 50 years from now?
  • Do you believe 17 state senators, barely one-third of the Senate, should be able to override the will of 133 other elected legislators, a governor and the popular will of the voters?
  • Do you think Iowa is currently in good enough financial shape to provide the critical public services we need now, let alone decades from now?
  • Do you realize that tax cuts in recent years have not only reduced resources but also provided meaningful benefits only to rich individuals and powerful corporations?

Amendment One on the November ballot would require a two-thirds majority in both the House and Senate to raise individual or corporate income tax rates. It is designed to lock in those recent cuts for the wealthy — and permanently hamper Iowa’s investment in education, healthcare, environmental quality and public safety.

Those recent cuts passed despite expectations of nearly $2 billion less annual revenue, according to the Legislature’s own fiscal experts, than Iowa would receive under the previous law to responsibly fund a budget of about $9 billion. They guaranteed future budget deficits.

Lawmakers have patched the holes temporarily using reserves, which resulted from underfunding services and saving revenue gains from federal pandemic relief. It’s a fiscal cliff, assuring that when the reserves run dry in the next couple of years, either drastic cuts in services will be necessary or new revenues will be needed.

The amendment takes off the table any attempt to correct the impact of previous income tax cuts and may even prevent plugging loopholes used by corporations or the wealthy. It would force increases in sales tax — or deep cuts in education.

Come to think of it, this might even reduce funding for private school vouchers, which could concern voucher proponents. Nothing would be off the table for cuts, as the state constitution requires a balanced budget.

Save everyone a lot of future headaches and protect our responsibilities to each other as Iowans. Vote “No” on Amendment One.

Mike Owen is a former Statehouse reporter and recently retired from over 20 years in nonpartisan policy analysis and advocacy at the Iowa Policy Project and Common Good Iowa.

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Protecting The Midterm Vote

Posted on September 13, 2026 by Paul Deaton
Rural Polling Place

My first assignments as a poll worker dropped this week, a reminder of how soon election day will be here. Early voting starts October 14 in Iowa.

I drew three shifts helping in the lobby at the county administration building, and expect to draw an election day assignment. The county auditor is well-organized to cover elections. Despite bluster in the media, voting preparations seem to be progressing normally in our county.

Democrats have activated their vote protection process. I worked as a poll watcher as part of this program during the previous three general elections. It was pretty dull work. There was never any action, of any kind, that required my intervention. I got a lot of reading done while poll watching. This lack of action led me to apply to be a poll worker, figuring if I was going to be there, I may as well get paid. I don’t recall ever seeing a Republican poll watcher in our precinct.

The problem we face this cycle is not local. The current administration has openly announced that it will send ICE agents to some polling places, and the Justice Department has recently raided election offices. As our local Democratic Party said on their website, “Don’t give in to fear! Take comfort in knowing that many organizations are working together to protect our voters and our election system.”

There are volunteer opportunities to protect the vote.

Volunteer with the legal team. If you are an attorney able to be in Iowa on Election Day, contact the county party to volunteer with the Voter Protection legal team. You do not have to be an expert in voting law.

Become a poll watcher, like I did. Volunteer through your county Democratic party.

Help in another county. Let your local volunteer coordinators know if you are willing and able to serve as a poll watcher outside your home county. If so, be sure to vote early.

Join a monitoring effort. Learn about organizations and local groups recruiting citizens to monitor the polls on Election Day as an early warning system. Sign up with your county Democratic Party if you can.

While the president tends to turn everything he lays his hands on into a goat screw, here’s hoping everyone who wants to vote can do so… and that our votes count. This seems basic, yet in these times we can take nothing for granted. I plan to check my voter registration, and vote early, in person, at the auditor’s office. Maybe you should consider it, too.

The No Kings coalition is offering training in how to protect the election where you live. Sign up at this link.

If you experience or witness any issues or problems at the polls, call the Iowa Democratic Party Voter Protection Hotline at 515-207-9455.

Posted in 2026 election | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Miller-Meeks Dodges The Real Problem

Posted on September 12, 2026 by Paul Deaton
Social Security card.

In November I will get my seventh opportunity to vote for Mariannette Miller-Meeks for Congress. I will decline, again. The incumbent is not doing enough on important issues of our times. I am thinking particularly of Social Security.

She made a splash with her support for Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent’s bill to open access to the Social Security database by the Treasury Department. This is a quest to stop Social Security payments for people who died.

Whatever.

Shouldn’t the Social Security Administration already have such a process in place? The most pressing problem is an actuarial one. The Social Security Trust Fund will not be able to pay full benefits beginning in 2032 without changes. “Changes” means Miller-Meeks and other like her must do something. Thus far they haven’t.

There are a number of proposals related to Social Security in both chambers of the legislature, sponsored by both Republicans and Democrats. I don’t see Miller-Meeks supporting any of them, including the House bill introduced by a Republican to form a bipartisan committee to address the issue.

I am unaware of any public statement from Miller-Meeks that lays out a specific plan for fixing Social Security’s projected 2032 financing gap. None.

She says Social Security must be protected. What does that mean? Her inference is protecting the program from waste and fraud. It shouldn’t take an act of Congress to do that. This is not the position of a serious member of Congress and represents no solution to the actuarial problem.

She co-sponsored legislation focused on removing deceased recipients from the roles, and making sure only qualified people receive benefits. Again, why would it take an act of Congress to do that? The Social Security Administration should be doing that already. If administrators are doing an insufficient job, get people in position who will do better.

Another of her claims to fame concerns making tax deductions for Social Security recipients permanent. Nothing in that legislation addresses the actuarial problem.

Miller-Meeks seeks to “control federal spending,” and “make Congress live within its means.” That sounds pretty good, yet she doesn’t connect that idea to the actuarial problem. She could propose any number of changes to support these ideas. If they exist, I have not seen them.

There are plenty of ideas available to resolve the actuarial problem, including raise the cap on taxable earnings, change the structure of the program by modifying eligibility requirements, or joining the bipartisan commission/process proposals now being discussed. Where is Miller-Meeks? Nowhere to be found.

If Miller-Meeks had public Town Hall Meetings, someone should ask directly, “You have said that you want to protect Social Security. The trustees now project the retirement trust fund will be depleted around 2032. What specific changes to taxes, benefits, retirement age, or other financing do you support to prevent the roughly 22% reduction in scheduled benefits?” Since an answer to this type of question doesn’t fall under the umbrella of her vapid statement about “protecting Social Security,” I doubt she would answer.

It’s time for a new member of Congress in Iowa’s First District. Christina Bohannan is available and willing to say publicly how she would resolve the actuarial problem with Social Security. Vote for Christina Bohannan on or before November 3.

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