Truthdig
What's the Matter With Iowa? Dark News From Red-State America
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/whats_the_matter_with_iowa_dark_news_fro
m_red-state_america_20170318/
Posted on Mar 18, 2017
By Paul Street
Lightning strikes above the Iowa Capitol in Des Moines. (Brian Abeling /
CC 2.0 (https://www.flickr.com/photos/64248265@N02/15449710122/) )
What is the real cost of being poor? The federal minimum wage of $7.25 an
hour is a cruel joke. If it had kept pace with increases in U.S. labor
productivity since the 1970s, it would be $19 an hour
(http://topforeignstocks.com/2017/01/11/us-minimum-wage-adjusted-for-product
ivity/) today. Assuming full-time, year-round employment, the current
minimum wage yields $15,131 per year
(https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/pay-administration/fact
-sheets/computing-hourly-rates-of-pay-using-the-2087-hour-divisor/) , well
below the federal poverty level
(http://familiesusa.org/product/federal-poverty-guidelines) for a
three-person family ($20,160).
That's why 29 states have increased their minimum wage
(http://www.paywizard.org/main/salary/minimum-wage) beyond the federal
level, with bottom hourly standards ranging from $7.70 in Missouri to $10 in
Arizona, California, Connecticut and Vermont and $11 in Washington and
Massachusetts. In the District of Columbia, the figure is $11.50, and will
rise to $15 in 2020
(https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/dc-gives-final-approval-to
-15-minimum-wage/2016/06/21/920ae156-372f-11e6-8f7c-d4c723a2becb_story.html?
utm_term=.65d3e8ac7a4c) .
The poverty level is another cruel measure. It is based on an antiquated
1950s formula
(http://billmoyers.com/2013/09/18/why-is-the-federal-poverty-line-so-low/)
that multiplies a minimum food budget three times. Like the federal minimum
wage level, the poverty level is not adjusted for significant variations in
the cost of living across the nation.
What does it cost just to get by today? The family budget calculator
(http://www.epi.org/resources/budget/) of the Economic Policy Institute
(EPI) shows that the annual expense of adequate, no-frills living for two
parents with two children in Iowa City (the most expensive city in the state
of Iowa) is $67,710. This sounds high until you add up the monthly expenses:
housing ($851), food ($782), child care ($1,046), transportation ($608),
health care ($843), other necessities ($789), and taxes ($724), for a total
monthly outlay of $5,643. (As a resident of Iowa City for the past decade, I
find these estimates low.) The basic two-parent-two-kid family budget is
lower but still daunting in rural Iowa ($60,650) and other Iowa cities such
as Davenport ($61,792), Des Moines ($63,741) and Council Bluffs ($66,064).
The cost of a decent living diverges much more widely across the United
States. The national cost of just getting by, as measured by the EPI, is
$59,852 in Hibbing, Minn. (Bob Dylan's hometown), $60,246 in rural Arkansas,
$69,636 in Minneapolis, $71,995 in Chicago, $85,793 in Boston, $91,785 in
San Francisco, $98,722 in New York City and $106,493 in Washington, D.C. In
the nation's capital, the recent new minimum wage puts the earnings of two
full-time, year-round workers at 42 percent of the city's basic family
budget.
Keep the EPI's figures in mind next time the U.S. Chamber of Commerce or the
American Enterprise Institute expresses horror at the notion that the
minimum wage should go as "astronomically" high as $15 an hour. That would
mean $30,000 a year for a full-time worker fortunate enough to stay employed
year-round. In rural Iowa, two parents working full-time at that supposedly
exorbitant wage would still fall short of an adequate standard of living. In
Iowa City, those parents would be more than $7,000 short.
HF295: Like Something Out of Dickens
Responding to the stark penury of the federal minimum wage and to
differences in the cost of living, elected boards staffed mainly by
Democrats in four Iowa counties recently have increased their minimum wages
to $10 an hour. Johnson County, home to Iowa City, is already at $10. The
three other counties-Polk (home to Des Moines), Linn (Cedar Rapids) and
Wapello (Ottumwa)-are scheduled to hit that mark at the beginning of 2019.
The $10 minimum is a real step forward, but it translates to just $20,000 a
year. Two parents with two children working full-time and year-round at $10
an hour come in at less than two-thirds of the EPI's modest basic family
budget cost.
But for the reigning Republicans in Iowa, where the GOP now controls both
the governor's office and the state legislature, that's just too kind to
full-time workers at the bottom of the wage scale. The state House recently
passed legislation, House File 295
(http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/2017/03/09/iowa-house-
debates-bill-blocking-local-minimum-wage-hikes/98967188/) (HF295), that
would nullify the recent county-level minimum wage increases and prohibit
local and county jurisdictions from passing such measures in the future.
It's like something out of Charles Dickens.
The Center for Worker Justice of Eastern Iowa has asked Johnson County
employers to "stand up for our workers
(http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/2017/03/08/international-womens
-day-marchers-fight-keep-wage-up-johnson-county/98909848/) , and our values,
and pledge that you will continue to honor the Johnson County minimum
wage-no matter what the politicians in Des Moines decide." That's a modest
request.
Red States Versus Blue Cities
It's part of a bigger national story. As of last February, more than 40 U.S.
cities and counties had enacted local minimum wage ordinances
(http://www.nelp.org/content/uploads/Fighting-Preemption-Local-Minimum-Wage-
Laws.pdf) to address the inadequacies of federal and state minimum wage
laws as well as differences in the cost of living. Under a measure passed by
the Seattle City Council two years ago, that city's minimum wage will be $15
in 2021. Other cities, including Baltimore and Minneapolis, also are
considering hikes to $15.
Big business has swiped back at these local initiatives. Under pressure from
corporations and the lobbyists and right-wing think tanks they pay for, 23
states
(http://www.nelp.org/content/uploads/Fighting-Preemption-Local-Minimum-Wage-
Laws.pdf) have passed laws that "preempt" cities from passing their own
local minimum wage laws. In 2016, for example, Alabama passed a preemption
bill after the city of Birmingham passed a local minimum wage law. The
legislation blocks future local minimum wages and invalidates Birmingham's
measure.
Republican-controlled North Carolina has lost hundreds of millions of
dollars
(http://www.businessinsider.com/north-carolina-hb2-economic-impact-2016-9)
due to an economic boycott sparked by its passage of House Bill 2 (HB2),
widely known as "the bathroom bill." The bill achieved notoriety by
requiring transgender people to use bathrooms consistent with the gender
listed on their birth certificates. But a less-known part
(http://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/nc-discriminatory-law-bigger-which-bathr
oom-you-can-use-n546746) of the "Public Facilities Privacy and Security
Act" also removes the ability of city and county officials to set minimum
wage standards for private employers.
The rash of preemption bills is concentrated in Republican-controlled states
largely in the South. A national map highlighting these states in red
(http://www.nelp.org/content/uploads/Fighting-Preemption-Local-Minimum-Wage-
Laws.pdf) shows that preemption bills recently passed in every Southern
state except Arkansas, Virginia and West Virginia. (The non-Southern
preemption states include Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania,
Idaho, Colorado and Utah.)
The "Patchwork" and "Competitiveness" Ruses
Why such vicious legislation? In Iowa, as across the nation, Republicans
pushing for the preemption of local minimum wage ordinances typically claim
to be concerned about having a hodgepodge of wage levels across the state.
HF295 sponsor Iowa House Rep. John Landon, R-Ankeny, channels the standard
Republican conventional wisdom when he says that his measure seeks to create
"a level playing field
(http://www.thegazette.com/subject/news/government/iowa-lawmakers-clash-with
-local-representatives-over-home-rule-authority-20170303) " in all Iowa
communities. He told The (Cedar Rapids) Gazette: "This comes because of the
patchwork effect that it creates on trying to operate businesses that are
multicounty, that are multistate. It makes it difficult to keep track of
each and every initiative that is passed that would impact that business as
far as wages or other conditions." Preemption proponents also argue that
cities and counties become less competitive with surrounding areas when they
implement a higher local minimum wage.
The "patchwork" complaint is misleading and probably disingenuous. As the
National Employment Law Project notes, the real goal behind the preemption
bills is to help business keep wages down
(http://www.nelp.org/content/uploads/Fighting-Preemption-Local-Minimum-Wage-
Laws.pdf) :
[B]usinesses are accustomed to dealing with varying rules across cities and
counties. . Businesses have adapted to varying rules concerning traffic,
business licenses, construction, zoning, and many other local laws. Local
minimum wages are no different. Most minimum wage preemption laws have been
pushed and adopted by largely conservative state legislatures in recent
years in response to pressure from big business, which generally opposes
minimum wage increases. In other words, the real motivation behind recent
state preemption bills is not uniformity, but rather a desire to limit the
ability of local elected officials to raise pay.
At the same time, studies by academic economists at the University of
California, University of Massachusetts and University of North Carolina
have found no negative competitiveness impact
(http://www.nelp.org/content/uploads/Fighting-Preemption-Local-Minimum-Wage-
Laws.pdf) of increased local minimum wages.
A False Paradox
It might seem paradoxical that the Republicans-who claim to trumpet small
and local over big and centralized government-would so blatantly quash local
power. But there's no contradiction, really. The real issue isn't big and
central government versus small and local government. It's big and small
government-state power-favoring the business class over the working poor.
The right-wing Republicans and their moderate Republican and corporate
Democratic allies in the nation's state governments side with the business
elite, which has vast financial and organizational resources to invest in
local, state and national politics and policy.
The Preemption Champion
Nullifying local control over wages has become a significant priority for
the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a powerful
corporate-backed group with huge lobbying influence at the state level.
Founded in 1973, ALEC has linked corporate America to lawmakers to generate
hundreds of "model policies" that have entered state codes
(http://www.alecexposed.org/wiki/ALEC_Exposed) from coast to coast. The
exchange council has been drafting "model" state measures to preempt local
minimum wages for 15 years.
ALEC's preemption agenda goes beyond minimum wages. It has worked to preempt
liberal and progressive local measures on a large number of issues,
including guns, tobacco, wages, family and medical leave for workers, racial
discrimination, immigrant rights (including sanctuary cities), recycling,
fracking, pesticides and bans on sugar drinks and plastic bags. (Iowa's
HF295 also forbids local governments from implementing a soda tax or banning
the use of plastic bags by retailers.)
Thirty-six states introduced legislation preempting cities' laws
(https://grassrootschange.net/issues/preemption/) in 2016. There should be
more preemption bills in 2017, thanks to Republican electoral victories last
fall. State-level preemption is largely a Republican phenomenon
(https://ballotpedia.org/Gubernatorial_and_legislative_party_control_of_stat
e_government) . The Republicans now control 34 state legislatures and hold
both the governor's office and the state legislative chambers in 25 states.
Preemption measures generally survive judicial review. As David Graham noted
in The Atlantic
(https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/03/red-state-blue-city/51
3857/) , "[T]he Constitution doesn't mention cities at all, and since the
late 19th century, courts have accepted that cities are creatures of the
state. . Some states delegate certain powers to cities, but states remain
the higher authority."
Why Boycott Iowa?
Collective Bargaining Rights Stripped
If North Carolina can suffer economic boycotts for violating transgender
people's civil rights, might progressives want to consider a boycott of
Republican-controlled Iowa for its deepening assault on working people of
all genders and sexual identities? Last month, the state government in Des
Moines followed in the footsteps of Wisconsin's right-wing Scott Walker-led
state government by abolishing public sector workers' rights to collective
bargaining
(http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/midwest/ct-iowa-public-union
-bill-20170216-story.html) .
Workers' Comp Rollback
Bills introduced in the Iowa House and the Iowa Senate this year are
designed to significantly roll back compensation benefits for injured
workers. In addition, the bills would allow employers to deny benefits if an
injured worker tested positive for drugs or alcohol.
Preempting Family Leave
Iowa HF295 also would prevent local and county governments from requiring
private employers to provide workers with paid family leave.
Preempting Sanctuary Cities and Campuses
Along with their assault on workers, Iowa Republicans are moving ahead with
numerous other right-wing policies. An "anti-sanctuary city" measure (HF265)
would forbid cities, counties and public universities from creating a "safe
haven" for undocumented immigrants. Law enforcement officers would not be
able to be directed to not gather and communicate to federal authorities
information on the immigration status of local residents and students.
Steve King: An Open White Nationalist in the U.S. House
On issues of race, ethnicity and immigration, perhaps Iowa should be
boycotted until it convinces its westernmost congressman, Steve King, to
resign from the U.S. House of Representatives. Last Sunday, the openly
racist and nativist white nationalist sparked public outrage
(http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/house/324223-dem-blasts-rep-kings-som
ebody-elses-babies-comments-on-house-floor) when he tweeted in support of
the anti-Muslim Dutch politician Geert Wilders: "Wilders understands that
culture and demographics are our destiny. We can't restore our civilization
with somebody else's babies."
King doubled down on his remarks
(http://thehill.com/homenews/house/323633-king-says-he-meant-tweet-endorsing
-far-right-dutch-politician) , going on CNN to add: "I'd like to see an
America that's just so homogenous that we look a lot the same, from that
perspective." King also went on an Iowa radio station to "predict . that
Hispanics and the blacks will be fighting each other" before whites become a
minority in the U.S. He said that his "somebody else's babies" comment
wasn't racist but was about "our stock, our country, our culture, our
civilization." He added that "we need to have enough babies to replace
ourselves." Getting King to resign, however, might not be so easy. Many
Iowans appreciate his bluntness
(http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/03/why-steve-king-keeps-winning
-214913) , the same way many Americans appreciate Donald Trump's
brusqueness.
Anti-Abortion
Turning to women's rights, the Iowa Senate recently passed Senate File 2
(https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislation/BillBook?ba=SF2) . This measure
would block public funding to Planned Parenthood and other abortion
providers. Most abortions would be outlawed 20 weeks after fertilization
under Iowa Senate File 53
(https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislation/BillBook?ba=SF53&ga=87) , which has
cleared a Senate committee. (Editor's note: You can see the disposition of
all of the bills in the Iowa Legislature here
(https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislation/billTracking/billDisposition) .)
Gunfighter State
Iowa House Study Bill 133
(https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislation/BillBook?ga=87&ba=hsb133) would
rewrite Iowa's weapons laws to include "stand your ground" provisions. It
also would allow children to use handguns and ease some permitting
processes. An amended version has cleared the House Judiciary Committee.
Rolling Back Voter Rights
Iowa House Study Bill 93
(https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislation/BillBook?ga=86&ba=HSB%2093) and
Senate Study Bill 1163
(https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislation/BillBook?ga=86&ba=SSB%201163) would
implement new voter identification requirements-a measure designed to
suppress the Democratic-leaning votes of minorities and college and
university students.
Dismantling a Blue Water Utility
Iowa House File 484
(https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/publications/LGI/87/HF484.pdf) and Senate
Study Bill 1146 (https://legiscan.com/IA/research/SSB1146/2017) would
dismantle the longstanding Des Moines Water Works (DmWW)-a metropolitan
water utility under the control of a board appointed by Des Moines' mayor.
The measure is red-state retaliation against the blue-city water board for
filing a federal lawsuit against four rural northwest Iowa counties that
have permitted toxic nitrate farm runoff to pollute water used by the Des
Moines region. The lawsuit antagonized Republican-leaning agriculture
interests
(http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/money/agriculture/2017/02/23/iowa-fa
rm-bureau-des-moines-water-works-dismantling/98240904/) , which spend a lot
on elections and lobbying.
As a result of this big ag activism, The Des Moines Register noted
(http://www.iowapolicyproject.org/2014Research/140717-nutrient.html) four
years ago, "Iowa counties that have zoning laws regulating the placement of
factories and homes are forbidden by state law from regulating the sites of
animal confinements. Farmers are asked only to voluntarily comply with
conservation programs designed to reduce nitrates in rivers, lakes and
ultimately the Gulf of Mexico." The lawsuit would be dropped under the new
Republican-sponsored legislation.
An Ecocidal "Public Utility"
Speaking of water, last year, Iowa's governor-appointed Iowa Utilities Board
approved the construction of the ecocidal Dakota Access pipeline
(http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/water_life_oil_death_people_vs_bakken_p
ipeline_in_iowa_dakotas_20160822) across 18 Iowa counties on grounds that
the project was a "public utility" serving the people of Iowa. It is no such
thing. The Dakota pipeline will carry fracked oil from North Dakota to
Illinois for the profit of drillers and the pipeline's corporate builder,
Energy Transfer Partners. It carries no discernible benefits for Iowa while
it helps big carbon cook the planet past its climatological tipping point
and threatens numerous rivers, streams and fields across the state.
This alone might be grounds for caring consumers, businesses, investors and
convention- and event-planners to think seriously about boycotting the state
of Iowa. If we don't take dramatic action to get off fossil fuels and avert
the global-warming specter of environmental catastrophe in the next 10 years
or so, nothing else that liberals and progressive care about-livable wages,
gun laws, immigrant and abortion rights, union bargaining power, universal
health insurance, rights of free assembly-will matter all that much.
Anti-Protest/Free Speech
Iowa Republican legislators have joined their counterparts in at least 15
other Republican-controlled states in advancing measures to discourage and
criminalize popular protest actions
(https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/02/us/when-does-protest-cross-a-line-some-s
tates-aim-to-toughen-laws.html?_r=1) . A state Senate bill, filed after 100
anti-Trump protesters (including this writer) closed Interstate Highway 80
(http://littlevillagemag.com/anti-trump-protest-rallies-through-the-streets-
to-i-80/) near Iowa City, would make blocking high-speed roads a felony
punishable by up to five years in prison and $7,500 in fines.
But it may be unfair to single out Iowa. Many, if not most, U.S. states are
boycott-worthy in this dark right-wing moment. Policy developments at the
national level are all too often overshadowed by mainstream media's
obsession with the rolling "This Week in Trump"
(http://www.counterpunch.org/2017/03/08/why-trump-continues-to-beat-the-demo
crats/) spectacle. But the great Trump matador's cape of distraction can be
even more deadly at the state level, where big money may speak louder than
it does in Washington-and where many policies that matter to ordinary
citizens and workers are made.
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