This week in Iowa organizing…
It's a new year and we're back at it. We hope you all had a restful holiday and that your new year is off to a good start. With a new year comes renewed hope for the future. It's that faith and belief, along with our collective power, that will fuel us through the fights that lie ahead in 2026.
No doubt, the past few years and even recent days have been difficult both at the state and federal levels. Millions are facing staggering increases to their health insurance premiums at a time when living costs are already skyrocketing. More people are out of work and Iowans who receive SNAP benefits now face new and 'confusing' food restrictions. Our public schools remain severely underfunded, while hundreds of millions of our taxpayer dollars are siphoned off to private schools.
Yet a new year brings new opportunities to organize, build community and speak truth to power to force the needed changes to make Iowa and country more just, equitable and small-d democratic. So let's get to it, read on for more.
Onward,
Matthew Covington
Strategic Operations Director
Take action
A healthcare New Year's resolution
The new year brought sticker shock for folks who receive healthcare through the ACA marketplace. You can read more from Jenny Turner here about how we got here and what's next - namely a critical vote in the U.S. House on a clean 3-year extension of the ACA tax credits.
Please make one phone call or send an email to your Representative and urge them to support this bill when it comes for a vote later in January:
Jan. 13: Mitchell County petition delivery
Join CCI members on Tuesday, January 13 at 8:30am in Osage for a 500+ petition signature delivery to the County Supervisors in favor of local commonsense protections from Summit Carbon Solutions' dangerous CO2 pipeline. Learn more and RSVP here!
Jan. 15: Farm Bureau's dirty $ and legislative issue briefing
During the 2026 legislative session it’s our job to keep the Cancer Gag Act dead and to push for common sense policies – like restoring funding for water quality monitoring and increasing funding to map our aquifers.
It’s also our job to pull back the curtain on who is pulling the strings at our statehouse. Perhaps the biggest elephant in the room is Iowa Farm Bureau. Over the last four election cycles Farm Bureau's PAC has donated over $1.4 million to electoral campaigns in Iowa.
Join us online Jan. 15 at 6pm to dig into the history of how Farm Bureau has influenced policy at the expense of our water, farms, and communities, and learn of CCI Action's legislative priorities to protect our water!
Jan 18: Good Trouble roundtable discussion
Join local community leaders for a powerful roundtable on activism and organizing in Iowa. Speakers will talk about how we can create meaningful impact, break down barriers to involvement, and support one another in making real change.
Come for the inspiration—leave with practical tips and tactics to take action. Sunday, Jan. 18 from 1-3pm at St. John's Lutheran Church in Des Moines, more info here.
Jan. 24: Clean Water town hall w/ Chris Jones
When it comes to elections, our job is to elevate the experiences of everyday Iowans and push for the solutions we deserve. That's why CCI Action members will host town halls and public forums, while also bird-dogging candidates to ensure these issues are front and center in 2026.
We're kicking off the new year with our first town hall on Jan. 24 in Grinnell with Chris Jones. At this event we'll discuss the crises facing Iowa's waterways, rural communities, and family farmers and ask the tough questions we need answered by any candidate considering a run for Secretary of Agriculture.
More info and RSVP to join us here.
Feb. 2: Public School Finance 101
Want to get a better understanding of your local school district's budget and how public schools are financed? You are in luck!
David I. Backer, associate professor of education policy at Seton Hall University and author of As Public as Possible: Radical Finance for America's Schools will join us for an online presentation on Feb. 2 at 7:30pm. RSVP to join us here.
“David Backer has accomplished the seemingly impossible here, making the complex issue of school finance not just accessible, but provocative and inspiring.”—Jennifer Berkshire, co-author of A Wolf at the Schoolhouse Door and The Education Wars
What We're Reading
These are a few links that are informing our work - we've shared them so that you can read, too!
On soup, freedom, and heritage in the heartland [Bleeding Heartland]
Iowa City Starbucks employees fight for better wages and working conditions [Deep Midwest: Politics and Culture]
'Wait and see' is the wrong strategy for Iowa budget deficit [Des Moines Register]
Much to be thankful for this year [Indianola Independent Advocate]
Robotics: the last nail in rural America's coffin? [Barn Raiser]