This week in Iowa organizing…
The news out of Minneapolis, Portland, and elsewhere is disturbing, devastating, and alarming. The mobilizations across the country in response with everyday people coming together to protect each other and their communities is inspiring, energizing, and needed.
Government, from the local to federal level, is supposed to work for everyday people, seek to unite us, and lift up our communities so we all do better. And as 2026 gets underway that's what we'll be pushing for and taking action to achieve.
Read on for ways to plug into the work, how we'll be engaging during the legislative session that kicked off today, and more.
In solidarity,
Matthew Covington
Strategic Operations Director
At the Statehouse
Today is the first day of the legislative session, and CCI Action is ready to hit the ground running. Expect to hear lots of talk about eminent domain, property taxes, and possibly more "hot button" social issues to distract folks from the looming budget crisis Reynolds and Republican leadership created. And, since Bayer didn't get their way at the federal level, expect them to be back pushing their Cancer Gag Act.
Still unknown is what lawmakers are planning to do to address the state's water crisis. But we know we'll be there and back in their districts to speak to the real issues our communities are facing and demanding action.
We'll keep folks updated as the session progresses on ways to take action and make your voice heard. Here's opportunities already on the horizon you may want to mark your calendar for:
Jan. 21 @ 11am: Cancer Gag Act and water quality focused lobby day. RSVP here
Jan. 27 @ 6pm: Legislative Session 101 for folks new to the legislative process/how to lobby. RSVP here
Jan. 29 @ 6pm Farm & Environment monthly organizing call: RSVP here
All issue lobby days Feb. 4, March 4, and April 1 at 10am. Each day will start at the CCI Action office with a brief lobby training & issue updates
Feb. 19 @ 1pm: Clean Water Lobby Day in partnership with Food & Water Watch. RSVP here
Take action
Thursday - 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!
Sunday - 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.
57 counties have passed Master Matrix for factory farms
It’s time for County Supervisors to vote on, pass, and submit the Master Matrix resolution to the Iowa DNR. This resolution allows county supervisors to weigh in on factory farm construction. But they must pass and submit the resolution between January 1 and January 31 each year.
The Master Matrix resolution is far from perfect but is an important tool to protect our communities. It can be used to stop or slow the factory farms that want to build next door to people's homes, schools, or even waterbodies.
Don't see your county highlighted above? Then that means they probably haven't passed the resolution yet, so contact your County Supervisors today! Check out a sample here of what this resolution looks like.
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!
Why 2026 could see the end of the Farm Bill era of American agriculture policy [The Conversation]
Knowing something better in your bones [Working Class Storytelling]
Who is government for? An interview with Iowa farmer John Clayton [Corn Belt Confidential]
What's the point of a protest? [Immigration Frontlines]
The schools are failing (again) [The Education Wars]