The weekend is upon us and so is the month of July. Unfortunately, the first day of July also means a new fiscal year in Iowa and new laws taking effect. Republicans spent the past legislative session pushing Corporate Kim Reynolds' harmful agenda and passing bills that attack working families and marginalized communities.

We're breaking down the top five bad bills the Reynolds Administration passed that go into effect this weekend:

1. FLAT ISN'T FAIR : Gov. Reynolds signed her unfair flat tax plan into law back in March. The plan gives Iowa's highest earners (and wealthy corporations) a massive tax cut, while potentially increasing taxes on the poorest in our state. We know this plan rewards wealth, not work and will do nothing to address the Reynolds Workforce Crisis.

2. SLASHING EARNED BENEFITS: Iowa Republicans also passed legislation that slashes unemployment benefits from 26 to 16 weeks. This bill will only further hurt workers who have been laid off, by forcing Iowans into jobs that don't pay enough and make Iowa a more unwelcoming state.

3. DISCRIMINATION CAMPAIGN: Gov. Reynolds and the Iowa GOP made discriminating against trans children a top priority this session, passing a law that bans transgender children from playing sports with their friends. Instead of attacking children, Iowa Republicans could have spent that time actually addressing issues our state is facing.

4. UNDERFUNDING EDUCATION: While Iowa Republicans were passing massive tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy, they also signed off on an insufficient funding increase of just 2.5% for our public schools. This amount doesn't even attempt to keep up with inflation and will force certain schools to make cuts. When will the Iowa GOP finally put kids over corporations?

5. UNSAFE CHILD CARE CONDITIONS: In an effort to address Iowa's child care shortage, Republicans passed two band-aid solutions that actually loosen child care regulations. Allowing teens to watch kids unsupervised and increasing the number of children child care center staff can watch at a time actually makes Iowa kids less safe.

DISHONORABLE MENTIONS: Allowing law enforcement to search and seize garbage placed outside the home, going against an Iowa Supreme Court ruling; changes to Iowa's judicial selection process, allowing Governor Reynolds to stack the Court as she sees fit; making the penalties for manufacturing, possessing, or delivering heroin the same as methamphetamine, perpetuating a racist war on drugs; making public schools less safe by preventing K-12 public or charter schools from performing health screenings on students without written permission from a parent or guardian; banning COVID-19 vaccine requirements at educational institutions; and changes to the state's bottle bill that favor corporate greed, not the need to recycle.

Want to hear more from our team? You can go to our online news blog, Potluck, to hear from Iowans and leaders around the state.

Want to help progressive messaging and policy in the state of Iowa? Sign up at ProgressIowa.org to volunteer, donate, and hear more from our team!

Thanks for reading, and we'll get back with you next week for another High Five!

- The Progress Iowa Team

Public link

Please use the above public link if you want to share this noodl on another website.