Bishop John E. Keehner of the Diocese of Sioux City offers Communion to his brother Rich, at the ordination Mass. Photo courtesy of the Diocese of Sioux City.
Congratulations to the Most Rev. John Keehner, the newly-installed bishop of Sioux City. We welcome Bishop Keehner to the board of the Iowa Catholic Conference.
The pace of floor debate has slowed at the State Capitol as leaders negotiate the final budget numbers. House Republicans have released their “budget target” as $9.453 billion, or about $36 million over the target agreed to by the Senate and Governor Reynolds. Part of the disagreement is the House’s budget includes about $14 million in funding for para-educators. In addition, 12 Republican Senators have announced that they will not vote for a budget unless they get a vote on the “pipeline” bill that limits the use of eminent domain by private companies.
As negotiations continue we strongly encourage you, if you haven’t already, to contact legislators on these issues:
- Conscience protection for medical professionals (support)
- Enforcement-only immigration bill (oppose)
- Medicaid changes (oppose)
The Senate finished up work last week on three bills supported by the Iowa Catholic Conference and sent them to the governor:
- SF 175, requiring schools to show a video on fetal development in grades 5-12. Passed 33-16. Thanks for your contacts to legislators on this bill.
- SF 288, requires state universities and community colleges to make reasonable accommodations to mothers who are pregnant or who have recently given birth. Approved 49-0.
- HF 835, requiring schools to have at least one employee trained to administer epilepsy seizure rescue medication. The bill also sets up a state workgroup to review school personnel trainings for health issues. Passed 49-0.
Tell Congress to pass the Educational Choice for Children Act
Your help is urgently needed to pass a national school choice bill. Contact your representatives in the U.S. Congressand urge them to support including the Educational Choice for Children Act (ECCA) (H.R. 833/S. 292) in budget reconciliation. This bill is very similar to Iowa’s School Tuition Organization tax credit program but would apply in all 50 states.
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, along with many partners, are encouraging Congress to maintain the ECCA’s most important provisions: $10 billion in annual credits for individual and corporate giving and a 100% tax credit on the donation by the taxpayer
Catholic teaching clearly states parents are their child’s first teachers — and the government has a duty to help parents select the educational environment of their choice (CCC 2229).
Organizing to build a stronger rural Iowa
AMOS (A Mid-Iowa Organizing Strategy) is sponsoring a seminar on Saturday, May 31 in the Scheman Building on the campus of Iowa State University. “When a Dream Lives: Organizing to Build a Stronger Rural Iowa” will include a presentation and discussion with ISU Historian Pamela Riney-Kerberg on her book When a Dream Dies: Agriculture, Iowa, and the Farm Crisis of the 1980s.
Out of this seminar, AMOS will invite participating local congregations and community groups to join in co-organizing a 2026 statewide listening campaign to understand “what’s keeping rural, urban, and suburban Iowans up at night.” This will lead toward a large statewide convention in the fall of 2026 to act on the pressures which emerge from these conversations.
And finally,
As a part of his YouTube series, Dr. John Huynh, director of social justice for the Diocese of Des Moines and Catholic Charities, shares practical ways to live out Catholic Social Teaching.
