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Republican Governor Kim Reynolds says she signed a provision into law that would restrict publicly-funded health insurance from covering surgeries for transgender Iowans because that’s how it was before.
Republican lawmakers passed the provision in response to an Iowa Supreme Court decision pointing out Medicaid must cover transition-related surgeries under the Iowa Civil Rights Act.
Reynolds signed it into law last week.
0507reynoldshhs: 16 “The narrow provision that says that the civil rights act does not require taxpayer dollars to go to sex reassignment and other similar surgeries—that takes it back to the way it’s always been. That’s been the state’s position for a long time.”
Critics say it’s discriminatory and could be life-threatening for some transgender Iowans. A legal challenge is expected soon.
Tariffs on steel and aluminum from Canada and Mexico are standing in the way of ratifying a new trade agreement with those countries. And the trade war with China is partially responsible for the delay.
That’s according to Republican Senator Chuck Grassley who says that in a recent meeting with President Trump, he and other Senators urged him to drop the tariffs. Trump declined, Grassley says, even though he supports the agreement as an improvement over NAFTA.
0507grassley1: 15 The president said this is a terribly good deal. Well, then why wouldn’t the president want to get it passed? When you get down in the weeds with him he’s concerned about the transshipment of steel from China to Canada to the United States.
Grassley says the new, USMCA agreement would increase exports of Iowa farm products like corn, pork, and cheese.
