American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa / Of Iowa

Legislative & policy program services: (1) led successful public information campaign to persuade local government from using arpa funds to build a new and expanded juvenile detention center. (2) continued our full-time presence at the Iowa state legislature, providing advice on and advocating for pro-civil Liberties legislation, with an emphasis on fixing racial disparities in housing law. (3) established the aclu as the premier law office in the state among new legislators who were elected after redistricting. (4) advocated for the first amendment by supporting an anti-slapp (strategic lawsuit against public participation) bill. (5) advocated for lgbt rights by opposing numerous bills and amendments that would take away rights from and allow discrimination against lgbt iowans. (6) advocated for lease termination for survivors of domestic violence. (7) advocated for change in law to expand Iowa's open records law; advanced through committees in both the Iowa house of representatives and the Iowa senate. (8) advocated for racial justice reform through continuing to manage the bipartisan effort to expunge unproved eviction allegations, and allow for some completed evictions to be expunged, an issue with a significantly disparate impact on african-american women. The bill passed 95-0 through the Iowa house of representatives and is considered alive for the next legislative session. (9) continued the multi-year public education campaign during the legislative session including legislative advocacy skills trainings. Topics included how to engage your legislator, how to write a letter to the editor, legislative updates, and how the Iowa legislature works. Continued to provide legislative toolkits on citizen advocacy for aclu supporters. (10) advocated for eviction expungement legislation, and against anti-transgender legislation through messages to legislators, with 60% of state legislators receiving one or more messages from a local aclu member. (11) advocated against abortion restrictions through messages to legislators.

Public education program services: provided education and advocacy content regarding Civil Liberties and Civil rights via affiliate website and social media channels including facebook, twitter and instagram.