Deciding Iowa

If you care about Iowa schools, this episode is worth your time. From classroom learning to school funding, Deciding Iowa takes a closer look at decisions already underway and what’s quietly (or not so quietly) changing in our schools. Watch Season 2, Episode 7 and decide for yourself what deserves more attention. 🎥👇 #DecidingIowa #IowaEducation #StayInformed

🚨 Deciding Iowa Priorities: Lightning Round 🚨 💧 Shawn’s top legislative priority? Water. Because without clean, safe water, we don’t have anything.  Our health, our land, and our future depend on how we protect it. This is the first in our Deciding Iowa Priorities short-form video series—quick insights between full episodes on what matters most now and for Iowa's future. 🎥 Watch this clip...

Iowa lawmakers say one of their top priorities is keeping Iowa “safe.” But what does that actually mean and at what cost? In Episode 6 of Deciding Iowa, Shawn and Emily take a closer look at the proposed three-strikes sentencing bill, including: • What three-strikes laws were designed to do • What history tells us about their real impact • Iowa’s already-low violent crime rate • Overcrowded prison...

This matters, Iowa. The Iowa House and Senate are playing procedural games with eminent domain and the carbon pipeline and landowners are caught in the middle. What just happened today with House File 2041 should raise serious questions about transparency, due process, and whose voices are being heard. Watch this update from Deciding Iowa to understand what’s unfolding and why paying attention rig...

UPDATE: The subcommittee meeting has been canceled. Stay tuned for updates yet keep up the pressure! ______________ We want to take a moment to reflect on what’s happening to our neighbors in Minnesota. This moment calls for honest reflection and sincere grief for the lives lost and the communities affected. It is not acceptable for any federal agent or law enforcement officer to act outside of co...

This week, Shawn and Emily dig into what’s really surfacing at the Statehouse:  Bills impacting public education  Free speech & litigation concerns  Cancer research funding (some good news!)  Health, privacy, and protections for kids  Reproductive freedom & public health priorities Not all bills are created equal and some raise serious questions about where Iowa is headed.  Watch, listen,...

This week on Deciding Iowa, Shawn and Emily dig into what’s happening at the Iowa Legislature and what’s not being talked about. They cover:  The Governor’s Condition of the State address and the issues missing from the conversation  The growing cost of Iowa’s school voucher program and why accountability matters  Proposed changes that could eliminate elections for key county offices  A resolution...

The Iowa Legislature is back in session and so are we. This week, we’re recording the first Deciding Iowa episode of 2026. Watch for details next weekend as we break down what the Iowa House and Senate are already discussing and what we’re keeping an eye on as the session gets underway. Because Iowa’s future is built through participation - reading, listening, learning, and staying actively connec...

Part 6 — The Cost of Clean Water: Prevention, Accountability, and Health In the final episode of our six-part water series, Dr. Shawn Ellerbroek (cancer scientist, biochemist, professor, and Iowa House District 57 candidate) and Dr. Emily Boevers (OB-GYN, mother of three, and health advocate) step back to connect the dots: we can either pay to keep pollutants out of our water—or pay far more to re...

In the fourth part of Deciding Iowa’s six-part series on water, Dr. Shawn Ellerbroek and Dr. Emily Boevers turn their attention to the backbone of Iowa agriculture: row crops. Joined by Dr. Matt Helmers, they explore the challenges of an “annual cropping system” that leaks nutrients into our waterways, even when best practices are followed. The conversation digs into: Why corn and soybeans dominat...

In this third episode of our six-part Deciding Iowa series on water, Dr. Shawn Ellerbroek and Dr. Emily Boevers explore one of the most pressing and complex challenges facing Iowa’s waterways: manure management and nonpoint source contamination. Iowa is home to the highest concentration of concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) in the world. With more than 4,000 CAFOs across the state, que...

In this second episode of our six-part Deciding Iowa series on water, hosts Dr. Shawn Ellerbroek and Dr. Emily Boevers dig into Iowa’s drinking water: where it comes from, how much we have, and the challenges in protecting it. Recent headlines have spotlighted rising nitrate levels in Iowa’s rivers, putting stress on water treatment facilities and raising concerns for public health. To unpack the...

Nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus are flowing into Iowa’s waterways at alarming levels, fueling pollution and long-term risks for our health, economy, and environment. In this episode, Shawn and Emily sit down with Dr. Matt Helmers, Director of the Iowa Nutrient Research Center and Dean's Professor in the College of Ag and Life Sciences, and Professor at Iowa State University to unpack w...