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Stepping it up

Glasson: changes to Medicaid, collective bargaining motivated run for governor

Glasson

There are several issues Democratic candidate for governor Cathy Glasson has seen in the state over the last few years.

“I grew up in northwest Iowa, in Spencer, and then went to school at the University of Iowa, got my nursing degree and helped organize my hospital; my fellow coworkers and I formed our union,” the union leader said. “I went on to organize several other hospitals in the state so that those nurses and health care workers had a voice on the job.”

She said recent changes, such as the privatization of the state Medicaid system under former Gov. Terry Branstad and the Republican-controlled legislature’s changes to collective bargaining law in 2017 were “concerning.”

“Nobody in this state elected (former) Gov. Branstad and, now, (Gov.) Kim Reynolds, to strip away union rights from 184,000 public employees that work in our communities every single day,” Glasson said. “No one voted for this governor or this legislature to actually lower the minimum wage in several of Iowa’s largest counties that had implemented an increase in pay;

nobody voted for this governor or this legislature to privatize a Medicaid system that was efficient and provided services to the patient.”

She called herself a leader, and said she would lead the state boldly as governor.

“We need a governor who’s going to stand up to corporations and hold them accountable, and make sure that we find new opportunities for workers to join a union,” Glasson said, adding she is against the state’s “right-to-work” laws. “That’s what keeps workers and unions weak in our state, and never gets workers to be able to have good wages and benefits so that our economy thrives.”

She also advocated for “universal single-payer health care,” adding health care in Iowa is too expensive for many residents.

Green energy is another priority of Glasson’s.

“I believe that fossil fuels are the past and we need to focus on green energy and get Iowa to a 100-percent clean energy economy,” she said, adding solar and biofuel energy sources should be pursued and incentivized.

Glasson also said she supports more funding for public education in the state, as well as “common-sense gun reform.”

She is one of six Democrats running in the June 5 primary election. The winner will face Reynolds in the November general election.

For more information, visit www.cathyglasson.com/

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Contact Adam Sodders at (641) 753-6611 or asodders@timesrepublican.com

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