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Pass the EPIC Act (HR 1492)

Dear editor, Congress should pass the bipartisan Ensuring Pathways to Innovative Cures (EPIC) Act (HR 1492) and help fix a glaring flaw of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), creating new access issues for patients and undermining the development of innovative treatments and cures. I hope our leaders in Washington will help support and pass the EPIC Act without delay and focus on better ways to protect patients from high prescription and medical costs. The IRA enforces price-setting policies on medications that come in the most recognizable, convenient, and cost-effective form of ...

Medicaid cuts

I am very concerned about cuts to Medicaid proposed in the U.S.House Budget Resolution. I have a personal interest because I have family members who receive Medicaid to cover their health care. Many of you may also be affected by the proposed cuts. Perhaps you, yourself receive benefits or maybe you have a child, other family member, or a friend who receives Medicaid benefits. Most of the recipients work or want to work, but simply can not earn enough to cover the high costs of healthcare. The cost of child care prohibits some from working, people with mental health issues keep them ...

Iowans of *all* political stripes need libraries, and libraries need funded

Rep. Dean Fisher’s latest assault on Iowa’s libraries isn’t about protecting taxpayers or children — it’s about silencing viewpoints he dislikes and keeping voters scared, uninformed, and easy to control. His support for House File 880 is nothing more than a paranoid attempt to punish libraries for existing outside his narrow ideology. Fisher claims the Iowa Library Association (ILA) and the American Library Association (ALA) have been “taken over” by Democrats, as if ensuring access to books is some radical agenda. In reality, these organizations help libraries provide ...

Thank you for St. Patrick’s Day support

The Marshalltown American Legion Auxiliary would like to thank the following for their generous donations for the recent St. Patrick’s Day Annual Card Party fundraiser. The money raised will be used to benefit Veterans and their needs in Marshall County: 3rd Generation Upholstery, 19 Spa and Salon, Advanced Auto, American Legion Memorial Pro Shop, American Legion Lounge, Anderson Family Funeral Home, Applebee’s, aSpaAtions, Black Tire Bike, Browns Shoe Supply, Brit Marie, Chef King, Cindy Mayer & Lyle, Create a Keepsake, Consumers Energy, Dawn Townsend, Deb Miller, DQ Center St., ...

Corporations destroy our land

On Thursday 3/20, Ethan Crow wrote in celebration of National Ag Week looking for encouragement to continue as a farmer who is a good steward of the land. The destructive elephants on the land, however, are the corporations that pollute the waterways and get away with it. Farmers like Ethan Crow work hard to keep from polluting while they see the big corporations making big profits at the expense of our environment. So, it’s time we regulate the corn-soybean-CAFO system properly instead of paying lip service. That would go a long way toward controlling pollution and encouraging good ...

Iowa values

I was disappointed to see Representative Fisher's letter to the editor using fear to criticize his constituents who wanted to protect the funding of local libraries. The bill he advocates for wants to bully local libraries into dropping membership in the American Library Association and the Iowa Library Association by cutting off their funding if they pay dues to those organizations. I suspect they pay the dues because they believe they will gain benefits in terms of shared expertise and advocacy. I find particularly offensive his invocation of "Iowa values." The ALA's basic ...