The Gazette Fact Checker

With most Iowa schools scheduled to start the next academic year in less than a month, many families are trying to figure out the risk of their children contracting COVID-19. After all, the vaccines are not yet approved for kids under 12 and there is an uptick in Iowa of cases believed to be connected to the more contagious Delta variant.

U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks said July 14 on “The Evening Edit,” a show on Fox Business, that “we have known for over a year that children don’t transmit the virus.” She went on to say kids should be able to attend summer camps, play sports and go back to school without masks.

Miller-Meeks, a Republican representing Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District, made a similar statement July 12 on Twitter: “Elementary age students rarely die or are seriously ill and don’t transmit virus to adults or other children.”

The Fact Checker team checks statements made by an Iowa political candidate/officeholder or a national candidate/officeholder about Iowa, or in ads that appear in our market.

Claims must be independently verifiable.

We give statements grades from A to F based on accuracy and context.

If you spot a claim you think needs checking, email us at [email protected].

This Fact Checker was researched and written by Erin Jordan of The Gazette. The podcast episode is hosted by Erin Jordan and co-hosted by Michaela Ramm, John Steppe, and Marissa Payne. The Fact Checker podcast is produced by Stephen M. Colbert and music is Lobby Time by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3986-lobby-time/

License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Fox News’s Sean Hannity talked with Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds May 26 as part of a town hall meeting in Nashville with six Republican governors, including Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem and New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu.

Hannity praised Iowa’s response to COVID-19 outbreaks in the state’s meatpacking plants and asked Reynolds to talk about it.

“Well, first of all, my farmers and producers produce over 10 percent of the nation's food supplies,” Reynolds started.

That’s the first statement we’re going to check.

She continued by saying: “Not only did we provide the PPE, but we were able to test. Those that were positive were quarantined” and “we were able to keep our processing plants up and going and I mean, and not back up hog production for our producers.”

The Fact Checker team checks statements made by an Iowa political candidate/officeholder or a national candidate/officeholder about Iowa, or in ads that appear in our market.

Claims must be independently verifiable.

We give statements grades from A to F based on accuracy and context.

If you spot a claim you think needs checking, email us at [email protected].

This Fact Checker was researched and written by Erin Jordan of The Gazette. The episode is hosted by Erin Jordan and features The Gazette's Michaela Ramm, John Steppe, and Marissa Payne. The podcast is produced by Stephen M. Colbert and music is Lobby Time by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3986-lobby-time/

License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Some congressional Republicans are using rising gas prices to rail against President Joe Biden’s energy agenda.

Among those critics is Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, who wrote in a tweet June 3 from his @GrassleyWorks campaign account, “When Iowans pull up to fill up, they’re facing 7-year high #gas prices under the Biden administration’s failing energy prices.” The post was shared from a Casey’s General Store with a photo of Grassley standing outside of a car looking at a gas pump.

The Fact Checker team checks statements made by an Iowa political candidate/officeholder or a national candidate/officeholder about Iowa, or in ads that appear in our market.

Claims must be independently verifiable.

We give statements grades from A to F based on accuracy and context.

If you spot a claim you think needs checking, email us at [email protected].

This episode of the Fact Checker podcast was researched and written by Marissa Payne of The Gazette and co-hosted by The Gazette's Erin Jordan, John Steppe, and Marissa Payne. The Fact Checker podcast is produced by Stephen M. Colbert and the music is Lobby Time by Kevin MacLeod.

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3986-lobby-time/

License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Funding for the Iowa Department of Corrections has come under increased scrutiny since the March 23 murders of two Anamosa State Penitentiary employees.

State Auditor Rob Sand, a Democrat who told the Carroll Times Herald on May 27 he is considering a run for governor in 2022, is among the critics of Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds over prison funding.

“Dozens of correctional officers sent to hospital over the last 5 years due to assault on the job: $0,” Sand tweeted May 28. He then said, “A few threats & some protestors on the Governor’s lawn: $400,000,” with a link to a KCRG-TV story about the state paying $400,000 for a fence around the Terrace Hill mansion where the governor resides.

Sand later tweeted May 28 the $0 figure “is focused on years of violence leading up to now that saw no action.”

“No one would read this tweet and think I was saying DOC doesn’t exist or is costless,” Sand said in a third tweet on May 28. “I’m saying the violence saw no meaningful response.”

The Fact Checker team checks statements made by an Iowa political candidate/officeholder or a national candidate/officeholder about Iowa, or in ads that appear in our market.

Claims must be independently verifiable.

We give statements grades from A to F based on accuracy and context.

If you spot a claim you think needs checking, email us at [email protected].

This episode of the Fact Checker podcast was researched and written by John Steppe of The Gazette and is co-hosted by The Gazette's Erin Jordan, Michaela Ramm, and Marissa Payne. The Fact Check podcast is produced by Stephen M. Colbert and music is Lobby Time by Kevin MacLeod.

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3986-lobby-time/

License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson, a Marion Republican representing Iowa’s 1st Congressional District, has had several recent tweets about security at the U.S. border with Mexico.

A May 10 fundraising video on Twitter includes a half-dozen sound-bites from Hinson, all about border security. In one, Hinson says “Why haven’t you been to the border, President Biden? Why hasn’t Vice President Harris been to the border?”

Although Hinson represents a state not on the U.S. border, she said in the video montage she cares because of drugs coming from Mexico to Iowa.

“They’re (drug cartels) sending their dangerous drugs, fentanyl, up into states like mine, to Iowa,” she said.

The Fact Checker is checking whether President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have visited the U.S. border region since Biden came into office Jan. 20. We’ll also dig into whether there’s been an increase in drugs coming into the United States from Mexico in recent months. 

The Fact Checker team checks statements made by an Iowa political candidate/officeholder or a national candidate/officeholder about Iowa, or in ads that appear in our market.

Claims must be independently verifiable.

We give statements grades from A to F based on accuracy and context.

If you spot a claim you think needs checking, email us at [email protected].

This Fact Checker was researched and written by Erin Jordan of The Gazette. This episode is hosted by Erin Jordan and features The Gazette's Michaela Ramm, John Steppe, and Marissa Payne. The Fact Checker Podcast is produced by Stephen M. Colbert and the music is Lobby Time by Kevin MacLeod.

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3986-lobby-time/

License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Statehouse Democrats have made a business case for recruiting and retaining a diverse population to fill Iowa’s labor shortage in a push against GOP legislation regulating diversity training at schools and government entities.

Sen. Sarah Trone Garriott, D-Windsor Heights, during April 28 debate in the Senate over House File 802, emphasized diversity as being key to Iowa’s success and its ability to keep talented workers.

The bill would ban from mandatory training in the schools or governments the mention of certain topics, such as teaching that the United States or Iowa is fundamentally or systemically racist or sexist and that individuals are inherently oppressive based on their race or sex. It also states that such training should not make anyone "feel discomfort, guilt, anguish or any other form of psychological distress" because of race or sex.

It awaits Gov. Kim Reynolds’ signature to become law.

Trone Garriott, a first-term state senator in the minority party, said, “In Iowa, net overall migration in 2020 was negative. We lost 2,348 folks who left this state. We rank 45th among states in ethnic diversity.”

The Fact Checker team checks statements made by an Iowa political candidate/officeholder or a national candidate/officeholder about Iowa, or in ads that appear in our market.

Claims must be independently verifiable.

We give statements grades from A to F based on accuracy and context.

If you spot a claim you think needs checking, email us at [email protected].

This Fact Checker was researched and written by Marissa Payne of The Gazette. This episode is hosted by Marissa Payne and features The Gazette's Erin Jordan, John Steppe, and Michaela Ramm.

The Fact Checker Podcast is produced by Stephen M. Colbert and the music is Lobby Time by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3986-lobby-time/

License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

The Green New Deal was proposed by Democrats as a way to tackle climate change by achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions, but their opponents across the aisle have not been wholly supportive of the congressional resolution.

Many Republicans — and now the governor of Iowa — have labeled the proposal as damaging to the U.S. economy. 

In an April 23 tweet, Gov. Kim Reynolds stated “the Green New Deal would destroy Iowa’s economy and our way of life.”

The Fact Checker team checks statements made by an Iowa political candidate/officeholder or a national candidate/officeholder about Iowa, or in ads that appear in our market.

Claims must be independently verifiable.

We give statements grades from A to F based on accuracy and context.

If you spot a claim you think needs checking, email us at [email protected].

This Fact Checker was researched and written by Michaela Ramm of The Gazette. The podcast is hosted by Michaela and co-hosted by The Gazette's Erin Jordan, John Steppen, and Marissa Payne.

The podcast is produced by Stephen Colbert and the music is Lobby Time by Kevin MacLeod.

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3986-lobby-time/

License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

As Democratic President Joe Biden signs many executive orders in his first few months in office, many Republicans have rebuked him for issuing the presidential orders instead of relying on Congressional actions. That includes Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, who was critical of Biden’s April 7 order on gun control measures.

The Fact Checker team checks statements made by an Iowa political candidate/officeholder or a national candidate/officeholder about Iowa, or in ads that appear in our market.

Claims must be independently verifiable.

We give statements grades from A to F based on accuracy and context.

If you spot a claim you think needs checking, email us at [email protected].

This Fact Checker was researched and written by John Steppe of The Gazette. The episode is hosted by John Steppe and features The Gazette's Erin Jordan, Micheala Rammn, and Marissa Payne. Music is Lobby Time by Kevin MacLeod.

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3986-lobby-time/

License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

After the March 23 murders of a correctional officer and a nurse at the Anamosa State Penitentiary, AFSCME Council 61, the union that represents many prison workers, has criticized the state for understaffing at its prisons.

Criteria

The Fact Checker team checks statements made by an Iowa political candidate/officeholder or a national candidate/officeholder about Iowa, or in ads that appear in our market.

We give statements grades from A to F based on accuracy and context.

If you spot a claim you think needs checking, email us at [email protected].

This Fact Checker was researched and written by Erin Jordan of The Gazette and features Michaela Ramm, John Steppe, and Marissa Payne

More than 1 million COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in Iowa, but as the rollout continues some may be hesitant to take the shot.

State senators have advanced a bill that would bar Iowa businesses from requiring their employees to get vaccinated against the disease. The Iowa Senate Human Resources Committee approved the legislation and it was introduced to the full Senate on March 4 as Senate File 555.

It was during that committee meeting that one Republican, Sen. Jim Carlin of Sioux City, raised concerns about the risk of these shots.

The Fact Checker is checking three claims made by Carlin during that discussion. Carlin, who has announced he’ll run for the U.S. Senate seat now held by fellow Republican Chuck Grassley, did not respond to the Fact Checker’s request for his sourcing.