Iowa
Opponents of Iowa book ban law critique proposed administrative rules
DES MOINES – A handful of Iowans expressed their opposition to a state law, and its proposed administrative rules, that bans certain books from school libraries during a public hearing Wednesday.
Iowa Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds signed the law — Senate File 496 — last year that bans books with descriptions or visual depictions of any of a defined list of sex acts from school libraries. It also prohibits any instruction on gender identity or sexual orientation before seventh grade and requires school districts to notify a student’s parent if the student requests to change their name or pronouns, among other provisions.
Penalties for the law were set to take effect Jan. 1, but a federal judge temporarily blocked the most controversial portions last week after multiple groups sued state officials over the law.
Commenters on Wednesday said the proposed administrative rules did not go far enough in clarifying the intent of the legislation and would lead to far too many books being removed from school library shelves. Iowans will have another opportunity to comment on the proposed rules at 10:30 a.m Thursday at the Grimes State Office Building in Des Moines.
In his order blocking the law until litigation is settled, U.S. District Court Judge Stephen Locher called its mandates “wildly overbroad.”
“The sweeping restrictions in Senate File 496 are unlikely to satisfy the First Amendment under any standard of scrutiny and thus may not be enforced while the case is pending,” Locher wrote in the ruling.
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds and Attorney General Brenna Bird said last week they were disappointed in the ruling and vowed to continue defending the law.
“Instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation has no place in kindergarten through sixth grade classrooms,” Reynolds said. “And there should be no question that books containing sexually explicit content — as clearly defined in Iowa law — do not belong in a school library for children.”
What do the rules say?
Thomas Mayes, the Department of Education’s general counsel, noted the injunction during Wednesday’s public hearing and said “any action that the state board takes in response to this public comment is, of course, bound by any current law.” Should the law be allowed to take effect, the proposed rules would govern how schools must implement it and how the state would enforce penalties.
While the rules are mostly in line with the text of Senate File 496, they clarify that a “reference or mention of a sex act in a way that does not describe or visually depict” the act is not prohibited from school libraries.
The rules also apply only to a library that a school has direct control over, and schools with libraries that serve multiple grades must ensure that students have access only to material appropriate for their grades.
On the portion prohibiting instruction on gender and sexual orientation, the department stipulated that a “neutral statement regarding sexual orientation or gender identity” does not violate the rules.
The rules state a school board would receive a written warning on the first violation, and on the second violation, the superintendent and employees of the school could receive disciplinary action.
Commenter calls rules ‘weak and meaningless’
Five people, all opposing the law and current rules, spoke at the first of two public hearings on the proposed rules Wednesday.
Sara Hayden Parris, a member of Annie’s Foundation, a group that opposes library book restrictions, said the rules are “weak and meaningless,” and the legislation was “poorly written” and discriminatory.
She pointed to the judge’s injunction as evidence the law violates the First Amendment and said the rules do not go far enough in clarifying what is and is not allowed in school libraries.
“Even with the proposed rules, the law has a staggeringly broad scope, such that the dictionary and Iowa Code are likely prohibited books in Iowa schools,” she said. “There was no way the board could have successfully provided meaningful clarifications surrounding SF 496.”
Iowa Republicans have repeatedly defended the law as a measure to remove pornography and graphic sex from school libraries.
Republican House Speaker Pat Grassley said in a statement when the law was challenged in court that Republicans stand behind it.
“The sexualization of children in schools does not have a place in Iowa,” he said. “This is a responsible and reasonable law that I believe all Iowans could get behind if the far left and the media would stop playing politics and accurately represent what is actually in the law.”
School advocate requests stronger language
Margaret Buckton, a lobbyist for the Urban Education Network and Rural School Advocates of Iowa, said at the hearing the department should add more clarification to the rules to ensure that classic literature that does not feature graphic sex is not removed from school library shelves.
Buckton said the sex act prohibition should be altered to ban “vivid or pornographic descriptions or graphic depictions of a sex act.”
She said that would make a clearer distinction between what is and is not allowed in school libraries.
“After passage of the legislation, the education committee chairs, the leaders of the House and Senate and the governor have all stated that the legislation was intended to prohibit pornography and obscenity in school libraries,” Buckton said. “The way the bill is drafted, it prohibits anything that is short of those definitions. Or it’s vague, and we don’t know.”
After the second round of public comments Thursday, the proposed rules will go before the Legislature’s Administrative Rules Review Committee. The committee is set to meet Monday, the first day of the legislative session, to review the rules.
Iowa State football coach Jimmy Rogers assesses the Cyclones’ spring
Iowa State football coach Jimmy Rogers assesses the Cyclones’ spring
Spring commencement arrives at Iowa State this weekend, with a whole new generation of Cyclones set to get their diplomas and move on to the next things in their lives.
The options and choices will set their path for, potentially, the years and decades ahead.
Which got me thinking about the choices and circumstances of this school year that came for Iowa State athletics. There were no shortages of inflection points at which, it seems, programs and an entire athletics department pivoted to new directions.
Let’s explore.
What if Iowa State had hired Taylor Mouser as head football coach?
This seems to be the most discussed “Sliding Doors” moment for Iowa State football fans regarding head coach Matt Campbell’s departure to Penn State. And with good reason. It’s the most obvious, could have had the most immediate impact on the program and would have been largely seen as a continuation of the most successful run in school history.
Would promoting the Iowa State offensive coordinator, though, have been the right move?
If you assume a best-case scenario in which some of the star Cyclone players on offense – think Rocco Becht, Ben Brahmer, Carson Hansen, etc. – stay at Iowa State and a bulk of the coaching staff does as well, there are still likely defections that weaken the roster. Nothing like we saw back in December, but, still, there would be holes – and Campbell’s shoes – to fill by a first-time head coach taking over for a legend.
The calculation, as I see it, has to be – does the Year 1 continuity and relative stability gained by hiring Mouser provide for better long-term results than hiring Jimmy Rogers, who has the benefit of head-coaching experience?
It certainly would have made the fan base feel better back in December, but would it have positioned Iowa State to have better results in 2027 and beyond?
The roster almost certainly would have been “better” in 2026 if Iowa State retained Mouser, but would that have created a more solid foundation for the future or just delayed decay?
This “What If” becomes a lot less intricate and interesting if Rogers just wins a ton this fall and going forward.
What if Penn State had been able to hire Kalani Sitake as its football coach?
I think this is the most interesting question on the list.
By reports, Penn State was on the verge of hiring Sitake from BYU when the Cougars’ boosters – led by the Crumbl Cookie fortune – banded together to put together a financial package to keep Sitake in Provo.
What if they hadn’t, though?
Sitake goes to Penn State, and Dec. 5, 2025, is an uneventful day in Iowa State history rather than one of its most feverish.
But … what happens a few weeks later when Sherrone Moore is fired at Michigan?
Rather than plucking 66-year-old Kyle Whittingham from Utah/forced retirement, do the Wolverines try to make a Michigan Man out of an Ohioan? Does Campbell inherit the seat of Bo Schembechler?
And, for the sake of this thought exercise, if Campbell did move to Ann Arbor, does the timing of that decision change athletics director Jamie Pollard’s options and calculus about Iowa State’s opening? Is Jimmy Rogers still available? Or would he have taken a different opening or opted not to leave Pullman at that later date? Is Mouser the answer in this scenario?
Or is the Buckeye State distaste for the state Up North too much and Campbell returns for Year 11 at Iowa State?
Addy Brown on what went wrong in Iowa State’s loss to Syracuse
Iowa State’s Addy Brown talks about her team’s struggles in a loss to Syracuse in the NCAA Tournament.
What if Addy Brown doesn’t get hurt?
Iowa State women’s basketball was 14-0 on Jan. 4 when it played Baylor in Waco, and the season felt sure to realize the potential that was clear before it started with one of coach Bill Fennelly’s best rosters.
The Cyclones, though, returned home with their first loss and with Addy Brown sidelined with a back injury.
Four more losses in a row followed, and when Brown returned to the floor after six weeks, the Cyclones’ season was floundering.
They salvaged an NCAA Tournament bid, but a first-round exit gave way to a roster collapse with nine players – including Brown and superstar Audi Crooks – leaving via the transfer portal, putting Fennelly’s tenure and future under fire.
If Brown doesn’t get hurt – or just isn’t out as long – does that change the trajectory of the season? The offseason? And what the eventual end of Fennelly’s Iowa State career looks like?
What if Joshua Jefferson doesn’t roll his ankle?
The most recent “What If” I think is also the most straightforward.
If Jefferson’s ankle doesn’t roll in the early minutes of Iowa State’s first-round NCAA Tournament blowout win over Tennessee State, I think the Cyclones get a long second weekend in Chicago, but the Final Four drought probably remains intact.
Jefferson’s rebounding and offensive impact are, I think, enough to give the Cyclones the edge against Tennessee, but Michigan, the Cyclones’ would-be Elite Eight opponent, was just a juggernaut.
I’m not sure even a full-strength Iowa State team would have had more than a puncher’s chance. The Wolverines were just one of the best college basketball teams we’ve seen over the last few decades.
Iowa State columnist Travis Hines has covered the Cyclones for the Des Moines Register and Ames Tribune since 2012. Contact him at thines@amestrib.com or (515) 284-8000. Follow him on X at @TravisHines21.
One of the top Iowa high school football prospects in the state has made his college decision official.
Iowa City Regina High School senior-to-be Tate Wallace has announced he has verbally committed to the University of Minnesota in the Big Ten Conference. Wallace picked the Golden Gophers and head coach PJ Fleck over a finalists Notre Dame, Nebraska, Arizona, Arizona State and Wisconsin.
Wallace narrowed down his list of schools to six at the end of April before making his final decision.
Iowa City Regina Football Standout Tate Wallace Ranked As No. 2 Overall Prospect In Iowa High School Football
The 6-foot-2, 226-pound linebacker is considered the No. 2 overall prospect in the state of Iowa for high school football, and is the No. 21 linebacker in the Class of 2027, according to 247Sports.
In the 247Sports Composite rankings, Wallace is No. 2 in Iowa high school football, No. 29 at linebacker and No. 359 for the Class of 2027.
Along With Minnesota, Tate Wallace Currently Holds Offers From Schools Such As Arizona, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Notre Dame, Tennessee, Iowa State
Wallace currently holds 16 total offers including from the previously mentioned Minnesota, Notre Dame, Nebraska, Arizona, Arizona State, Wisconsin, Iowa State, Kansas State, Purdue, Tennessee, West Virginia, Eastern Michigan, Miami (Ohio), Toledo, UNLV, North Dakota and North Dakota State.
As a junior, Wallace registered almost 50 tackles on defense, with 29 of them being counted as solo stops. He had 18 tackles for loss, 8.5 quarterback sacks and forced two fumbles, as Iowa City Regina advanced to the state championship game of the Iowa High School Athletic Association State Football Championships.
Future Minnesota Golden Gopher Has Been Key Two-Way Starter For Regals
Wallace also hauled in 40 passes for 611 yards with 10 receiving touchdowns on offense for the Regals. As a two-way player for Iowa City Regina during his sophomore season, Wallace had 27.5 tackles, including 16 solo stops, four tackles for loss and a quarterback sack, adding 51 receptions for 752 yards and eight touchdowns.
Back in March, Wallace announced seven spring visits to Notre Dame, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Arizona, Kansas State and Arizona State. He also visited Tennessee this past fall, taking in an SEC contest with the Volunteers.
Along with his success on the football field, Wallace helped lead the Regals to the Iowa High School Athletic Association Boys State Basketball Tournament this past winter. He earned High School on SI all-state honors in the process.
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