BURLINGTON, Iowa (KCRG) – Another heatwave is here, but not everyone in Iowa has access to adequate cooling in their homes. An i9 investigation reveals that, in Iowa, there are no laws requiring that access.

Kody Hardin is a renter in Burlington who lives with his girlfriend and their 4-month-son.

Hardin’s home is modified with the family’s efforts to keep cool. Curtains block off the western part of the house where the afternoon sun hits hardest. In the bedroom, a box fan sits in a laundry hamper, which is placed right in front of a window unit air conditioner. The jerry-rigged set up is the main cooling system in the part of the house that Hardin rents.

“I spent time in the service. I know what hot is. I’ve been in hot temps. But this isn’t something we want to live in everyday,” said Hardin.

On the day TV9 visited Hardin and his son Khyler, the thermostat in the living room read 79 degrees. Hardin said, in heat waves, it can get even hotter.

“It’s 80 degrees in here, sometimes its 90 degrees in here.”

During the summer, Hardin says he, his son, and girlfriend basically live in the bedroom trying to stay cool. Getting better air conditioning would mean costly upgrades from his landlord.

“I’ve reached out to the landlords and the maintenance guy before in regards to maybe getting some central air put in or something just better in general,” said Hardin.

TV9 reached out to Hardin’s landlord, but we have not yet received a comment.

Air conditioning is expensive to install and maintain, and it’s also not a right for renters.

“In Iowa, landlords aren’t required to provide air conditioning,” said Patrick Bigsby, a staff attorney with Iowa Legal Aid. Bigsby said the law only stipulated that if landlords do provide air conditioning, they maintain it in good and safe working order.

That’s in contrast to winter, when Iowa landlords are required to maintain adequate heating systems, deemed just as essential as running water.

“We worry historically more about keeping people warm in winter. We have policies to do that. We haven’t invoked policies like that for extreme heat. We need to do so,” said Peter Thorne, a professor in the department of Occupational and Environmental Health at the University of Iowa.

With climate change, Iowa State scientists say the state’s average temperature is up about 1.5 degrees in the last 15 years. That means we’ve had hotter summers and more heat waves.

“Unusually hot summers are becoming more common,” said Thorne.

That’s why Thorne said access to adequate cooling is becoming a public health crisis.

“Heat and extreme heat is basically the biggest killer of people in terms of weather-related disasters,” he said.

The U.S. has already seen the impact of dangerous heat. At least 16 people died of heat-related issues during a heat wave this month in Oregon, a state not used to extreme heat.

Some states like Arizona have made it a law: air conditioning is an essential service that landlords must provide to tenants.

A similar law in Iowa would benefit people like Hardin, who knows he won’t see relief until fall.

“We really don’t know what to do. Just waiting for a miracle,” said Hardin.

Copyright 2024 KCRG. All rights reserved.

DES MOINES, Iowa (Gray Television Iowa Capitol Bureau) – With Iowa’s abortion law now in effect, it could become an issue that drives voter turnout in November.

The law bans abortion once cardiac activity is detected, which is usually around six weeks of pregnancy. Doctors say that’s before most patients know they’re pregnant. The law does have limited exceptions for rape, incest, fetal abnormality, and when the life of the mother is in danger.

Abortion itself won’t be on the ballot in November because Iowa doesn’t allow citizen-led ballot initiatives. Any changes would have to come from the legislature.

Democrats are already making this election about abortion.

At the Iowa Democratic Party’s Liberty & Justice Celebration Saturday, House Minority Leader Jennifer Konfrst said, “Iowans are fed up. They’re furious about this abortion ban, and we’re going to make ‘em pay. That’s exactly what we’re going to do.”

Konfrst says they’re starting an awareness campaign to tell voters that the law is in effect and which Republicans voted for it. “We’ve had times when we’ve been saved by the courts before. That didn’t happen this time. Iowans need to know and Iowans need to know if they feel helpless, if they feel like they want to do something about this, their best opportunity to do so is at the ballot box in 99 days,” Konfrst said.

Iowa State University Political Science Professor Dave Peterson says framing elections around abortion rights generally helps Democrats. “The record post-Dobbs has been that when an election gets framed to be about abortion – either abortion is specifically on the ballot or that’s what the candidates have chosen to focus on and what voters are thinking about. That’s good for Democrats,” Peterson said.

Though, Peterson says Iowa Democrats will have a harder time since abortion itself isn’t on the ballot.

In a social media post Monday, presumptive Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris blamed Iowa’s law on former President Donald Trump. “What we need to do is vote ‘cause I’m going to tell you something, when I’m President of the United States, I will sign in to law the protections for reproductive freedom,” Harris said.

Peterson says Harris making abortion a central part of her campaign will keep the issue top of mind for voters, which can trickle down to state legislature races. ”So by Harris campaigning on abortion, again, when people are going in to the voting booth, that’s likely to be, or more likely to be one of the preeminent issues they’re thinking about. Again, we are several, or 100 days or so out, and so lots of things can change,” Peterson said.

Peterson says Republicans don’t perform as well when elections are framed around abortion and likely won’t talk about it much. He says their best strategy is to talk about immigration, inflation or “basically anything else.”

We reached out to Republican lawmakers for interviews to see how they’re planning to talk about abortion on their campaigns.

In a statement, Iowa House Speaker Pat Grassley says Republicans will build on work they’ve done to expand access to affordable childcare, expanding postpartum Medicaid coverage, and improving the foster care and adoption system.

“The Legislature is elected by the people, and for too long, the courts have stood in the way of Iowans having their voices heard on this matter. We are a pro-life and pro-family state. In Iowa, we respect both the life of the unborn child and the life of the mother. While the out-of-touch Iowa Democrats fight for abortion up until the day of birth, we will continue to fight for common sense policies that promote and protect life. We will continue to promote strong families in all that we do in the Iowa House. We must build on the work we’ve already done to expand access to affordable child care, extend postpartum coverage on Medicaid, and improve our foster care and adoption systems,” Grassley said.

Iowa Senate President Amy Sinclair said many Iowans have waited for this day to come.

“The Iowa Senate, House of Representatives, and Governor Reynolds have consistently supported the protection of life at the sound of a heartbeat. This commonsense law recognizes important exceptions for rape, incest, and the life of the mother. Today, the support for protection of life becomes a reality. Lives will be saved starting today. Many Iowans have voted, volunteered, and prayed to see this day finally happen,” Sinclair said.

A constitutional amendment protecting abortion rights could be placed on the ballot at some point in the future. A constitutional amendment would have to pass two General Assemblies first. This is unlikely to happen in the near future given the Republican supermajorities in both chambers.

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Conner Hendricks covers state government and politics for Gray Television-owned stations in Iowa. Email him at conner.hendricks@gray.tv; and follow him on Facebook at Conner Hendricks TV or on X/Twitter @ConnerReports.

Copyright 2024 KCRG. All rights reserved.

Two Iowa parents told relatives watching their children to keep their 4-year-old developmentally disabled son in a makeshift cage — and cops later found the boy outside the home covered in human and animal feces, authorities say.

Dustin Carl Lee Perry and Lindsey Barbara Marie Hamilton, both 26, were arrested Thursday after the little boy was found covered in filth outside the family’s home in Hamburg, a city just north of Missouri, the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office said in a press release.

The boy and a second child found in the home were taken to a nearby hospital for evaluation, police said.

Perry and Hamilton allegedly left the children in the care of relatives “with the direction to keep the 4-year-old in a makeshift cage,” according to the release.

Two makeshift cages were found inside the home, including one built from a “pack and play, a baby gate roof, and zip ties,” police said.

One of the cages was found inside a walk-in closet, police added.

The horrific conditions were uncovered when the 4-year-old escaped his makeshift pen without waking others in the home and got outside and was found by police, officials said.

Perry and Hamilton were arrested and charged with neglect and child endangerment.

Several children were removed from the home by the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services, according to the release.

The parents are being held in jail without bond while awaiting their first appearance before a judge.