Every four years, as Iowa readies to be the first state in the nation to vote in the presidential primary, discussions arise: How well does Iowa represent the nation?
In honor of the upcoming Caucus, POPVOX gives you a peek of the bills that moved Iowans to contact Congress in 2011. At least comparing responses from Iowans on POPVOX to nation-wide totals, it appears that throughout 2011, the messages going into Congress from Iowa were very similar to those of the nation as a whole.
Most on the Iowa list mirror the Top Ten for all of POPVOXNation:
- Iowans overwhelmingly opposed allowing robocalls to cell phones, which ranked # 1 in top bills of 2011 that caused people to contact Congress. As the first caucus state, they likely have unique insight on what it means to be the target of political campaigns trying every tactic to catch voters' attention. 100% of Iowans weighing in on POPVOX opposed H.R. 3035, the Mobile Informational Call Act (which was dropped by it's sponsor on December 17.) Ninety-nine percent nation-wide opposed the bill.
- In Iowa, as across the nation, those in favor of eliminating the prohibition of marijuana made a strong showing in support of H.R. 2306, the Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act. (90% support in Iowa, 91% nationwide.)
- Similarly, Iowans rallied to support preserving military pay in case of a government shutdown with S. 724, the Ensuring Pay for Our Military Act (93% support, compared with 95% support nationally)
- Iowans have also shown strong opposition to SOPA, H.R. 3261: the Stop Online Piracy Act (H.R. 3261), with 97% opposing, compared to 98% nationally.
- Sixty-six percent of Iowans on POPVOX supported H.R. 2, the Repeal the Job-Killing Health Care Act, slightly more than the 60% nationwide that support the bill.
- "Fair Tax" proposals got a lot of attention in Iowa: The House version, H.R. 25 has 77% support in Iowa and 80% nation-wide; while the Senate version, S. 13, has 63% support in Iowa and 80% nationwide.
- The National Right to Carry Reciprocity Act, H.R. 822, has 71% support in Iowa and 78% nationwide.
The bills that got attention in Iowa but did not register in the nationwide top 50 all included some variation on the theme of regulating ammunition or fishing tackle for lead content.
- S. 838, the Hunting, Fishing, and Recreational Shooting Protection Act.
- H.R. 1445, prohibiting EPA regulation of ammunition and fishing tackle based on lead content.
- H.R. 1443, the Outdoor Sports Protection Act.
Check out the Top 10 Bills in Iowa for 2011:
About POPVOX
POPVOX is a neutral, nonpartisan advocacy platform that meshes legislative data with individuals' personal stories and sentiment. POPVOX delivers public input to Congress in a format tailored to actionable policy decisions and empowers users to leverage their expertise and numbers.
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