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John Pemble

Reporter

John Pemble is a reporter for Iowa Public Radio and host of the Iowa legislative podcast Under the Golden Dome.

He produces many live events for News and Talk and records music performances for IPR Classical and Studio One. During the leadup to the 2020 Iowa caucuses, John was a co-producer for the podcast Caucus Land.

John began his career at Iowa Public Radio in 1989 as a program host for jazz, classical, and contemporary instrumental music programs. For a decade he was also an adjunct professor for Iowa Central Community College’s broadcasting department. He transferred to the news department in 2008. You can contact John at jpemble@iowapublicradio.org.

  • This bill expands on current code protecting healthcare workers from being forced to participate in medical procedures involving an abortion and creates a broader protection based on religious beliefs and moral convictions. Opponents say this could be used to easily discriminate, but a senator supporting the bill says this is a matter of First Amendment rights. A bill to bring back the death penalty after nearly 60 years advances. And so does one about making gun safety material modeled after the National Rifle Association's Eddie the Eagle program available in K-12 schools.
  • This is the time of year when many department heads present their budget requests and answer questions from legislators. Property taxes were unintentionally calculated too high, but during an appropriations subcommittee the director for the Department of Revenue says it wasn’t an error and they followed the law. The presidents of the state universities present their budget request and are asked if they are spending too much money on diversity equity and inclusion programs.
  • Funding for K-12 public schools will be $107 million more than last year, the same amount private schools are estimated to get for new state funded scholarships. Democrats say public school funding should have a larger increase to match tax cuts and new funding private schools will receive. And there’s a bill that limits the amount awarded in medical malpractice cases. Iowa doesn’t have a cap on the amount a jury can award in a medical malpractice suit, and advocates of the bill say that’s hurting the healthcare workforce. Some states have ruled caps are unconstitutional.
  • Bills limiting discussion of gender and personal pronouns in schools that differ from a student’s biological gender listed on their birth certificate are advancing. A House proposal requires parents to be notified if public school staff hear a student is suggesting they are going to change their gender or pronoun. Supporters say parental notification should be mandatory but opponents have concerns this proposal will stop a student from having a safe space to talk about this potentially sensitive issue. Late last year it was quietly discovered property taxes would unintentionally rise higher due to an unforeseen result of various tax law changes. But that information only recently became widely known early this year as cities and counties are finishing their budgets. If a new Senate proposal becomes law, local governments will not have enough revenue to fill their new budgets.
  • A proposal allocating more public money to private schools has its day in both chambers. Gov. Kim Reynolds is placing a high priority on a bill that provides more state funding for students to attend private schools. Democrats say the plan has the potential to hurt public schools and that private schools can reject potential new students. But Republicans say public education is a one size fits all approach and families should have the option to have state funding to send their children to a private school.
  • Minnette Doderer began her three and a half decades of public service as a legislator in the mid 1960s. She also ran twice for lieutenant governor. In the 1970s and 1980s, she spoke with reporters in eastern Iowa. These rare recordings were recently found in Iowa Public Radio’s storage and used in the 2022 podcast series From the Archives. This Under the Golden Dome episode features an episode from that series. Doderer discusses many topics including public money funding private schools, abortion, and how women politicians in the 20th century were often unfairly treated.
  • A new Iowa General Assembly begins with more new members of the majority party in both chambers. In the Senate, there is now a Republican supermajority and a new Senate president, Sen. Amy Sinclair. Republican and Democratic leaders give their opening day speeches with the majority party supporting a proposal allocating public money to education savings accounts to pay for private school education. Gov. Kim Reynolds formally presents this spending proposal during her Condition of the State. She also boasts about Republican-controlled legislative achievements over the past six years.
  • The final episode of this eight part series features remarks from Iowa politician Minnette Doderer on two seperate occasions: once in 1970 and the other in 1982. In both instances she is forthright with reporters about how women, particularly political candidates, don’t receive the same news coverage as men.
  • A conversation on beekeeping and an excerpt from the latest episode of IPR's From the Archives.
  • In the 1970s, Congress passed the Equal Rights Amendment. Debates about the merits of the amendment raged across the country, including one in Iowa City in 1979. Phyllis Schlafly, the leader of the Stop ERA movement, debated the issue with Karen DeCrow, the former president of the National Organization for Women.