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Jan. 20, 2022Des Moines, Iowa |  By: AP

Groups ask Iowa Senate leaders to give reporters more access

iowa capitol

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - Free press advocates pushed Iowa Senate leaders to change a policy that  removed reporters from the Senate floor for the first time in more than 100 years and moved them to a second-floor public gallery where they can't interact with lawmakers.

League of Women Voters of Iowa President Terese Grant on Wednesday said that limiting the access of reporters to senators also limits the fundamental right of the citizens of Iowa to have firsthand knowledge of the governmental process.

The organization and others, including the Interfaith Alliance of Iowa and the Iowa Capitol Press Association, held the press conference to highlight action by Republican Senate leaders to remove reporters from the chamber's floor, where they had greater access to legislators.