Platform

Real policies for real Iowans — not corporate donors, not special interests, not the status quo.

State Government
  • Balance the state budget — reconcile the budget before the state is driven into bankruptcy.
  • Restore the State Auditor’s power — return independent investigative authority so corruption can be held accountable again.
  • End big-money corruption — overturn Citizens United and get dark money out of Iowa politics.
  • Ban eminent domain abuse — stop the use of eminent domain for the CO2 pipeline.
  • Restore reproductive rights — end the abortion ban and permanently protect a woman’s right to choose.
  • Legalize marijuana — full legalization and total forgiveness of all cannabis-related criminal records.
Healthcare
  • One portal for prior authorizations — force all insurance agencies to use the same, single website for all prior authorizations.
  • Cut the paperwork — require health insurers to reduce bureaucratic burden to a maximum of 10–15 minutes per patient.
  • End referral re-ups — make it illegal for insurance companies to require specialist referrals to be renewed every 6 months. One referral should be enough.
  • Protect access to generics — unless otherwise specified by a medical professional, insurers must fill the generic without attempting to remove patients from their prescribed medications.
  • Allow treatment flexibility — let patients approved for a course of treatment pursue an alternative, medically appropriate treatment of equal or lesser value without needing another approval.
  • Safe staffing ratios — mandate safe staffing ratios in all medical facilities.
  • End Medicaid privatization — return Medicaid to public administration to serve patients, not corporate profits.
Cost of Living
  • Regulate data center construction — ban new data centers that don’t meet strict guidelines on minimum distance from homes, water and power impact, and environmental protection.
  • Ban AI surge pricing — total ban on AI-driven “surge pricing” already in use by the airline industry.
  • Pass Right to Repair — force corporations in Iowa to make repair manuals easily available for purchase and download.
  • Restore collective bargaining — full restoration of collective bargaining rights with accountability for those who stripped them away.
Property Tax
  • Address corporate farmland consolidation — farmland is taxed on productivity, but massive valuation increases from corporate and foreign ownership have blown out Iowa’s tax structure.
  • Confront foreign ownership — Bill Gates is the 3rd largest landowner in Iowa, and China — which owns Smithfield Pork — is the 5th largest. Iowans deserve to know who controls their land.
  • Fix the revenue crisis — corporate landowners won’t farm productively, so the tax burden falls on everyday homeowners. That has to change.
Environment
  • Prosecute water polluters — punish and prosecute the groups and corporations that have poisoned Iowa’s water supply.
  • Exponential fines for repeat violators — escalating fines for repeated environmental violations, beginning at 1% of the parent company’s market cap.
  • Embrace nuclear energy — recognize nuclear power as part of green, renewable energy for its extremely low CO2 output.
  • Support home solar — pass a copy of Utah’s HB 340 for small-scale home solar installations.
Education
  • Raise teacher wages — increase teacher pay above the rate of inflation.
  • Demand voucher accountability — if any voucher program continues, it must have full accountability and transparency requirements.
  • Close the inflation gap — public school funding is now 14% behind inflation. We are spending more per student, but inflation has overtaken everything.
  • Expand Pre-K — follow the lead of other states that have seen massive benefits from increased Pre-K investment.
Work & Employment
  • $18/hour minimum wage — raise the minimum wage to $18/hour and fix its rise to inflation going forward.
  • Ban sub-minimum wage — total ban on paying any worker below the minimum wage.
  • Statewide antitrust enforcement — pursue antitrust enforcement at the state level.
  • Crack down on wage theft — pursue wage theft aggressively and make examples of offending companies.
Privacy & Surveillance
  • Ban Flock ALPR cameras — prohibit automated license plate reader surveillance cameras statewide.
  • Restrict data sharing — impose strict new limits on what personal data can be collected and shared.
  • Block internet surveillance mandates — ban any requirements to enforce surveillance of internet traffic or demand logins and proof of identity to access the internet.
  • Ban forced ID uploads — statewide ban on websites requiring driver’s licenses or ID uploads as proof of personhood, unless the individual is a public figure facing risk of public slander.

Everyone deserves leaders who understand their struggles. I am a working-class candidate aiming to bring working-class voices to the table.

— Benjamin Larson