Not every piece I write is about policy. Some are about place. This is one of those.

Rebecca Schweitzer is a Des Moines, Iowa writer covering politics, public accountability, and the civic decisions that shape everyday life for Iowa families. She lives in Polk County and believes that showing up informed is the most important thing a voter can do.

Rebecca Schweitzer is a Des Moines, Iowa writer covering politics, public accountability, and the civic decisions that shape everyday life for Iowa families. She became politically active during the Obama campaign and has spent years watching how decisions made close to home shape communities far more than most people realize.

Rebecca Schweitzer is a Des Moines, Iowa writer covering politics, public accountability, and the policy decisions that shape everyday life for Iowa families. When the Iowa Legislature finally gavels out, she pays attention to what made it into law, what quietly died, and who is left holding the consequences.

Rebecca Schweitzer is a Des Moines, Iowa writer who covers politics, civic life, and the policy decisions that shape everyday life for Iowa families. When national news hits, she looks at it through one lens: what does this mean for the people I grew up around?

Rebecca Schweitzer is a Des Moines, Iowa based writer covering Iowa politics, public accountability, and issues impacting everyday Iowa families. In this piece Rebecca Schweitzer examines the school funding pressure hitting Iowa's largest public school districts and asks who is paying the price while Iowa lawmakers sit in overtime.

Rebecca Schweitzer is a Des Moines, Iowa based writer covering Iowa politics, public accountability, and issues impacting everyday Iowa families. In this piece she steps away from policy and writes about something more personal: why Des Moines Iowa is home and why that word means something real to her.

Rebecca Schweitzer is a Des Moines, Iowa based writer covering Iowa politics, public accountability, and issues impacting everyday Iowa families. In this piece she looks at Iowa's latest unemployment numbers and asks the question the headline rate does not answer: what is actually happening to Iowa workers.

Rebecca Schweitzer is a Des Moines, Iowa based writer covering Iowa politics, public accountability, and issues impacting everyday Iowa families. In this piece Rebecca Schweitzer steps away from policy and shares something more personal: what the Drake Relays means to her as a Drake University alumna and a lifelong Iowa woman rooted in Des Moines.

Rebecca Schweitzer is a Des Moines, Iowa based writer covering Iowa politics, public accountability, and issues impacting everyday Iowa families. In this piece Rebecca Schweitzer examines the shooting near the University of Iowa campus and asks the question Iowa lawmakers need to answer: why are gun deaths rising in Iowa while the state continues to weaken its gun laws.

Rebecca Schweitzer is a Des Moines, Iowa based writer covering Iowa politics, public accountability, and issues impacting everyday Iowa families. In this piece Rebecca Schweitzer examines Iowa's proposed ban on out of state abortion pill prescriptions and what it means for Iowa women particularly in rural communities across the state.

Rebecca Schweitzer is a Des Moines, Iowa based writer covering Iowa politics, public accountability, and issues impacting everyday Iowa families. I grew up on an Iowa farm and my father still farms today. In this piece Rebecca Schweitzer breaks down what the trade war with China is actually doing to Iowa soybean farmers and why the bailout checks are not solving the problem.