New Voters Project 2008
In 2008 over 2 million more young people voted than in 2004. In Iowa youth voter turn out increased across the state. The week before the voter registration deadline students working with Iowa PIRG's New Voters Project helped register almost 2000 students at Iowa State University and the University of Iowa. In the days leading up to the election students made more than 20,000 get-out-the-vote contacts, reminding students to vote and answering any questions they had on where to vote.

To kick off the campaign Michael M. Mauro, Iowa Secretary of State, spoke at a statewide press conference. Secretary Mauro also endorsed New Voters Project in the spring of 2008.

New Voters Project in the news:
Mid-Iowa News
Iowa State Daily

Rock The Caucus
Youth voter turnout during the Iowa Caucus nearly tripled. Students working with Iowa PIRG Rock the Caucus identified 250 “Rock Stars” who would each recruit 20 of their peers to caucus. Iowa PIRG students worked to engage young people by organizing education house parties in the days leading up to the caucus. Students also organized several parties at the polls to turn them out the day of the caucus.

Rock the Caucus in the news:
NPR

What’s Your Plan?
During the caucus season in Iowa students working on the What’s Your Plan? campaign met and engaged every candidate on issues young people care about. Students from across the state trailed candidates from small town hall meetings to rallies at the capital. Students asked the candidates more than 20 times what their plan was to stop global warming and make college more affordable.

Students spoke to Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, Barack Obama, Bill Richardson, Rudy Giuliani and John McCain. At one of our last events of the caucus season, Senator Joe Biden and now Vice President-elect, officially endorsed Iowa PIRG's What’s Your Plan? campaign.

Check out a video from Washington Post online on the work students did with WYP?

Powershift 2007
Students working with Iowa PIRG helped organize for Powershift 2007, the nation’s first youth global warming summit in Washington D.C. Almost 50 students from four different universities came together to fundraise and recruit fellow students to attend. The summit was a four day event of workshops on global warming activism and culminated in students lobbying their federal representatives on global warming issues on the last day.

After returning from Powershift 2007 students at Iowa State University hosted the Climate and Energy Solutions Fair on campus, which highlighted sustainable energy solutions.  

Powershift 2007 in the news:
Iowa State Daily

Step It Up 2007
Students also rallied and helped organizer a local event, Step it Up 2007, to draw attention the need for politicians to start taking action to reduce our global warming pollution.

Step It Up 2007 in the news:
Mid Iowa News

In the Spring of 2007, following an increase in youth voter turnout in Blackhawk County - home of the University of Northern Iowa - Iowa PIRG students invited recently elected Congressman Bruce Braley to campus. Congressman Braley spoke to students about his plan to stop global warming and announced he would sponsor the Safe Climate Act.

Higher Education
In May 2009, Congress passed strong legislation, called the “Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure (CARD) Act” that will halt the most egregious abuses by the credit card industry. The CARD bill eliminates a lot of unfair practices, including: excessive and growing penalty fees, unfair billing practices, and unjustified and retroactive interest charges. It also restricts and requires greater transparency for marketing targeted exclusively at college campuses or consumers under the age of 21. Despite the credit card industry's lobbying to defeat or gut the bill, the Senate and the House both passed the bill with overwhelming, bi-partisan majorities.

In February 2009, The Student PIRGs helped convince Congress to include several key measures in the economic stimulus package.  The final package included a $17 billion increase in Pell grant funding, more work-study aid, and bigger tax credits for low-income students and their families.  The bill also included critical funding for programs that will create jobs and protect the environment, including $16 billion for public transit and $78 billion for clean energy and green infrastructure.

Iowa PIRG worked with a national coalition to convince the U.S. House of Representatives to pass HR 5, which would cut in half the interest rate on student loans. The bill passed with overwhelming bipartisan support, by a vote of 356 to 71. The bill would lower interest rates over five years on subsidized Stafford student loans, which are used overwhelmingly by students from low- and middle-income families. This would save the average low or middle-income borrower starting school in 2007 $2,300 in debt.

New Voters Project 2006
During the midterm election in 2006 students working with the New Voters Project registered thousands of students and made thousands of get-out-the-vote contacts leading up to the election. In all three counties where we ran voter registration or get out the vote drives youth voter turnout increased.

New Voters Project 2004
Iowa PIRG's New Voters Project worked to mobilize young voters across the state:

• Working in coalition with student governments and other student organizations, we registered over 37,000 new voters in Iowa.
• The project received the endorsement of numerous officials, including Governor Tom Vilsack, University of Iowa President David Skorton, and Iowa State University President Gregory Geoffrey.
• We successfully petitioned the Iowa Secretary of State's office to bring polling stations to college and university campuses across the state. At Iowa State University, we also arranged for three "early voting days" on campus.
• Following the election, it was found that voter turnout among 18-24-year olds rose an average of 76% in four counties where the we focused our efforts.