- Ashley Hinson has consistently opposed major federal and state legislation expanding worker protections, including voting against the PRO Act, the Raise the Wage Act, and a $15 minimum wage increase (Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, Telegraph Herald).
- During her time in the Iowa Legislature, Hinson voted to scale back collective bargaining rights for public employees and supported legislation that cut workers’ compensation benefits (Des Moines Register, Gazette).
- Hinson frequently cited concerns about economic impact, arguing that measures such as a $15 minimum wage would harm small businesses and describing collective bargaining reforms as beneficial for taxpayers (Globe Gazette, Iowa City Press-Citizen).
- Multiple opinion pieces and letters to the editor criticize Hinson’s voting record as anti-worker and allege that she has contributed to underfunding education and limiting county authority to improve wages and benefits (Gazette, Gazette).
- In contrast, Hinson supported bipartisan measures such as the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, citing her personal experience as a working mother (Telegraph Herald).
2021: Letter Writer Claimed Ashley Hinson Voted Against Worker Protection Legislation According to a letter to the editor published in Courier, "Hinson has voted against several pieces of legislation regarding worker protection like the PRO Act and protections for health care and social service workers." [Letter to the Editor - Courier, 8/24/21]
2021: Letter Writer Marcia Buttgen Claimed Ashley Hinson Voted Against Worker Protection Legislation According to a letter to the editor published in Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, "Hinson has voted against several pieces of legislation regarding worker protection like the PRO Act and protections for health care and social service workers." [Letter to the Editor - Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, 8/24/21]
2021: Letter Writer Marcia Buttgen Claimed Ashley Hinson Opposed Worker Protection Legislation According to a letter to the editor published in Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, "Hinson has voted against several pieces of legislation regarding worker protection like the PRO Act and protections for health care and social service workers." [Letter to the Editor - Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, 8/24/21]
2021: Letter Writer Shari Flatt Alleged Ashley Hinson Voted No on Protecting Workers' Right to Unionize According to a letter to the editor published in Gazette (Cedar Rapids, IA), "Protecting workers' right to unionize, she voted no." [Letter to the Editor - Gazette (Cedar Rapids, IA), 11/12/21]
2017: Ashley Hinson Voted To Scale Back Collective Bargaining For Public Employees In Iowa Legislature According to Iowa City Press-Citizen, "Finkenauer brought up Hinson's vote in the Republican-controlled Iowa Legislature to scale back collective bargaining for public employees. The rewrite of Iowa's decades-old bargaining law was one of the most controversial actions taken by Republicans in 2017 after they took full control of the Iowa Statehouse." [Iowa City Press-Citizen (Iowa), 9/9/20]
2017: Hinson Voted To Scale Back Collective Bargaining For Iowa Public Employees According to Des Moines Register, "Finkenauer brought up Hinson's vote in the Republican-controlled Iowa Legislature to scale back collective bargaining for public employees. [...] 'The collective bargaining bill I think was a great bill to protect Iowa taxpayers and give them a seat at the table,' Hinson said. 'It was important because it was unbalanced and it had gone in favor of labor unions.'" [Des Moines Register, 9/9/20]
2021: Letter Writer Peggy Stover Stated Ashley Hinson Opposed Raise the Wage Act According to a letter to the editor published in Telegraph Herald, "like others in her misinformed orbit, congresswoman Ashley Hinson opposes the Raise the Wage Act of 2021, claiming it will hurt the economy." [Letter to the Editor - Telegraph Herald, 2/14/21]
February 2021: Ashley Hinson Opposed $15 Minimum Wage Increase In COVID-19 Relief Package According to Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier (IA), "The federal minimum wage would increase by June 2025 to $15 per hour under the relief package. Hinson recently called the proposal 'divisive' and said she would not support the increase." [Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier (IA), 2/16/21]
2017: Sue Dinsdale and Matt Sinovic Stated Ashley Hinson Supported Cuts to Workers' Compensation Benefits According to an opinion piece by Sue Dinsdale and Matt Sinovic in Gazette (Cedar Rapids, IA), "In 2017, Rep. Hinson voted for an Iowa House bill that made cuts to workers' compensation benefits, a bill one Democratic senator called the 'wish list of corporations and insurance companies.'" [Sue Dinsdale and Matt Sinovic - Gazette (Cedar Rapids, IA), 4/15/22]
2017: Letter Writer Susan Blocker Asserted Ashley Hinson Supported Changes to Collective Bargaining Laws and Underfunded Education According to a letter to the editor published in Gazette (Cedar Rapids, IA), "Five years ago, I attended a 'listening' session held by then State Reps. Ashley Hinson and Ken Rizer. The room was packed with constituents concerned about Republican efforts to gut bipartisan collective bargaining laws for teachers and to once again underfund education in Iowa." [Letter to the Editor - Gazette (Cedar Rapids, IA), 9/13/22]
Ashley Hinson Voted for Bills Limiting Worker Protections According to an opinion piece by Todd Dorman in Gazette, "There's nothing 'moderate' about a GOP agenda that yanked away public worker bargaining rights, made it tougher to get compensated for a work injury and shielded businesses from liability for sick workers in a pandemic. Hinson voted for it all." [Todd Dorman - Gazette (Cedar Rapids, IA), 9/10/20]
Laura Hubka Accused Ashley Hinson of Voting to Cut Workers' Compensation Benefits and Limit Collective Bargaining Rights During Iowa House Tenure According to an opinion piece by Laura Hubka in Gazette (Cedar Rapids, IA), "Rep. Hinson took away our freedom to earn a living wage when she voted to cut workers' compensation benefits, prohibited counties from increasing minimum wages and benefits, and limited collective bargaining rights for public employees during her time in the Iowa House of Representatives." [Laura Hubka - Gazette (Cedar Rapids, IA), 7/1/22]
Ashley Hinson Characterized Collective Bargaining Bill As Protective Of Taxpayers According to Iowa City Press-Citizen, 'The collective bargaining bill I think was a great bill to protect Iowa taxpayers and give them a seat at the table,' Hinson said. 'It was important because it was unbalanced and it had gone in favor of labor unions.' [Iowa City Press-Citizen (Iowa), 9/9/20]
2021: Letter Writer Peggy Stover Urged Ashley Hinson to Support Raising Minimum Wage According to a letter to the editor published in Telegraph Herald, "I hope Rep. Hinson joins the 70% of Iowans who support raising the minimum wage." [Letter to the Editor - Telegraph Herald, 2/14/21]
February 2021: Hinson Expressed Opposition To $15 Minimum Wage According to Globe Gazette, 'I heard overwhelmingly that a $15 minimum wage would kill small business in rural Iowa.' Hinson said she is vocal about her opposition to a $15 an hour minimum wage, and that traveling throughout her district has only confirmed her beliefs. [Globe Gazette (Mason City, Iowa), 2/18/21]
October 2020: Hinson Opposed PRO Act And Criticized Finkenauer's Support According to Telegraph Herald, 'She also co-sponsored the PRO Act, which would be devastating to a lot of Iowan businesses and manufacturers, by forcing unionization, essentially, on them. That's not what Iowans want.' [Telegraph Herald (Dubuque, IA), 10/7/20]
2021: Hinson Applauded Passage Of Pregnant Workers Fairness Act According to Telegraph Herald, "Hinson too applauded the act's passage. 'When I was a morning news anchor, I worked up until the day I gave birth to each of my children,' she said in a release. 'As a working mom, this issue is personal to me.'" [Telegraph Herald (Dubuque, IA), 5/16/21]