Wednesday was a difficult day for The American Independent News Network, which is the larger entity that operates The Iowa Independent. Our chief executive and founder announced two of our sister sites would close and their content would be moved to The American Independent.
A recently introduced bill could have far-reaching impact on the U.S. sugar industry, including American Crystal Sugar, a farmer-owned cooperative that locked out 1,300 Midwest workers on Aug. 1.
The chairman for Herman Cain’s Iowa effort says the campaign “relied more on the word of farmers than Washington regulators” in deciding to run an ad containing claims the Environmental Protection Agency says are false.
The Iowa Senate will remain under the control of a slim 26-25 Democratic majority when it reconvenes in January 2012.
The legislature will say no to any new spending that isn’t attached to the disaster recovery effort, Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal, D-Council Bluffs, said this morning.
“I’ve been in the legislature for 20 years, and I’ve never seen a bigger challenge,” Gronstal said of the state’s budget situation. “We will be saying no to just about everything this session.”
Last month the state’s Revenue Estimating Conference projected a bigger downturn in the money the state is taking in than previously thought. In response, Gov. Chet Culver announced a number of cost cutting measures, including a 1.5 percent across-the-board cut the the state’s budget.
House Speaker Pat Murphy, D-Dubuque, said the 2009 budget is currently balanced thanks to Culver’s actions.
“We think the governor took the appropriate steps to address budget concerns,” Murphy said. “So we will be focused on 2010, which is going to be much more challenging.”
The state’s net income for the 2010 fiscal year is expected to be $132.6 million less than projected in October.
Murphy said legislative leaders are hopeful that the incoming administration of President-elect Barack Obama will alleviate some of the issues the state is facing. He said Obama’s plan to put people back to work repairing the nation’s infrastructure, as well as federal assistance to states to shoulder some of the expenses assiciated with Medicaid, will make the decisions legislators will make a little easier.
But first and foremost will be recovery efforts from this summer’s flooding and tornados.
“We have to address the needs of those individuals and communities affected by the flooding,” Murphy said.
Gronstal said the plan is to finish the session in 100 days instead of 110, a move he said could save the state hundreds of thousands of dollars.
“We intend this to be a quick session,” he said.
Because of the abreviated session, and because of the need to focus on the budget and recovery efforts, Gronstal said most other issues will be pushed aside.
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