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.
Gov. Chet Culver’s $700 million infrastructure plan involves 20-year tax-exempt state revenue bonds secured and repayed with approximately $56 million annually from gaming tax revenues.
The governor wants to create a Rebuild Iowa Infrastructure Authority to issue the bonds and appoint a five-member Rebuild Iowa Infrastructure Board.
According to the governor’s office:
HOW IT HELPS
This program will create jobs by investing in projects across Iowa:- New, “ready to go” projects, such as: Housing, Trails, Highways, Roads, & Bridges, Mass Transit, Railways, Airports, Water Quality and Wastewater Treatment Improvements, Flood Control Improvements, Energy Infrastructure, Disaster-Relief Infrastructure, and Public Buildings
- Projects delayed by the tobacco securitization not being completed last year due to capital market disruption. Examples include: Community Colleges Infrastructure, CBC Residential Expansion, Community Treatment Resource Center, Iowa Correctional Institution for Women Expansion, Mt. Pleasant/ Rockwell City Kitchen Remodeling, Terrace Hill Maintenance, DHS-CCUSO Renovation, Capitol Complex Improvements, Lake Restoration Improvements, Iowa Public Radio, and Iowa Veterans Home Master Plan
As for the $43 million Culver wants the legislature to appropriate from the state’s emergency fund, $20 million would go to local government for property tax replacement; $10 million would go to the Jumpstart Assistance program to fill in gaps in federal aid; $5 million would go to non-profit assistance; $2 million would go to pay for the Rebuild Iowa Office to coordinate the day-to-day rebuilding plans; and $1 million would go to a skills training program.
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