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.
This afternoon, an Iowa House subcommittee is set to discuss a proposal that would prohibit candidates from paying themselves or their immediate family members using their official campaign accounts.
House Study Bill 11 would effectively close what became known among some legislators last year as the “Fallon loophole,” referring to former State Representative Ed Fallon, who ran for governor in 2006 and paid himself a salary out of his campaign account for months after losing the Democratic primary to then-Secretary of State Chet Culver. The bill goes a step farther than other proposals, however, because it bans payments even before Election Day, and it applies not just to candidates, but also to their spouses and children.
Reimbursements to candidates and family members for items like postage stamps would still be allowed under the proposal, but “salary” and “gratuity” payments would be banned. Violators of the ban would be guilty of a serious misdemeanor.
The Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board and the League of Women Voters both support the bill. There are currently no lobbyists registered in opposition to it.
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