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.
Lawmakers will hear from the public on a bill that would require the payment of local prevailing wage rates to people working on public projects on Monday at 7:30 p.m.
House Study Bill 149 would require contractors to pay the same hourly wage plus fringe benefits for public projects as they would pay for a private project. The bill allows the per-hour wage rate to be based on what is normally paid in the area by contractors for similar projects, to be adjusted on a yearly basis by the Department of Workforce Development.
The new law would apply to any project that receives money from a public body.
Opponents, which include groups like the Greater Des Moines Partnership and the Iowa Chamber Alliance, say the proposal would increase taxpayer costs by as much as 20 percent. Supporters, like the Iowa Federation of Labor, United Steel Workers of America and International Union of Operating Engineers, say the change would simply put state law in line with federal law.
A subcommittee of the House Labor Committee will at 3 p.m. Wednesday to discuss the matter.
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