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 controversial prevailing wage bill fell one vote short of passing Friday night, with House Democrats unable to convince a 51st legislator to support the measure.
After five hours of debate, a roll call showed the vote at 50-46. Three Republicans and Democrat Geri Huser were the only legislators not to vote. Huser has long been considered an opponent of the legislation.
Democrats Larry Marek, McKinley Bailey, Doris Kelley, Dolores Mertz and Brian Quirk voted against the measure that would have set minimum pay and benefit standards for workers on certain public projects. Throughout the debate, observers believed either Bailey or Marek would have to be the decisive 51st vote. Both men have been skeptical in the past of the union-backed bill.
Bailey said earlier in the day he would not support the bill unless community colleges were exempt from the prevailing wage requirement. An amendment that would have done just that did not pass.
House Speaker Pat Murphy will keep the voting machine open the entire weekend until Democrats can convince one of their dissenting members to change their vote. The move will mean Murphy will have to sleep in the chamber over the weekend.
“I want to be sure that taxpayer money is going to responsible Iowa employers who pay a decent wage, not employers who take advantage of people like we’ve seen in Postville and Atalissa,” Murphy said. “As the presiding officer of the House, I will stay in the Speaker’s chair and the voting machine will remain open until Monday. My goal is to get 51 votes and make sure we have good-paying jobs for middle class families.”
Debate on the bill has lasted most of the day, with Republicans offering numerous amendments. All told, only one, proposed by Democratic Rep. Rick Olson, was accepted. It limited the kinds of projects where prevailing wage applies.
The apparent failure of prevailing wage calls into question whether Democrats, who hold a 56-44 advantage in the House, will be able to pass any labor-backed bills this session.
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