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 state budget will be cut more than $200 million for fiscal year 2010, which starts July 1, according to spending targets released Monday by Democratic legislative leaders.
The 2010 figures are $427 million less than Gov. Chet Culver proposed in January.
The deepest cuts will come from education funding, which will see a nearly $400 million cut from FY2009 to FY2010. Most other categories of spending will also see sharp reductions, with only health and human services seeing an increase.
Legislators agreed the moves would likely mean layoffs and service reductions.
The new figures came in response to Friday’s Revenue Estimating Conference, which projected that state tax collections would be down another $130 million this year and $270 million next year.
Culver now has two weeks to submit a new balanced budget to legislators with the new revenue estimates in mind. The governor has said he hopes to use money from the federal stimulus package approved by Congress last month to plug some of the budget holes and avoid deep cuts.
Follow Jason Hancock on Twitter
Do you know where to vote on Election Day? Do you know what to bring with you? Get comprehensive voter information for your state here.
Sign up for our email newsletter