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.
Rep. Paul Bell, D-Newton, has joined four of his fellow House Democrats in publically stating he will oppose a bill to eliminate federal deductibility.
House File 807, which would end Iowans’ ability to subtract federal taxes from their income when figuring their state taxes, was intended to make a fairer tax structure for Iowa and lower the tax brackets to make the state more attractive to businesses and families, Bell said.
“Unfortunately, it is nearly impossible to adjust the tax brackets without adversely affecting many of the people of Iowa,” he said. “I do not feel enough time has been devoted to studying the ramifications of the bill. Thus, I will not be supporting HF 807.”
Wednesday, Democratic Reps. Geri Huser, Doris Kelley, Brian Quirk and Dolores Mertz said they intended to vote against the measure. Bell, who was the target of a phone campaign in his district from both supporters and opponents of the legislation, brings the total of Democratic “no” votes to five, one shy of defeating the measure if Republicans unanimously oppose it.
“There are many problems and issues surrounding our current tax structure and system,” Bell said. “We still need to find a way to create a fairer tax structure for Iowans and those who want to move to Iowa.”
Two other Democratic lawmakers who are usually considered swing votes, Reps. McKinley Bailey and Larry Marek, indicated at separate legislative forums over the weekend that they are leaning towards supporting the measure. The Fort Dodge Messenger reports that Bailey said he supports ending federal deductibility, and the Daily Iowan quotes Marek as saying that because of the bill “there are going to be tax cuts for a lot of people.”
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