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 Iowa House Friday passed a $115 million bonding bill to help University of Iowa officials rebuild flood-ravaged areas of the Iowa City campus.
The Senate passed a $100 million bonding measure earlier this month. An amendment to the House version, sponsored by Rep. Dennis Cohoon, D-Burlington, adds another $15 million to the bill for veterinary medical facilities at Iowa State University. The bill passed the House on a 52-40 vote.
Senate File 474 is the first piece of a multi-bill bonding plan that will total more than $800 million for flood recovery and infrastructure repair. Gov. Chet Culver initially rolled out a $750 million bonding plan in March. Lawmakers originally balked at the high price tag of the plan, specifically the governor’s plan to borrow $250 million for road and bridge repair.
After several weeks of negotiations, Culver and Democratic legislators managed to compromise on a plan that will borrow $100 million for road and bridge repair and another $600 million for Culver’s I-JOBS plan, which includes money for housing, public works projects and flood recovery.
Legislators have indicated they would like to vote on the remaining bonding bills this weekend in order to adjourn by early next week.
UPDATE at 9:15 p.m.: The Iowa Senate passed the House version of SF474 on a vote of 31-18.
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