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.
Gov. Chet Culver said he knows he’ll be criticized for deciding to veto pay increases for statewide elected officials and House File 2645, which dealt with public employee collective bargaining, but chalks it up to just doing his job.
“There will be those who criticize my actions. That is to be expected,” Culver said at a 4 p.m. press conference today. “That is a part of my job. As Harry Truman said, ‘the buck stops here.’”
Culver cited input from “thousands of Iowans who have written, emailed and called me during this constitutionally mandated review period.”
“While I have always been a strong supporter of workers rights and collective bargaining, a close examination of House File 2645 shows that it is not in the best interests of the taxpayers of Iowa to let this legislation become law. It is vaguely written with the potential for far reaching, unintended consequences that could obligate the citizens of Iowa to substantial new public expenditures.”
It’s an action that has left Rep. Todd Taylor, D-Cedar Rapids, shaking his head in disappointment.
“I’m incredibly disappointed with the action that Gov. Culver has taken today,” Taylor, who floor managed the legislation in the Iowa House, said in a telephone interview Wednesday evening. “This was a bill that would benefit Iowa’s police officers, teachers, fire fighters, corrections workers, the Department of Transportation road crew members and many others. It was a modest change that placed Iowa in line with 27 other states and the private sector.
“In his statement, Gov. Culver said that the language was vague, but at no time did he or anyone from his office contact the legislature so that we could work through those concerns. When we attempted to work with his office while the bill was under debate, there was simply no response. It just brings me back to the fact that I’m disappointed.”
Sen. Dick Dearden, D-Des Moines, who floor managed the legislation in the Senate, also summed up his reaction as disappointment.
“I’m just very disappointed that public employees will not have the same bargaining opportunities as private sector workers,” he said by phone Wednesday.
In a joint statement released by House Speaker Pat Murphy, Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, the legislators expressed their confusion in relation to Culver’s statement that the legislation was “vague” and the lack of input from the Culver administration during the debate process.
“We repeatedly offered to consider changes to the bill and not a single suggestion was offered by Governor Culver or his administration. We continue to believe that employees with a strong voice in the workplace will lead to greater productivity and we will continue to work on behalf of teachers, firefighters, police officers, correctional workers, and other public employees.
When the legislature debated the bill, Culver was vacationing with his family in Florida.
Senate Minority Leader Ron Wieck, R-Sioux City, used the veto to bash both the collective bargaining bill and Democrats in the state legislature.
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