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 Monday that if lawmakers pass a budget without funding 2 percent allowable growth and an additional $100 million in surplus reserves for Iowa schools he will not sign it.
“As governor, and as a former teacher, my commitment to education transcends even our most difficult budget challenges,” Culver said in a statement. “I want to make this clear. I will not sign a budget that doesn’t include the funding Iowa’s schools deserve.”
Gov. Chet Culver
Each year lawmakers set the rate to which schools may legally grow their budgets. The coming school year’s growth is set at 2 percent, a figure Culver said the state should honor during his Condition of the State address in January. Lawmakers have hinted that they may not allocate those funds.
The $100 million Culver wants to spend on K-12 education would come from the state’s reserve funds, another idea first mentioned during the governor’s Condition of the State.
“This funding will be a real shot in the arm for some of our schools, especially in rural districts, which are already cash-strapped, with depleted reserves,” Culver said. “In my mind, funding Iowa’s schools is not a question, it is our obligation to Iowa’s hard working families.”
Last month, Des Moines Public Schools announced that budget shortfalls would result in 300 layoffs, mostly in art, music, physical education and other teaching positions. In Iowa City, school officials are looking at a 14-percent property tax increase to avoid similar cuts.
State Senate President Jack Kibbie, D-Emmetsburg, told the Waterloo Courier last week that he believes the 2 percent allowable growth will be funded. And while Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal, D-Council Bluffs, told IowaPolitics.com that lawmakers plan to underfund state aid for K-12 education, that plan would still mean allocating the amount proposed by the governor’s budget.
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