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.
If he earns the approval of the delegates to the Iowa Democratic Party’s annual convention Saturday, Jon Murphy hopes he can defeat incumbent state Auditor David Vaudt the November by focusing on transparency.
In an interview with The Iowa Independent, Murphy said in the 8 years Vaudt has been auditor he has not taken a single step towards improving transparency in regards to how the state spends its money.
Jon Murphy
“The very best watchdog of the taxpayer’s money is the taxpayer,” Murphy said. “This is something that requires real leadership. It has to be done, and we’re way past the time to do it.”
Since 2007, Murphy has served as director of the Iowa Office of State-Federal Relations, and since the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act passed in 2008, he has focused his efforts on administering recovery act dollars, keeping tabs on expenses and avoiding fraud and waste.
“I want to see the same level of oversight and transparency that we have with the Recovery Act here in Iowa,” he said.
Federal stimulus dollars can be tracked online, from money spent on highway projects to subcontractors hired to weatherize homes, and that’s what Murphy says is the level of transparency the state budget needs.
A study released earlier this year by U.S. PIRG, a Boston-based research and advocacy group that supports government-transparency, gave Iowa a failing grade for in making sure spending information is available online, despite the relatively low cost of setting up government transparency websites. Iowa is one of only 13 states without a transparency website.
Murphy is not yet the Democratic nominee for auditor. Delegates at the IDP convention will decide whether he will get the chance to challenge Vaudt in a vote Saturday afternoon.
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