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.
A report released Wednesday by the Iowa Public Interest Research Group gave Iowa a failing grade when it comes to openness about government spending.
According to “Following the Money 2011: How the States Rank on Providing Online Access to Government Spending Data,” Iowa received a failing grade because it lacks a website with “checkbook-level” detail. However, lawmakers passed a bill this session that requires the state’s department of management to create a database and make it available to the public by January 2013.
“The good news is that since last year’s report, state governments across the country have become far more transparent about where the money goes. The bad news is Iowa has fallen far behind the rest of the country, and has yet again failed to shine sunlight on the public purse,” said Sonia Ashe, advocate at Iowa PIRG.
“Especially as Iowa debates steep budget cuts, Iowans need the ability to watchdog our government and ensure their tax dollars are spent effectively.”
Included with the report is an interactive online tool that allows users to view what Iowa is doing best and worst compared to other states’ transparency practices.
Leading states with the most open spending provided online tools that were searchable, engaged citizens and included detailed information about government contracts, tax expenditures, tax subsidies and economic development incentives, according to Ashe. Leading the way in this report were Kentucky, Texas, Indiana, Arizona, Louisiana, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Ohio and Oregon.
Even with the mandate put in place by the legislature, however, open government advocates worries that what is developed won’t provide enough information to taxpayers.
“Any searchable database must include easily accessible and complete information on tax credits and exemptions as well as information on other state spending,” said Victor Elias of the Coalition for a Better Iowa.
Other advocates speculate that the step forward created by the mandate will be coupled with a step backward, given the proposed shift of power to the quasi-public Iowa Partnership for Economic Progress that would allow private donations for economic development projects to be kept in the dark.
“If our government officials are truly motivated to make Iowa a fully transparent state, then any spending through the private sector of the IPEP would be made available for public scrutiny,” said Ashe. “With the track record of corruption in other states from quasi-public development agencies, the spending of private funds should be held to the same standards of transparency as other spending in order to build public confidence.”
Ashe points out that there is reason to be hopeful that the new version of the Iowa Department of Economic Development will overcome transparency obstacles. She notes that even Indiana, a state Gov. Terry Branstad highlighted on the campaign trail as a case study for the Iowa switch, has worked through past transparency troubles and has emerged as one of the leading states in this area.
“This report shows that many states are getting impressive results from making contracts and subsidies more transparent,” said Ashe. “Iowa shouldn’t just catch up with other states in transparency, we should work to get in the lead.”
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