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.
One year ago, the Iowa Legislature adjourned early in an attempt to save money. Today, however, when only a month remains in the 2011 session, the Iowa Senate and House are facing criticism for having relatively few accomplishments.
There has yet to be an agreement on allowable growth for K-12 education, or nearly any other appropriation for that matter.
The state owes $2.6 million in indigent defense bills to appointed attorneys who represented low-income individuals. The House included this in the “Taxpayers First Act,” which Senate Democrats strongly opposed. The Senate put the money for indigent defense in a stand alone bill that has stalled.
Democrats launched a website this week — TheyWantedWhat.com — in order to criticize Iowa Republicans for not focusing on job creation. Iowa’s unemployment rate has remained relatively unchanged since the elections.
“Republicans have abandoned their campaign promises to focus on jobs and the economy,” said Iowa Democratic Party Chairwoman Sue Dvorsky. “Instead, they have pushed a divisive, right-wing agenda since day one.”
Republicans point out the House passed multiple bills before the Senate was able to pass a single one.
Many of the more controversial bills approved by the House, such as restricting collective bargaining and decreasing access to abortions, will likely never reach debate in the Senate. The Republican-controlled House also passed a 20 percent cut in personal state income taxes. Ohio passed a similar income tax cut, which has been criticized for exacerbating an $8 billion budget gap.
The Democratically-controlled Iowa Senate is not interested taking up that bill either.
But Wednesday Gov. Terry Branstad was able to sign a dozen non-controversial bills into law. Most of them originated in the Senate, so if the political parties are angling to appear as more accomplished, this scenario favors Democrats:
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