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 is asking state departments to come up with ways Iowa can trim $30 to $40 million from its budget, The Des Moines Register reported today.
The state was expecting to finish its budget year in June with $85 million in the general fund, but projections now show that number to be around $15 million.
It likely won’t mean any state employees will lose their jobs, but it probably will mean job openings left unfilled, new programs delayed or broken office equipment left unrepaired, said Charlie Krogmeier, the director of the state Department of Management.
“I don’t think we’re talking layoffs or furloughs or anything like that,” Krogmeier said. “The economy’s been bad and it’s getting worse, and this is the first reaction to it.”
Culver’s office declined to give a full list of requested cuts, but according to The Register, the governor is asking –
- Department of Human Services to cut $5 million
- Department of Corrections to cut $11 million
- Workforce Development to cut $600,000
- Board of Regents to cut $7.5 million
He’s also requesting the state court administrators to cut $1.7 million, but the governor can’t force the court system to change its budget.
Republican state Auditor David Vaudt, who had forecast budget problems over the summer, said the cuts come at a bad time for Iowa.
“We had all the signals that there were going to be problems with the way they were balancing the budget, even absent the floods and the economic downturn,” Vaudt said. “The sad part is we’re talking about cutting services at a time when Iowans need them most because of the economic downturn, and that’s what I was warning them to avoid.”
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