Stories

Officials in flood ravaged counties around the state would be allowed to impose a local-option sales tax to help pay for disaster relief in April instead of June thanks to a bill expected to be passed by House and Senate committees today.

The legislature will say no to any new spending that isn’t attached to the flood recovery effort, Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal, D-Council Bluffs, said this morning.

“I’ve been in the legislature for 20 years, and I’ve never seen a bigger challenge,” Gronstal said of the state’s budget situation. “We will be saying no to just about everything this session.”

More than $125 million was released today to Iowa by the federal government for disaster recovery efforts.

This year’s flooding and tornadoes may cause the Iowa Department of Natural Resources to cut jobs and services due to $10 million in lost revenue.
The Associated Press reports that the agency saw 33 of its 48 parks damaged by wind and water this year. This on top of $800,000 in lost fees for fishing and [...]

Iowa Democratic Party Chariman Scott Brennan and Democratic U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin yesterday called on the presidential campaign of John McCain to stop two robo calls in Iowa that they call “sleazy” and “tasteless.”

Nine Republican legislators sent a letter to leadership in the Iowa House of Representatives asking that they poll the 100 state representatives to gauge support for convening a special Legislative session to deal with disaster relief.

As disaster recovery moves forward, it might be helpful to take a look back at the debate that shaped the decisions over a special legislative session.

With the Rebuild Iowa Commission shifting its focus toward the long-term needs of the disaster recovery effort, the chances of a special legislative session being called have gone from slim to none.

The Associated Press is reporting this morning that Gov. Chet Culver won’t call a special legislative session to deal with flood recovery efforts.

On the eve of her trip to Iowa today to view areas affected by this year’s severe weather, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi sent a letter to President Bush over the weekend requesting that Iowa pay less of the total share for debris pickup and rebuilding infrastructure.