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 bill that would require contractors to pay the same hourly wages and benefits on public projects as they would pay on private sector projects will be debated by the full Iowa House Thursday afternoon.
The House Labor Committee approved the bill on a party-line 10-7 vote after a two-hour public hearing Monday night. Now House File 333, known as the prevailing wage bill, will take center stage in the House, with all Thursday afternoon committee meetings canceled for a debate some say could last well into the evening.
Supporters say the bill would assure public projects do not go to companies that win bids based on cheap labor and would increase safety through proper training Thirty-two states and the District of Columbia already have prevailing wage laws on the books.
Opponents say the bill would increase costs for public projects and would keep small contractors out of public projects because they can’t afford to pay for benefit packages.
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