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.
Because labor legislation is too easy for Democrats to pass when the sun is out, it appears that Iowa House members might be in for another late night.
That is, unless lawmakers abandon their plan to vote on the “prevailing wage” bill tonight.
Floor debate for HF 333 — “The Public Improvement Quality Protection Act” — was scheduled to start hours ago, but it has been delayed to allow time for last minute compromises that will ensure the bill has the 51 votes needed to pass. As of 5:15pm, debate still had not started. That means that if leaders still hope to pass the bill today, they will be working into the night.
Last year, when the topic was expanding the scope of collective bargaining for public employees, holding a nighttime session didn’t work out so well. The media lambasted Democratic leaders for forcing trying to force a late-night vote on the bill that Gov. Chet Culver ended up vetoing. Part of the reason for his veto, Culver said at the time, was that he was uncomfortable with the way the bill was passed.
Culver has already signaled his support for a prevailing wage bill (he is one of the proposal’s strongest advocates behind the scenes), so a veto is unlikely this time around. But the image of Democrats forcing late-night votes and negotiating backroom deals with unions is already being reinforced in statewide radio ads paid for by the Association of Business and Industry. By allowing the amendment process to delay the floor debate and, ultimately, the vote, the leadership hasn’t done itself any favors in the PR department.
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