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.
An ethics complaint against a lobbying group that was five months late in filing a disclosure report was dismissed Tuesday by the state Senate Ethics Committee.
Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement filed the complaint after the Iowa Pharmacy Association failed to file a disclosure report for a function it held in February that was attended by 20 lawmakers and Gov. Chet Culver. The group only filed the paperwork after reporters began asking questions about the party due to the fact that Democratic state Rep. Kerry Burt attended the event on the evening of his drunk driving arrest.
The committee dismissed the complaint unanimously, although Senate Ethics Committee Chair Jack Kibbie said there would be a review of current Iowa code to see if changes should be made to improve accountability and transparency.
Before 2005, disclosure forms for these types of legislative functions were filed with the nonpartisan Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board (IECDB). The board’s staff would also check the social calendar and call groups to make sure reports were filed on time.
The law was changed in 2005, and authority was given to legislative ethics committees. At that time, the IECDB discontinued the practice of ensuring the prompt filing of reports since it lost enforcement jurisdiction.
Since the law changed, the number of reports filed has gone down, from 101 in 206 to 90 this year.
The other difference, according to the state’s campaign law, is the IECDB can investigate an issue on its own motion. The legislative ethics committees do not have that power.
Section 68B.31 of Iowa’s campaign law lays out the powers, responsibilities and format of the legislative ethics committees. It can prepare rules relating to lobbyists and lobbying activities, issue non-binding advisory opinions interpreting the intent of constitutional and statutory provisions, recommend legislation and hear complaints against legislators or lobbyists.
“We expect Sen. Jack Kibbie to lead the charge to restore oversight and enforcement of lobbyist function reports to the Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board,” Mason said.
Iowa CCI found 26 additional late-filing disclosure violations by lobbyist groups during the 2009 legislative session. This amount represents nearly one-third of the 90 reports that were filed in 2009.
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