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.
Statehouse Republicans joined Democrat Ed Fallon Monday to endorse a legislative package aimed at protecting the property rights of Iowans. The seven pieces of legislation would close loopholes that allow local governments to condemn property owned by private individuals and turn it over to developers.
The package of bills was unveiled at a press conference on Monday by Reps. Jeff Kauffman, R-Wilton, Jodi Tymeson, R-Winterset, and Pat Grassley, R-New Hartford, as well as Fallon, who is challenging incumbent U.S. Rep. Leonard Boswell, who represents Iowa’s 4th Congressional District, as the Democratic candidate for congress.
Fallon, who ran in the Democratic gubernatorial primary in 2006, has made property rights a centerpiece of his political activism in the past. He was also a member of the Iowa House before retiring to run for governor.
Kaufman said the proposed legislation will protect landowners who could lose their property because of the flaws in the current law.
“This legislation is fundamental to the people’s rights in this state,” said Kaufmann. “Iowans have had their lives turned upside down by a simple loophole, we’re very happy that we can work in a bipartisan manner to protect our citizens. I would think Republicans and Democrats alike can agree that no one’s land should be taken away from them.”Currently in Iowa, more than 10,000 acres of land are under the threat of condemnation by their local governments.
The broad-based package of bills would:
The bills will likely be introduced in the House and assigned to a committee by Tuesday.
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