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.
The Iowa Legislature approved extending the deadline for Iowans to file discrimination complaints from 180 to 300 days. The law goes into effect on July 1.
“Folks don’t always know or realize within six months of an incidence of discriminatory behavior that they may have been discriminated against,” said Alicia Claypool, chairwoman of the Iowa Civil Rights Commission. “The extended filing deadline gives Iowans more time to sort things out when considering whether or not to file a complaint.”
The commission, which pushed for the change, will meet from 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday at the Grimes State Office Building in Des Moines to discuss the deadline extension and the legislative efforts of the past two years, among other things.“It’s a positive law. It’s the right direction,” said Ralph Rosenberg, the commission’s executive director.
The effect the deadline change will have on the number of discrimination cases is unknown, Rosenberg said.
“I don’t know if it is going to mean more cases, but it will give people more time to think about whether they experienced discrimination and to file,” he said. “So people won’t prematurely be cut off from filing.”
Claypool added: “This was the first year we pushed for the legislation. Usually it takes several years to educate the Legislature about the need for changes so we were pleasantly surprised and grateful that our elected representatives readily understood the importance of strengthening Iowa’s civil rights law.”
While the commission accomplished the deadline extension, another legislative goal will have to wait. Legislators rejected a proposal to give the commission the power to subpoena people during the course of an investigation. The commission already has the power to subpoena documents, but most other state agencies have the ability to do both, commission officials have said.
“I think that people just misunderstood this,” Rosenberg said. “I think when legislators take a second look next session it will pass.”
The commission enforces state and federal laws prohibiting discrimination in the areas of employment, public accommodations, housing, education and credit.
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