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 Cedar Rapids Gazette reports Thursday that in addition to signing an executive order requiring state agencies to consider using project labor agreements for major construction work, Gov. Chet Culver is also pushing for the legislature to pass one of organized labor’s biggest priorities — prevailing wage legislation.
The legislation, which would set minimum pay and benefit standards for workers of public projects, failed to gain passage in 2009 despite House Speaker Pat Murphy, D-Dubuque, keeping the chamber in session throughout a weekend and voting machines open for nearly 70 hours in order to attempt to persuade a “no” vote to change their mind.
Culver told the Gazette legislators should “push forward” on the bill. House Labor Committee Chairman Rick Olson, D-Des Moines, said he has drafted a compromise bill that could be easier to pass this year.
“It’s what you might call a softer bill,” Olson said, explaining it would require the state, regents and community colleges to pay prevailing wage on projects of $100,000 or more. However, local government – cities, counties and school districts – could opt-out of paying prevailing wage on a project-by-project basis, Olson said.
The changes were made to appeal to the “six pack” of conservative Democrats who typically do not support labor legislation — Reps. McKinley Bailey, Geri Huser, Doris Kelley, Larry Marek, Dolores Mertz and Brian Quirk. Democrats hold a 56-44 majority in the House, meaning at least one of the six has to be persuaded to support labor measures in order to win passage.
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