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 state of Iowa is taking in a lot of money these days. Last week, the Legislative Services Agency released a report detailing the total net tax receipts as of May 31.
Since last year at this time, the state’s net revenue is nearly $6.2 billion, an increase of $335 million or 5.7 percent. The revenue gains have come from substantial increases in revenue generated by the state’s corporate income tax as well as the state’s individual income tax. The LSA attributes the rise in tax revenues to a strong rate of growth in the corporate sector and more payments coming at filing times.
Other major sources of revenue were the state gambling tax, which has added $39.3 million in the last year, and the state cigarette tax, which has brought in $20.7 million. The cigarette tax was increased to $1.36 per pack from 36 cents on March 16.
The increased state revenue bodes well for Democrats on the Hill. Gov. Chet Culver, along with Democratic legislative leaders, will likely see more revenue than originally anticipated for fiscal year 2007, allowing them to fund more initiatives in the next session. Additional revenue can help provide funding for initiatives like VOICE, or Voter-Owned Iowa Clean Elections, a legislative act that would fundamentally change campaign finance in Iowa. The legislature did not act on VOICE last session, partially because the $10 million necessary to start funding for the program could not be allocated efficiently.
Fiscal year 2008 starts on July 1 for the state and will include at least one significant funding allocation. The money generated from March’s cigarette tax increase is deposited into the general fund. From the General Fund, $127.6 million will be deposited in a new Health Care Trust Fund at the start of the new fiscal year to help pay for state health expenses such as Medicaid.
Also released earlier this month from the LSA were the total general fund receipts as of May 31. You can find that report here. It documents the direct revenue flowing into the general fund of the state and the anticipated growth in revenue from 2006 to 2007.
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