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.
With states around the country, including Iowa, wrestling with declining revenues and budget shortfalls, rural communities are bearing a disproportionate amount of the burden, a recent study by two Federal Reserve economists has found.
According to the report, which was partially reprinted on the rural news site The Daily Yonder, rural economies are highly susceptible to state budget shortfalls, since local governments rely heavily on intergovernmental transfers from state governments to balance their budgets. As state governments cut spending in response to looming budget deficits in coming years, rural America’s fiscal problems may also deepen.
As state budget problems deepen, rural governments could suffer further from reduced intergovernmental transfers. Local governments receive 31 percent of their total revenue from state governments, making them sensitive to state budget cuts.
In rural counties, intergovernmental transfers from federal and state governments have historically accounted for roughly 45 percent of the total local government revenues, with most of the assistance coming from the states.
For poor rural counties, with low employment and persistent poverty, intergovernmental transfers are even more important, accounting for 55 percent of total revenues.
For example, for fiscal year 2011, the governor of Wyoming has proposed cutting state aid to local governments by more than half.
Government employment makes up 14 percent of rural employment and 18 percent of rural earnings compared to roughly 10 percent of each in metro areas, so as state’s slash their workforce, rural areas are hit harder.
Cuts in Medicaid spending also impact rural areas more than urban areas, the report found. Medicaid spending alone accounted for over 4 percent of personal incomes in rural communities in 2008, compared to roughly 2.7 percent in metro areas.
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