Iowa House Passes Water Quality Bill
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa lawmakers are sending a voluntary water quality bill to Gov. Kim Reynolds that doesn’t require comprehensive monitoring of water pollution.
The Republican-controlled House voted 59-41 Tuesday for the legislation, which passed in the GOP-majority Senate last session and remained alive in the two-year legislative calendar.
The bill would create a fund that redistributes tax money currently going to Iowa’s state budget. It also takes money from an existing infrastructure fund.
Iowa has faced water pollution issues for years, and research shows it’s tied in part to farm runoff. A state-supported water quality initiative, known as the Nutrient Reduction Strategy, estimates effectively addressing the issue would cost billions of dollars. The bill is expected to generate $282 million over 12 years.
Reynolds and other Republicans who back the bill say it’s a first step. State Representative Chuck Holz of Le Mars voted in favor of the water quality bill. He says it was a long time coming, but he is pleased it finally passed.
During the Condition of the State address by Governor Kim Reynolds, she had indicated to the state legislature she wanted the water quality bill to be the first bill to cross her desk. Holz believes the bill may become law yet this week.
The Le Mars republican lawmaker says the passed bill is a good start, but he also anticipates some tweaking may occur with the bill later in the session.
The bill will now goes to Governor Reynolds for her signature, to make it a law.
Iowa Unemployment Rate Drops In December
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa’s unemployment rate dropped to 2.8 percent in December.
Iowa Workforce Development on Tuesday announced the rate, which was down from 2.9 percent in November. Iowa’s unemployment rate compares to a 4.1 percent national rate.
The agency says Iowa added 7,100 jobs in December, bringing the total number of jobs to 1.6 million. Jobs gains were strongest in manufacturing, health care and transportation.
There were an estimated 47,000 unemployed Iowa residents in December.
Iowa Pork Congress Begins This Week
(Des Moines) — Thousands of pork producers and hundreds of vendors will be headed for central Iowa this week for the 46th annual Iowa Pork Congress. Ron Birkenholz, communications director for the Iowa Pork Producers Association, says they’ve reached a new peak.
The big show runs Wednesday and Thursday and it’s expected to draw as many as five-thousand producers.
In addition to the Iowa Pork Congress, Birkenholz says a host of other activities are planned, including an all-pork-based dinner tonight (Monday) called Taste of Elegance.
The Pork Congress is being held at the Iowa Events Center in Des Moines. Learn more at: www.iowapork.org.
Illinois Man Says He Shot At Truckers Because He Was Angry
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. (AP) – An Illinois man arrested on charges that he opened fire on a motorist on Interstate 80 in eastern Iowa and exchanging gunfire with state troopers has told investigators he targeted truck drivers because he was angry over a fatal truck crash.
The (Arlington Heights) Daily Herald reports that a sheriff’s deputy in Cedar County, Iowa, explained in a search warrant application that Charles Johnston had become “obsessed’ with the crash and told investigators after his Jan. 11 arrest that he wanted to harm at least one trucker in retaliation.
The 60-year-Johnston is charged with attempted murder and assault on a peace officer with a dangerous weapon. He is being in Cedar County Jail on $1 million bail.
The paper reports that Johnston is a professor at Harper College in Palatine.
