GRAIN INDEMNITY FUND UPDATE
The House Agriculture Committee this week passed a bill that will amend the state Grain Indemnity Fund. This is committee member Rep. Travis Sitzmann.
Rep Sitzmann says the bill updates the indemnity program.
Parts of the bill have not been completed
The Grain Indemnity Fund has not been changed in decades.
As the economy has not changed since the fund was applied, Sitzmann says the parameters of the bill need to be updated. The bill moved out of the House Agriculture Committee, and now goes to the full House for debate.
Sitzmann will be in Cherokee County Saturday morning to discuss this bill and any other legislative matters that come forward. He will be at the Fifty Nine Grind in Marcus from 9-30 to 11 a.m.
FEENSTRA BEGINS ANOTHER ROUND OF TOWN HALL MEETINGS
U.S. Representative Randy Feenstra of Hull began his 5th Annual 36 County Tour with a town hall meeting Wednesday in Cherokee. The meetings are open forums, held in each county in the 4th Congressional District in Iowa. Rep. Feenstra said topics of discussion included securing the U.S. Border, restoring energy independence, extending President Trump’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, and passing a new farm bill. Two more town hall meetings were held yesterday, in Ida Grove, and at the Siouxland Chamber of Commerce in Woodbury County.
LE MARS YMCA, CHAMBER YEARLY REPORTS
The Le Mars city council hears annual reports from various city agencies in the spring of the year, highlighting their work over 2024. This week, Jacque Perez, CEO of the Le Mars YMCA, reported that memberships this year surpassed those of the previous four years, at 1874. Memberships were higher in almost all of their age and unit membership categories. Over 30-thousand dollars in scholarships and financial assistance were distributed, most of it for memberships and day camps. New programs include a 24 hour access to Y facilities, with 162 paying members. Goals for 2025 include a new website, adding a Mom and Son carnival, and replacing old equipment.
Another recent report came from the Le Mars Area Chamber of Commerce. Executive Director Lori French told the council that their membership in 2024 rose by 25, to 222. Their volunteer base grew to over 75 people, and the number of Chamber ambassadors has grown to over 15. The chamber hosted 55 community coffees as a means to showcase businesses, and to network people and bring the community together. Activities the chamber is involved in a continuing basis include Ice Cream Days and Pioneer Village. The Chamber’s Ag Committee keeps a strong connection between the commuunity of Le Mars and the ag sector. French also told of the Chamber’s marketing efforts in the community, through the use of broadcast and social media. Social media presence grew by 579 followers in the past year, and the Chamber’s website saw an increase to 7-thousand, 300 visitors.
AIR NATIONAL GUARD TO CLOSE FORT DODGE UNIT
A ceremony will be held next weekend to close a Ft Dodge unit of the Iowa Air National Guard. The 133rd Test Squadron has been in service for 75 years. The ceremony will be held Sunday, March 2. Two years ago, the U.S. Air Force began a restructuring, which included divestment of the 133rd from the Iowa Air National Guard. Every full-time employee with the squadron will be offered a position within the Air National Guard, with a majority of the service members going to the 185th Air Refueling Wing in Sioux City or the 132 Air Wing in Des Moines. The Army National Guard will continue to have an active presence in Ft Dodge.
BILL REQUIRES IOWA LAW ENFORCEMENT COOPERATION WITH FEDERAL IMMIGRATION ORDERS
Iowa police and sheriff’s departments would be required to enforce any federal order to detain someone suspected of being in the country illegally under a bill advancing in the Iowa House. During a hearing on the bill, a lobbyist for the Iowa Police Chiefs Association said the bill would add more responsibilities to departments already struggling with tight budgets and limited staff. Mike Tupper, who recently retired after serving as Marshalltown’s police chief, says local officers already work with their federal partners to address legitimate public safety concerns.
John Noble of Des Moines says the bill is a distraction from Iowa’s real problems, like a rising cancer rate and a declining education system.
Vanessa Marcano Kelly, board chair of the Iowa Movement for Migrant Justice, directly criticized the bill’s sponsors.
Representative Steven Holt, a Republican from Denison, responded.
Holt says there are criminals who came across the border illegally and some of them are in Iowa.
Republican Representative Skyler Wheeler says an illegal immigrant recently stabbed two people in Hull, his hometown.
The bill requires Iowa law enforcement agencies to sign a memorandum, pledging to cooperate with federal agencies enforcing immigration laws. According to the A-C-L-U of Iowa, by Wednesday night 157 jurisdictions in the United States had signed the memo and agreed to have local officers serve federal immigration warrants and jail suspected illegal aliens.
BILLS ADVANCE ON PIPELINE LIABILITY, REGULATORS’ ATTENDANCE AT MEETINGS
New requirements for the company that has a permit to build a carbon pipeline and for the state regulators that granted the permit have cleared initial review in the Iowa House. One bill would require Summit Carbon Solutions to show it has enough insurance to cover all damages from a pipeline rupture. The company says it had to show it has an insurance policy to cover at least 100 million dollars in damages during construction. Representative Steven Holt, a Republican from Denison, says if there’s a pipeline rupture, the cost and liability would hit the owners of property along the pipeline route as well as the local governments who’d have to respond to the disaster. The other bill would require the three members of the Iowa Utilities Commission attend the hearings they conduct and the information meetings they schedule. Holt and House Speaker Pat Grassley say they both attended meeting where no commissioner was present to hear from members of the public who were testifying.
