(Radio Iowa) – The State of Iowa spent nearly three-point-two million dollars over a decade in defense of former Governor Terry Branstad’s attempt to replace the state’s Workers Compensation Commissioner. The state’s Executive Council has approved the final payment of 371-thousand dollars to the Des Moines law firm that represented Branstad. Iowa Workers Compensation Commissioner Christopher Godfrey filed a lawsuit in 2012.

He accused Branstad of singling him out because he was gay, pressuring him to resign, then cutting his salary by a third when he refused . In 2019, a jury awarded Godfrey one-and-a-half million dollars. Two years later, the Iowa Supreme Court tossed out the jury’s verdict, ruling that there was no evidence to prove Branstad is anti-gay. Godfrey also alleged he was fired because business groups complained about his rulings on workers’ compensation cases.

The Supreme Court ruled whether correct or not, Branstad was entitled to take that perception into consideration and ask Godfrey to resign before his term had ended. Godfrey is now director of Workers’ Compensation Programs at the U.S. Department of Labor.

(Radio Iowa) – The University of Iowa plans to offer a major in Risk Management and Insurance starting in the fall of 2023 as a way to strengthen the state’s largest non-agriculture economic sector. A U-I finance professor, Thomas Berry-Stoelzle,  will direct the new major. For now, he says U-I students can only get a certificate in the insurance program, which is similar to a minor.

“There used to be an insurance major here at the university that was discontinued in the mid-80s,” Berry-Stoelzle says. “I would say the local companies always wanted to get a major back. We started the certificate 15 years ago and there was always a push to expand the program.” The goal is to attract 20 students to the new major in the first year, expanding to perhaps 80 students within five years. Risk Management and Insurance may not have the curb appeal of some other majors, but Berry-Stoelzle believes it will definitely attract interest.

“The biggest selling point are the job opportunities here in the state. The insurance industry accounts for 11% of the state’s GDP and there are great career options for students in the state and in the region,” Berry-Stoelzle says. “The insurance industry is important for the economy as a whole and less cyclical when you think about longer-term careers.” The new major will be offered in the U-I’s Tippie College of Business, where graduates will be able to earn a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) degree.

“The Risk Management insurance program at the University of Iowa is already recognized as a global center of insurance excellence by the International Insurance Society, and that puts us within the top 25 Risk Management insurance programs in the country,” Berry-Stoelzle says. “We hope that the major will further help us to elevate our reputation and become a top 10 program in the near future.”

Des Moines is one of the nation’s top hubs for insurance, and has been ranked third in the world behind Hartford, Connecticut and London, England. Some 212 insurance companies are now operating in Iowa, with dozens of them based in the Des Moines metro. So what makes Iowa such an insurance mecca? “A big advantage for insurance companies in the state is the predictable regulatory environment,” Berry-Stoelzle says. “There’s less politics involved in terms of regulation here in the state of Iowa, compared to other places.”

More than 60,000 Iowans work in the insurance and risk management profession. The industry is expected to grow in the future, as climate change, cyberattacks, and other hazards will require companies to better manage those risks.

DES MOINES – Gov. Kim Reynolds and the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs have announced more than $2.3 million in grants have been awarded to 191 Iowa organizations and individuals working in arts, culture, history, humanities, film and media in 69 communities, including Corning, Creston, Council Bluffs, Earlham and Elk Horn.

The grants are designed to support creative placemaking, a strategy that centers arts and culture in community and economic development. The funding supports Iowa’s creative workforce, revitalizes historic districts, launches public art projects, advances film stories “from script to screen” – and more.

Cultural attractions – including museums, performing arts venues, science centers, gardens, film and music festivals – draw in visitors and engage their communities through arts and culture. The new grants support cultural destinations that collectively offer more than six million days of engagement every year.

The grants are administered by the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs’ divisions: the Iowa Arts Council; interim Iowa Humanities Council; State Historical Society of Iowa and State Historic Preservation Office of Iowa; and Produce Iowa, the state office of film and media production.

Funding is made possible through annual appropriations from the Iowa Legislature and through state-federal partnerships with the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Additional funding comes from the nonprofit State Historical Society of Iowa, Inc., and through the state’s Resource Enhancement and Protection Act, which the legislature enacted to provide funds to preserve, conserve, interpret, enhance and educate the public about Iowa’s historical resources.

The department also supports 60 of Iowa’s leading arts and cultural organizations as Cultural Leadership Partners, which maintain high standards, attract tourists, generate economic activity and sustain high-quality jobs.

The grants announced today are divided into four broad categories:

Arts & Culture
The Iowa Arts Council awarded $1,550,979 in grants to 146 projects in 51 Iowa communities. These grants support a variety of creative placemaking initiatives that combine arts and culture with community development. In addition to the annual grants announced today, the Artist Catalyst Grants, Creative Places Project Grants and School Arts Experience Grants are now offered quarterly, and the next application deadline is Aug. 1.

In southwest Iowa, the Creston Community High School will bring 70 students to Mainframe Studios in Des Moines, as part of its “Create Arts as a Career” workshop. The program is designed to expose rural youth to careers in the arts and creative fields and to help students see that creative people can live, create and thrive in Iowa.

And the Museum of Danish America in Elk Horn received a total of $45,000 for two projects including for “The Future of Video Storage.”

Museum of Danish America Visual Storage

(Radio Iowa) – Workers rallied outside of the Bridgestone-Firestone tire plant in Des Moines today (Thursday) as union and corporate negotiators approach a deadline to reach a new labor contract. The United Steelworkers Union represents around 950 out of the 13-hundred employees at the factory that makes tires for tractors and other agricultural equipment. Bill Campbell, a vice president of the local union, says Bridgestone’s proposal is far from what the union is demanding on wages, health care and retirement.

“Things can happen very quickly. Hopefully, they do,” he said. “The goal is not to go on strike, for everybody, it’s to get a fair contract, but we are ready to go if need be.” The current contract expires tonight at 11. Campbell says work at the plant could continue without a new contract if negotiations are going well. Otherwise, union negotiators could call for a strike or the company could lock out its employees. It was nearly a year ago that John Deere workers across several states went on a month-long strike. Campbell believes Bridgestone workers still have leverage.

“John Deere is different from Bridgestone-Firestone. They did a good thing and got what they needed up there,” Campbell says, “and hopefully we can do this without having to do what they had to do.” About four-thousand union members at facilities in Des Moines, Arkansas, Illinois, Tennessee and Ohio are covered by the contract.

(Reporting by Iowa Public Radio’s Grant Gerlock)

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller accuses tobacco companies Philip Morris, R.J. Reynolds and 16 others of defrauding Iowa of millions of dollars by withholding payments due under the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement. “Just an enormously complex case, but it comes down to their ability to withhold this money from us – huge amount of money – 133 million dollars over a large number of years, 18 years now,” Miler says.

The settlement agreement requires tobacco manufacturers to pay billions annually to participating states in exchange for the states agreeing not to sue for health-related damages to citizens.

The lawsuit was filed in the Polk County District Court today (Thursday).