(Radio Iowa) — A proposal advancing in the Iowa Senate would amend the Iowa constitution to make it more difficult to raise INCOME taxes. The amendment would require any income tax increase to be approved by a two-thirds supermajority in the House and Senate. Republican Senator Jim Carlin of Sioux City says the requirement would help Iowa be more competitive with South Dakota, which does not have a state income tax.

“In our part of the state we have seen so many jobs drive across the river and take all their tax revenue with them because we don’t have any competitive footing on taxes with South Dakota,” Carlin says. Senator Bill Dotzler, a Democrat from Waterloo, says it would make it harder for lawmakers to raise the INCOME tax in order to cut OTHER taxes, like the state sales tax.

“This piece of legislation would protect the wealthiest individuals in our state from paying their fair share,” Dotzler said. If the proposal clears five other hurdles in the legislature this year, it would still have to be approved again by the legislature sometime in the following two years before Iowans could vote on it in 2022.

In 1999, Iowa voters rejected a constitutional amendment that would have limited state spending. In 2010, Iowa voters approved an amendment setting up a new state water conservation and outdoor recreation fund, to be filled the next time the sales tax is raised.

(Iowa News Service) Des Moines, IA – Iowa lawmakers kicked off the 2020 legislative session this week and already, school funding has become a key topic. The state has increased spending for K-through-12 students in recent years, but education advocates are convinced state leaders could be doing more. The past few school-funding increases have been between one and two percent. Roark Horn, executive director of School Administrators of Iowa, says people in charge of the school districts are telling him that isn’t enough to keep up with their annual costs.

“You think about the increase in health insurance costs, [that] would be an example. Those are not something districts can necessarily contain.” Horn’s group is asking for a three-point-75 percent increase in state funding to help with those rising expenses. In a statement, Governor Kim Reynolds says she’ll propose a two-and-a-half percent hike, but declined to say whether she’d endorse anything beyond that amount.

She says her increase builds on “historic investments in K-through-12 funding. But those who want to see more school spending say that can be misleading – since recent hikes don’t match with inflation. Horn says the school administrators realize that what the governor is proposing is a larger increase than what they’ve seen in recent years. But they still feel they owe it to students and parents to ask for more.

“It’s really not enough to be able to provide the education that I think Iowans expect out of their schools.”  After accounting for salaries, he adds, most districts only have about 20-percent of their funds left to deal with extra but important costs, such as health insurance and facilities. He says cutting into salaries, which are negotiated, is hard because they want to attract quality teachers.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CST

CORNING, Iowa (KJAN) – A collision Thursday afternoon in Adams County between a semi-tractor and a passenger van has claimed the life of a Coon Rapids man. The Iowa State Patrol reports 64-year old Jerome Koester, of Coon Rapids died, when he pulled away from a stop sign near Highway 34 and Highway 148, and his van was struck be a semi tractor, driven by a man from Lenox. The accident, which happened at around 1:20-p.m., remains under investigation.

WASHINGTON (AP) — With all eyes on Democrats as they prepare to cast their ballots in Iowa’s kickoff caucuses, President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign is working to try to persuade Republican voters that they should turn out at their caucus sites, too. The push is complete with a presidential rally next week, GOP-led training sessions and a new video featuring the president’s daughter-in-law. It makes clear that the campaign is trying to avoid the optics of empty Republican rooms on caucus night juxtaposed with Democratic gatherings brimming with enthusiastic voters and keep the focus on Trump.

STANTON, Iowa (AP) — The impeachment trial that got underway this week is happening at an inopportune time for all four senators in the Democratic primary. But it’s a particularly bad moment for Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar. The three-term senator built her campaign on a strategy of a slow and steady build in Iowa. She spent campaign funds conservatively all year, hoping a late surge would bring a strong showing in Iowa and catapult her to the top tier in New Hampshire and beyond. Now her absence from the campaign trail could blunt the gains from what Klobuchar described Wednesday as “quite a 48 hours.”

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Environmental groups and community activists rallied at the Iowa Capitol to push lawmakers to consider halting the growth of hog farms in the state. Food and Water Watch and Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement sponsored the Thursday event. They have sued the state, claiming it has violated its obligation to protect the Raccoon River from hog farm pollution. Activists at the rally called on lawmakers to consider a House bill introduced last year that would impose a moratorium on hog farm expansion. The bill sponsored by a group of Democrats was not assigned by Republican leaders to a subcommittee for discussion.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A resolution amending the Iowa Constitution to declare there is no right to an abortion in the state has passed a Senate committee, making it eligible for floor debate. The measure passed Thursday with only Republican votes from the Senate State Government Committee. Republican Sen. Jake Chapman has long been disturbed by a 2018 Iowa Supreme Court ruling that gave women the right to control their bodies. He calls the decision judicial tyranny and says the amendment restores the people’s voice. The amendment must pass the legislature this year, again next year and then would go to voters as early as 2022.

(Radio Iowa) — State officials are bringing in the retired director of a Virginia facility for patients with intellectual disabilities to address issues at the Glenwood Resource Center.

The Iowa Department of Human Services has contracted with Mark Diorio to provide technical assistance at the Glenwood Resource Center and oversee improvements. Federal officials are investigating physical injuries and allegations of improper nutrition for patients at Glenwood. The former superintendent has been accused of using patients for a sexual arousal study.

In addition, DHS officials have scheduled two “town hall” meetings at the GRC–one with patients’ families February 1st, the other with staff February 6th. Governor Kim Reynolds fired the facility’s superintendent at the end of December. She visited the Glenwood Resource Center yesterday (Wednesday).

ADEL, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa State Patrol says a California man has been arrested after a traffic stop along Interstate 80 southwest of Des Moines turned up more than 430 pounds of marijuana. Television station KCCI reports that a trooper stopped a sport utility vehicle on suspicion of a traffic violation Wednesday night and searched the SUV after smelling a strong odor of raw marijuana coming from inside the vehicle.

The search uncovered three large duffle bags containing 258 pounds of THC edibles and five large duffel bags containing about 173 pounds of high-grade marijuana. The 32-year-old driver from Los Angeles was arrested.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Environmental groups and community activists rallied at the Iowa Capitol to push lawmakers to consider halting the growth of hog farms in the state. Food and Water Watch and Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement sponsored the Thursday event. They have sued the state, claiming it has violated its obligation to protect the Raccoon River from hog farm pollution.

Activists at the rally called on lawmakers to consider a House bill introduced last year that would impose a moratorium on hog farm expansion. The bill sponsored by a group of Democrats was not assigned by Republican leaders to a subcommittee for discussion.

The Shelby County Emergency Management Agency is asking for all businesses in Shelby County to please visit the EMA website, shelbycountyema.com, and fill out the Shelby County Business Contact Information form. Emergency Management Coordinator Alex Londo says business owners or managers will then simply click on the link and fill out eight questions on the form that is attached.

The responses will be sent back to the Shelby County EMA, with the end goal to ensure that they have all the correct information in the event of an emergency at their business after hours. All of the responses will remain confidential.

The site is active now. If any of you have any questions please don’t hesitate to call Londo at 712-755-5160, or e-mail alondo@shco.org.

(Radio Iowa) — The 2020 Iowa legislature will NOT boost the penalties for assaulting referees, umpires, line judges and other sports officials. Bills on the topic were permanently tabled in the House AND the Senate this week. Representative Tom Moore of Griswold retired this summer after officiating high school softball games for the past 30 years. He was a high school wrestling official for 38 years.

“Veteran officials don’t usually have very many problems,” Moore says. “It’s usually the younger officials and fans feel they can intimidate whether it be verbally or, God forbid, physically.” But Moore says assault is assault and it makes no sense to single out sports officials as a protected class.

“Where do we stop? It could go teachers, legislators, newspaper reporters and radio announcers or reporters,” Moore said. “Where do we stop?” Currently state law DOES call for enhanced penalties for assaulting police, fire fighters, prison guards, nurses and doctors and some state employees — including tax collectors. Moore says adding sports officials to that list won’t really address the state’s referee shortage.

“We’re seeing a change in our society that leads to more confrontation with officials,” Moore says. “It’s hurting the overall athletic scene.” Moore was Griswold’s football coach for 23 years. He says proposed liability protection for the decisions referees make during a game was another problem area in the bill he helped shelve at the statehouse.

A collision Thursday afternoon in Adams County between a semi-tractor and a passenger van has claimed the life of a Coon Rapids man. The Iowa State Patrol reports a 2013 Dodge Caravan driven by 64-year old Jerome Koester, of Coon Rapids, was at a stop sign near Highway 34 and Highway 148, when for reasons unknown, Koester failed to yield and entered Highway 34.

A westbound 2006 Peterbilt semi driven by 47-year old Travis Dukes, of Lenox, struck the van. Following the collision, the semi rolled onto its driver’s side. Koester died at the scene. The accident, which happened at around 1:20-p.m., remains under investigation.

The Patrol was assisted by Adams County EMS, along with Corning Fire and Rescue.

COUNCIL BLUFFS – Officials with the Iowa Department of Corrections report 31-year old James Dean Archer, who was convicted of Willful Injury- Causing Serious Injury, and other crimes in Page County, failed to report back to the Council Bluffs Residential Correctional Facility as required this (Thursday) morning.

James Dean Archer

Archer is a white male, 6-feet tall. He weighs about 178 pounds. He was admitted to the work release facility on October 22, 2019.  Persons with information on Archer’s whereabouts should contact local police.