(Radio Iowa) – For the first time since they started tracking the data, the Better Business Bureau says more young people are getting scammed than older Americans. The bureau’s Bao Vang says consumers between the ages of 18 and 24 suffered the highest median losses — about 150-dollars — to scams last year. Before 2020, Vang says older age groups consistently lost more money to con artists.  “More than 46,000 reports were submitted into Scam Tracker in 2020,” Vang says. “That’s a 25% increase from the previous year.”

Scams related to pets and also to P-P-E spiked during the pandemic, although she says they weren’t the worst categories.  “The number-one riskiest scams for consumers was online purchase scams,” Vang says. “Perhaps that’s no surprise to some, that’s because the COVID crisis shut down many stores, people were home and spending more time online.”

Online purchase scams made up just over 38-percent of all scam reports.

DES MOINES – Governor Kim Reynolds and Secretary of State Paul Pate have announced a new interagency partnership with Iowa Workforce Development to assist Iowa businesses with the reinstatement process through the Iowa Secretary of State’s Fast Track Filing system. Business owners whose companies have been dissolved are now able to utilize an online system that is shared by the Secretary of State’s Office and Iowa Workforce Development. This will reduce the reinstatement period from 2-4 weeks to just a few days.  

The Governor says “Iowa small businesses always look for ways to be innovative and dynamic in how they serve their customers, and state government should be no different. This partnership makes the reinstatement process more accessible, efficient, and significantly reduces wait times from 2-4 weeks to just 1-2 business days. I commend Secretary of State Paul Pate and IWD Director Beth Townsend for their collaborative approach to improving the reinstatement process.”  According to Sec. Pate, “This is another important step in providing Iowa’s business community with the service it deserves. Our Fast Track Filing System has greatly reduced processing time for businesses filing with our office. Now, by partnering with other state agencies, we can help entrepreneurs cut through the red tape even faster. This will help more businesses succeed.”  

 The Secretary of State’s Office collaborated with Iowa Workforce Development to develop the interagency system. Both agencies must review and approve applications to reinstate Iowa businesses. Under the previous system, reinstatements were processed solely on paper, which necessitates data entry, cashiering and correspondence be handled manually by State of Iowa staff in separate agencies. Now those functions are handled jointly online and correspondence is via email instead of postal mail.  Beth Townsend, director of Iowa Workforce Development, says “Iowa businesses will benefit greatly from the new system because reinstatement applications will be processed in just a few days compared to several weeks under the old paper-based process. With reinstatement wait times significantly reduced, businesses can re-open their doors faster, which is good news for employers, employees, and Iowans across the state.”

The two agencies process about 2,500 reinstatements per year. Reinstatements are required when an Iowa business entity is dissolved after missing a deadline for a required filing or failing to maintain a registered agent. The Secretary of State’s office worked with a local vendor, QCI, to bring Fast Track Filing online in 2018. Since its inception, more than 500,000 filings have been processed through Fast Track, including nearly 57,000 new Iowa business formations. 

Des Moines, Iowa (March 4, 2021):    The Des Moines Airport Authority has partnered with Exemplar Care to provide travelers the convenience of onsite COVID testing at the Des Moines International Airport. Beginning March 4, 2021, Exemplar Care will offer three types of COVID tests at the airport: PCR, Rapid Antigen, and an Antibody test. International travel, as well as some domestic travel destinations, require a PCR test. Exemplar Care can test travelers at the airport or their West Des Moines location to meet this requirement. Exemplar Care is in the closed Berk & Chesters restaurant space. To book an appointment, visit www.FlyDSM.com and click the button at the top of the page.

Kevin Foley, Airport Authority Executive Director, says “As more people choose to travel, adding onsite testing helps us to provide convenience and safety in a rapidly changing travel environment. Wearing a mask and washing hands frequently remain critical in traveling safely, however through this partnership, travelers will also have the ability to monitor their health at the beginning of their trip as well as upon their return.”

All three tests are offered at low rates to the Des Moines metro: the PCR test is $90, Rapid Antigen $65, and the Antibody test is $25.  It is recommended appointments be scheduled online before travel, especially for the PCR test. However, for returning passengers, walk-in services for Rapid Antigen tests and the Antibody test are offered onsite. PCR test results are back within 24 hours, whereas the other two tests provide results within sixty minutes.

All ticketed passengers within 72 hours of travel are eligible to be tested at the easy-to-access airport testing site. Appointments and walk-in testing are available to anyone at Exemplar Care’s West Des Moines location at 7300 Westown Parkway, Suite 330.  For more information on test options or to book an appointment at either location, visit www.exemplar.care.

All travelers opting for the tests should continue to observe CDC recommendations to mask, social distance and regularly wash hands.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa House has voted to ban demonstrations on the second floor of the Iowa Capitol building. The chambers where the House and Senate debate are located on the second floor, with a large, open rotunda in between. The new policy would ban chanting, rallies and marches on the second floor. Representative Brent Siegrist, a Republican from Council Bluffs, says it would ensure “ordinary citizens” can come to the Capitol and speak with legislators in the second floor rotunda area.

“Demonstrations are perfectly fine and encouraged if you want outside the Capitol, at the basement or on the first floor,” Siegrist said, “but they would not be allowed outside the chamber.”

Siegrist says chanting and singing in the area right outside the House and Senate can be disruptive as legislators debate — but the new rule is primarily designed to ensure the health and safety of elected officials, employees of the legislature, the public and lobbyists. People in the area would still be able to wear buttons and t-shirts carrying a political message under this new policy, but banners and posters would. The proposal is included in procedural rules the House approved yesterday (Wednesday), but the Senate has not voted on the package yet.

Demonstrations are already prohibited on the 3rd floor of the Capitol, where the seating galleries overlooking the House and Senate are located.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa House has unanimously approved state tax breaks for some unemployed Iowans as well as Iowa business owners who got grants and loans financed with FEDERAL pandemic relief funds. The plan means Iowans who qualified for temporary federal unemployment would not have to pay state income taxes on those benefits. In addition, state income taxes would not be charged on the federal Paycheck Protection Program grants and loans to Iowa businesses. Representative Brian Lohse, a Republican from Bondurant, says the total tax savings for Iowa businesses and individuals would amount to an estimated 128 million dollars. “A Covid relief package that is substantial,” Lohse says, “that takes care of both businesses and individuals in as equitable and as meaningful a way as we could possibly do.”

Lohse says this is the right mechanism to get relief to Iowans who took a financial hit during the pandemic. “Benefiting those that have been certainly impacted by the pandemic has been, I think, across the board for all 100 of us one of the foremost thoughts that we’ve had,” Lohse says, “finding the proper way to do it, finding a way that continues to be fiscally responsible.” Representative Dave Jacoby, a Democrat from Coralville, cheered the plan. “I’m smiling under my mask because finally a major bill coming through our chamber with bipartisan support,” he said.

Iowans will still have to pay state income taxes on standard unemployment benefits, but Jacoby says the bill should help as many as two-hundred thousand Iowans who got expanded benefits provided by the federal government. “This is a fantastic bill. In fact, from my point of view, this should have been the first bill we did in January,” Jacoby said. “…It’s much more important than some of the other things that we’ve tackled in the first six or seven weeks.”

Senators have already agreed to exempt P-P-P loans and grants from state taxes. The bill now goes back to the Senate for a vote on erasing state income taxes on the expanded federal benefits to Iowans who were unemployed during the pandemic.