The 2018 Iowa legislative session starts next Monday (Jan. 8th), and Republican legislators who control the debate agenda have placed tax cuts at the top of their to-do list. Republican Governor Kim Reynolds plans to outline her own “broad ideas” on tax policy next Tuesday. That’s when she delivers her “Condition of the State” speech to legislators.

“I don’t know if at that point it will be a ‘five-point’ tax plan because I think it’s really important that we make sure that it’s sustainable and it’s financially prudent and does what we want it to do and so I don’t know if my goal is to rush in and to do something, but to more importantly kind of set out a broad parameter,” Reynolds says.

By revealing guideposts rather than a detailed plan, Reynolds says that will give G-O-P lawmakers time to test and develop components of a comprehensive tax package. “It’s the same process kind of that they used at the federal level, I think, to: ‘Here’s the broad agreement and then let’s work through some of the details in what that looks like and take a look the different ideas that are being projected,” Reynolds says, “and see, really, where we can have the best bang for the buck.”

A 43-page memo prepared for Republicans in the Iowa Senate was obtained by the “Bleeding Heartland” blog. It outlined a wide-ranging tax plan that included reducing income tax rates for individual Iowans, cutting the state’s corporate tax rate and phasing out the STATE inheritance tax. Senate Republican Leader Bill Dix says his “main goal” in 2018 is to reduce income tax rates. “If you just think about it, from common sense, taxing income taxes hard work, taxes risk-taking, taxes people who would be making investments here in high-quality career opportunities in our state,” Dix says.

House Speaker Linda Upmeyer, the top Republican in the legislature, says Iowa’s corporate taxes and the top income tax rate for individuals are “among the highest in the country.” “We’d sure like to improve that. We’d like to make Iowa more competitive,” Upmeyer says. “We’d like to leave more dollars in Iowans’ pockets and invest that the way they’d like to.”

Republicans hold a majority of seats in both the Iowa House and the Iowa Senate, so the G-O-P gets to decide which bills get voted upon. Senator Janet Petersen was elected as the leader of the 19 Democrats in the Senate this fall.  “We have been having town hall meetings across the state and the things that we’re hearing from people in rural areas and small towns and communities all over is they want better paying job opportunities in their hometowns,” Petersen says, “so our focus is going to be on job growth and on improving the skills to help people job-up and skill-up for better-paying jobs.”

Petersen says Iowans are also raising concerns about Medicaid and the state’s mental health care system “in particular.” State Representative Mark Smith, the leader of Democrats in the Iowa House, says Iowa cannot reach the goal of being the healthiest state in the country without fixing the mental health system.

(Radio Iowa)

The opioid crisis is hitting farm families much harder than the rest of rural America, according to a survey commissioned by the American Farm Bureau and National Farmers Union. Will Rodger, director of policy communications for the Farm Bureau, says an overwhelming majority of farmers and farm workers surveyed said they have been impacted by opioid abuse. “Drug addiction is a disease and it’s something that’s taking an increasing toll on rural America,” Rodger says. “Rather than trying to hide the problem, we want to make sure people get treatment, because treatment is available. They just have to make the decision to get out there and get it.”

The survey shows rural adults recognize opioid abuse can begin accidentally with the use of what are deemed as “safe” painkillers. “Seventy-four percent of people polled in farm country are saying they’ve been directly impacted by opioid abuse, that’s farmers and farm workers,” Rodger says. “By direct impact, we’re talking about people who have abused drugs, are addicted to drugs, have family members or friends who are in a similar situation.” He says both Farm Bureau and Farmers Union members want those hurt by opioids to get the help they need. “Oftentimes, you’ll have a person who’s injured or in some sort of pain and they get a prescription for oxycodone or whatever it might be,” Rodger says. “Within a short period of time, they find themselves addicted to it. It’s not that they’re looking to get high, it’s that they’re looking to keep the pain at bay.”

Rodger says both organizations want an education campaign to help those who are being impacted by opioid abuse in rural America.

(Radio Iowa)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — State statistics on traffic-related deaths suggest Iowa roads were safer last year than in 2016. Iowa Department of Transportation figures show that 329 people died in traffic-related incidents in 2017, as of Dec. 29. The 2016 figure: 398. The drop in traffic deaths follows a jump in 2016 from 315 fatalities in 2015.

Iowa State Patrol Sgt. Nathan Ludwig told The Des Moines Register that a new state law that cracked down on texting while driving may have helped avert deadly collisions in 2017. Ludwig also said the lack of snowfall last year — except for heavy snow and winds Thursday and Friday — may have helped lower the fatality figure.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — An economist says a business conditions index for nine Midwest and Plains states rose over the past month, pointing to continuing improvement in regional economic conditions. A report released Tuesday says the Mid-America Business Conditions Index climbed to 59.0 from 57.2 in November. The October figure was 58.8. The Iowa overall index dipped to 54.3 in December from 55.2 in November. Index components were new orders at 63.4, production or sales at 56.9, delivery lead time at 49.0, employment at 53.0 and inventories at 49.3.

Creighton University economist Ernie Goss oversees the survey, and he says profit growth, low interest rates and the recently passed tax package pushed business confidence last month to its highest level since January 2011. The survey results are compiled into a collection of indexes ranging from zero to 100. Survey organizers say any score above 50 suggests growth in that factor. A score below that suggests decline.

The survey covers Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Dakota.

Adams County Sheriff’s officials report a Cass County man was arrested Monday night, following a traffic stop. Deputies stopped a vehicle near Highways 34 and 148 at around 7:20-p.m., for a traffic violation.  Upon further investigation, the driver of the vehicle, Ancherson William, of Atlantic, was placed under arrest after providing a false name to deputies. William was charged with Providing False Information, Driving Under Suspension, and on an arrest warrant.

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

DELHI, Iowa (AP) — A group of University of Iowa students presented possible solutions to a wastewater treatment issue at a lake in eastern Iowa. The Telegraph Herald reports that engineering students with the university’s Iowa Initiative for Sustainable Communities offered design options to Delaware County officials. The findings aim to help Delhi home septic systems meet state code.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A Des Moines shelter is bending some of its rules to ensure that homeless people have a place to stay during the dangerous chill that’s descended over much of the Midwest. Central Iowa Shelters & Services is letting people stay longer as the temperature remains zero (minus 18 Celsius) or below. The shelter also is converting its computer lab into living space.

DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) — A Chicago man accused of shooting into a Dubuque nightclub has pleaded not guilty. The Dubuque Telegraph Herald reports that 32-year-old Richard Sanchez filed a written plea to charges of theft, going armed with intent and of intimidation with a dangerous weapon.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A former Sioux City schoolteacher has been accused of stealing nearly $3,000 from accounts she set up for East High Special Olympics and the Friendship Connection. The Sioux City Journal reports that 48-year-old Melissa Dickerson is charged with theft. Her attorney didn’t immediately return a call Monday from The Associated Press.

Des Moines University administrators are asking for 250-thousand dollars in state taxpayer support — to help finance a new course about mental illness for all its students who are training to be doctors. Governor Kim Reynolds says the proposal “makes sense” — but she and her staff are trying to figure out if there’s money in the state budget to support the effort to train future doctors in how best to diagnose mental conditions.

“What I love about DMU is they have doctors in almost all 99 counties and I come from rural Iowa, so I’m extremely appreciative of that,” Reynolds says, “and so it makes sense as we talk about access, especially for rural Iowa, that we’re training them to see the signs and help them get the services they need.” The medical school already has raised private money to start teaching the course over the next six months to its medical students. Psychologist Lisa Streyffler is the chair of D-M-U’s department of behavioral medicine.

) “As we train our osteopathic physicians, we know that we’re moving more and more to a community model of treating the folks with mental illnesses in our state and so what we’re thinking about as an educational institution is what can we do to create truly excellent primary care (doctors) to be providing a lot of that mental health care,” she says, “because we know that they are the folks who actually do the bulk of the work.”

She says doctors can help the overall health and well-being of their patients by being trained to recognize and treat symptoms of mental illness. Des Moines University graduates more primary-care doctors than any medical school in the country.

(Radio Iowa)

Adair County Sheriff Jeff Vandewater reports one arrest took place over the past week. On Dec. 28th, 26-year old Cody Leon Zimmerline, of Adair, was arrested in Adair on an Adair County warrant for Failure to Appear, on an original charge Driving While License Under Suspension. Zimmerline was brought to the Adair County Jail in Greenfield, and released the following day on a $300 cash bond.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The wait to buy newly legal recreational weed has stretched to 40 minutes at the Mankind Cooperative cannabis retailer in San Diego. “We’re insane down here. And it’s still going on, girlfriend,” marketing retailer Cathy Bliss said Monday. A few customers were grumbling about the long wait.

Store workers were handing out commemorative T-shirts showing astronauts on the moon and the phrase “A giant leap for mankind.” California’s new marijuana law allows sales to people from out of state.

Bliss welcomed buyers from Iowa, Kansas and Canada among her initial customers. Overall, she was thrilled. “This is so cool,” she said.

Police in Council Bluffs are investigating a New Year’s Day carjacking – the second such incident in three days. Officials say at around 3:17-a.m., Monday, Police were dispatched to the 3200 block of Avenue J for a reported carjacking. Upon arrival, they made contact with the victim – Derek Howe. Howe told Police he had been sleeping in his car when two males approached and shot him once before leaving in his vehicle, a 2013 Ford Fusion with Nebraska license plates EVJ 830. The man was transported to a local hospital for treatment of non-life threatening injuries.

Saturday morning, a Nebraska man suffered a non-life threatening gunshot wound to the thigh during a car jacking incident in the parking lot of a Council Bluffs casino. Council Bluffs Police say officers were called to the Horseshoe Casino at around 4:43-a.m., for a reporting of a male party laying in the parking lot who had been shot. It was discovered the 53-year old male from Elk Horn, NE., was the victim of a robbery / car-jacking in the parking lot. The unidentified man was shot by a suspect, as the victim attempted to flee on foot from the vehicle. The suspect fled from the scene with the victim’s vehicle, a gray 2006 Ford F-150 Super-Crew.

The victim in Saturday’s incident was transported to the University of Nebraska Medical Center, for treatment of non-life threatening injuries. His vehicle was recovered by the Omaha Police Department in the area of the 2000 block of S. 45th St. Authorities say it had been burned.