Voters in the Red Oak Community School District, Tuesday, overwhelmingly approved at Public Measure pertaining to a 10-year extension of a Physical Plant and Equipment Levy (PPEL), and a PPEL Income Surtax. According to unofficial results from the Montgomery County Auditor’s Office, “Proposition A” received 391 Yes votes and 154 No votes, or 71.74% to 28.26%. A simple majority was needed in order for the measure to pass.

The levy of $1.34 per thousand dollars taxable property valuation will be used for building and grounds maintenance and construction, plus transportation, equipment and technology purchases. It becomes effective on June 30^th 2021, while the Income Surtax starts December 31^st for each calendar year, and commencing with the 2020 calendar year.

Meanwhile voters in the Hamburg School District, Tuesday overwhelmingly rejected a $4.3 million bond issue for a renovation and expansion of Marnie Simons Elementary School. Unofficial results from the Fremont County Auditor’s Office show the bond issue was rejected by a 367-to-274 vote. The referendum received only 42.75% of the vote–well short of the 60% super-majority necessary for its passage.

School officials proposed the project in order to make it more compatible for middle school students. Marnie Simons became a K-8 facility earlier this year. Opponents argued the expansion was unnecessary for the district’s small enrollment, and that the building was in good shape. They also believed the bond issue was too big of an expense for taxpayers.

Governor Terry Branstad says the bill his fellow Republicans in the legislature have crafted to change bargaining rights for public employee unions includes “many of the changes” HE has wanted to make for years. “I’m proud of the fact we have people in the legislature that are willing to do the right thing and are not going to be threatened or intimiated by anybody,” Branstad says. “We have a responsibility to the people that elected us.”

In 1974, Branstad was one of the few legislators who voted AGAINST the state’s current collective bargaining law for government workers and teachers in Iowa. Lieutenant Governor Kim Reynolds says the changes in this year’s bill are “necessary” because public employees in Iowa are being rewarded for “time served” rather than “merit.”

“It’s just simply not fair and it really demonstrates, I think, how far out of whack in the disparity and the differences that are taking place with the current collective bargaining law,” Reynolds said, “and how it has become in favor of the unions and their special interests.” In a rare move, Reynolds and Branstad held an afternoon news conference WITH the Republican leaders in the House and Senate to discuss the legislation. House Speaker Linda Upmeyer, a Republican from Clear Lake, says this bill should be “no surprise” since House Republicans tried to make many of these changes six years ago.

“The goal is to take another look and make some changes to a process that hasn’t been looked at very thoroughly in 40 years,” Upmeyer says. Senate Majority Leader Bill Dix, a Republican from Shell Rock, says the bill “is a better deal for Iowa taxpayers. “The proposal before us is about local control…It gives school boards the opportunity to improve student achievement by keeping the best teachers in the classroom,” Dix says.And Dix says getting rid of seniority will let school officials fire “the occasional…bad apple” in the teaching profession.

Tammy Wawro is president of the Iowa State Education Association, the union that represents 34-thousand teachers.  “I am beyond angry today,” Wawro said during a statehouse news conference. “I am actually mortified.” Wawro is urging union members to talk with their co-workers and explain the scope of the legislation. “When you’re talking about removing seniority, when you’re talking about not being able even to have a conversation about what your insurance might look like, that doesn’t just impact union members,” Wawro says. “That impacts every public sector worker and employee.”

Iowa Federation of Labor president Ken Sager says isn’t just about STATE employees and teachers. The bill will hit 184-thousand Iowans, including those who work for cities and counties. “There’s been an ongoing effort, an ongoing vendetta if you will to penalize the very people in this state who provide the necessary services to provide for a civilized society,” Sager says. “There’s something fundamentally wrong with that.”

Danny Homan is president of AFSCME Council 61, the union that represents the largest share of state workers. “The Republicans in the House and Senate have cowardly crafted this legislation behind closed doors,” Homan says. “They have been hiding from those that this affects because it’s easier to betray working men and women without having to look them in the eye.”

During a statehouse news conference, the three union leaders said they were NOT planning mass protests at the capitol. Instead, they’re urging union members to attend weekend forums legislators hold in their home districts. Police and fire fighters in Iowa would retain many of their current bargaining rights under the proposed legislation, but fire fighters and police officers were among the union members who flooded the capitol yesterday to object to the bill.

A subcommittee in the Iowa HOUSE will discuss this collective bargaining bill early this (Wednesday) morning. A SENATE subcommittee has a two-hour meeting on the same bill scheduled to start at 11 a.m. It appears the bill is likely to pass both the House and Senate next week. The governor has indicated he’ll quickly sign it into law.

(Radio Iowa)

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 2:40 a.m. CST

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has told Iowa environmental regulators that changes made to state clean water standards last year violate federal regulations. The Iowa Environmental Protection Commission approved changes in August that eliminated a rigorous environmental assessment before allowing new contaminants to be introduced to streams, rivers or lakes by city wastewater treatment plants or industry.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Republicans in the Iowa Legislature are moving quickly on a bill that public employee unions say would gut Iowa’s collective bargaining law. The 68-page bill was filed Tuesday in the House and Senate. The scope of the proposed changes is unclear, and it caused confusion in the initial hours of its release. Union leaders say they’re still reviewing the bill and how it stacks up with efforts around the country to change collective bargaining laws.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa Senate subcommittee approved a proposed ban on medical research using fetal tissue despite objections it could jeopardize life-saving cures. The Republican-controlled panel agreed Tuesday that the use or transportation of fetal tissue should be largely prohibited. The legislation is similar to a bill passed in the Iowa House last year. That bill failed in a Senate controlled by Democrats, but with Republicans controlling both chambers, the measure could see greater support.

WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — A Waterloo man accused of stabbing to death his father has taken a plea deal. The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports that Rashod Aldridge entered Alford pleas Monday to charges of voluntary manslaughter and two counts of going armed with intent. Under an Alford plea, a defendant maintains innocence but acknowledges prosecutors have enough evidence for conviction. He’d been charged with second-degree murder in the March 20 slaying of Roosevelt Aldridge.