(Radio Iowa) – The final holiday of the year is projected to follow the pattern of others when it comes to the number of people expected to hit the roadways and airports. Triple-A Iowa spokesman, Brian Ortner, says holiday travel from the region including Iowa is projected to be the fourth highest on record. “A fun way to describe it, I guess is wash, rinse, repeat when we look at how 2023 has been, you know, even despite inflationary pressures, and Americans and Iowans are still willing to get out, then travel for those holidays,” he says. “We’ve seen it over Thanksgiving, we saw it over Independence Day. And now we’re seeing it for Christmas and New Year’s coming up.” Ortner says the travel surge continues to be driven by the pandemic, which kept everyone from traveling.

“And I say that based on a survey done back in August by Triple-A, that we’re asking people, you know, what are your reasons for traveling?,” Ortner says. “And the mindset has changed from bucket list items to man, I want to see family and friends.” Nearly nine million people in what’s called the north-central region are expected to head out for the holidays. “About eight-point-one million of those are going to be hitting the roads. And the biggest thing was that is sometimes it’s just easier to drive and sometimes more cost effective than hitting the air, you know, we are seeing higher numbers in air travel in our region,” he says. “The number that’s surprising, that’s exceeding pre-pandemic levels is what’s classified as the other modes of transportation. And that’s like your cruises or your destinations, you know, your resorts and those sorts of things. But living in Iowa, we don’t have the sun in the beaches. So that makes a lot of sense”. There’s now about two weeks to go before Christmas, and Ortner says you need to make reservations as soon as possible.

“Whether it’s winter or summer, the advice remains the same for your air travel. Plan ahead, get to the airport early, and monitor your flights using your airline’s app or the airport’s apps to make sure your flights not delayed or canceled,” Ortner says. “And consider travel insurance, you know if there’s a cancellation or a delay. Travel insurance is a nice comfort feature.” The other states in the north-central along with Iowa are Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Nebraska, and South Dakota.

(Radio Iowa) – Officials in a northern Iowa county are evaluating last week’s federal court ruling that permanently blocks Shelby and Story County ordinances that would have restricted where hazardous liquid pipelines may be located. Kossuth County Supervisor Carter Nath, of Lu Verne, represents the area where Summit’s proposed carbon capture pipeline would pass and he says the ruling wasn’t a surprise.

“There was already a preliminary ruling on that. It was just making it a permanent ruling,” Nath says. “In my mind, it really didn’t change things. Maybe in the court of law, it’s just more finalized. “A federal judge ruled the ordinances in Story and Shelby County could have made it impossible for Summit Carbon Solutions to build a carbon pipeline even if the Iowa Utilities Board grants the company a permit.

Kossuth County Supervisors have drafted an ordinance that’s similar to Shelby County’s. It has not gone into effect, but has made it most of the way through the approval process. The Board of Supervisors is scheduled to discuss the ordinance this (Tuesday) morning at its meeting in Algona.

(Radio Iowa) Governor Kim Reynolds has said her goal is to get rid of the state income tax by the end of her current term — which would be December of 2026. A bill that cleared an Iowa Senate committee last spring suggested elimination of the state income tax could be accomplished in the next decade. Republican Senator Dan Dawson of Council Bluffs is chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee.

“The Senate Republican goal has always been to eliminate the income tax in a responsible and thoughtful manner,” Dawson says. “and that is the pathway that we are going down this next session.” Dawson says he’s looking forward to seeing the tax plan Governor Reynolds is set to unveil in January. Under current law, the state’s personal income tax will become a flat three-point-nine percent by 2026 — but Republican leaders say the state is still taking in far more tax dollars than needed to run the government.

Senate Democratic Leader Pam Jochum says the focus of tax cutting should be on helping working families and elderly Iowans.  “Not on the wealthy and the big corporations who have quite frankly benefited from this series of tax cuts we’ve seen in recent years,” Jochum says.

Jochum and Dawson made their comments at a forum sponsored by the Iowa Taxpayers Association. The 2024 Iowa legislative session begins Monday, January 8th.

(Radio Iowa) – Senate Democratic Leader Pam Jochum says Democrats are developing a plan of targeted income tax cuts, like raising the Earned Income Tax Credit for low and moderate income workers, as an alternative to the G-O-P goal of getting rid of the state’s income tax.

“If there’s going to be any changes in the tax system, number one you don’t eliminate the income tax system because it is a more fair system,” Jochum says, “based on the ability to pay.” Governor Kim Reynolds and Republican lawmakers say their ultimate goal is complete elimination of the state income tax. Reynolds approved income tax rate reductions in 2018 and, in 2022, the governor signed a bill that is making deeper cuts in tax rates for individuals and corporations. It will eventually shrink the individual income tax rate to just under four percent by 2026.

“We have been waiting almost six years as working class or middle class Iowans to see any result of even the tax cuts that happened six years ago,” Jochum says. Jochum points to a Department of Revenue analysis which found that if the state income tax is eliminated, the state sales tax would have to be raised to 14 percent to maintain critical state services.

“The sales tax is a regressive tax,” Jochum says. “Regardless of how much money you earn, you’re going to pay 14% on the dollar for everything you purchase and so it’s going to be the working poor, the middle class who are really going to take it in the shorts on this one if that’s the path they follow.”

Republicans in the Senate say eliminating the state income tax will make Iowa more competitive with states like South Dakota, Florida, Texas and Tennessee that do not have a state income tax. A Des Moines Register Iowa Poll conducted last March found 56 percent of Iowans favor gradually reducing the state income tax rate until it is eliminated.

(Boone, Iowa) – Two pickups collided northwest of Boone, Monday evening, resulting in the death of a man from Boone. The Iowa State Patrol says the crash happened at around 7:05-p.m. at the intersection of Kale Road and 170th Street. The report said a 1996 Ford F-150 pickup driven by 74-year-old Larry Young, of Boone, was southbound on Kale Road, and failed to stop at the intersection with 170th. A 2021 Chevy pickup driven by 62-year-old Kenneth Lendt, of Ogden, was westbound on 170th when Young’s vehicle entered the westbound lanes and the vehicles collided.

Lendt’s vehicle then crashed into a power pole and some trees before entering the southbound ditch and coming to rest between two trees. The Patrol says Larry Young died at the scene. Lendt was transported by Boone County EMS to the Boone County Hospital. Both men were wearing their seat belts.

The crash remains under investigation.

(Manilla, Iowa) – A collision between two semi tractor-trailers Monday afternoon west of Manilla, claimed the life of a Carroll County man. The Iowa State Patrol reports a 2018 Peterbilt semi driven by 65-year-old Douglas L. Hook, of Carroll, was traveling west on Highway 141 and crossing the intersection with Highway 59. A 2015 Freightliner driven by 23-year-old Hayden H. Leonard, of Millville, MN, was traveling north on Highway 59.

Leonard’s semi struck Hook’s semi in the northbound lane of Highway 59. The crash happened at around 4:43-p.m. Following the collision, the Peterbilt came to rest in the northwest ditch. The Freightliner came to rest west of the intersection on V Avenue. The accident caused the intersection to be blocked for several hours.

The Patrol says Douglas Hook died from his injuries after being transported by Manilla Ambulance to the Crawford County Memorial Hospital in Denison.