(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Workforce Development is sending its new mobile Iowa Works center to Perry after the announcement that Tyson plans to shut down the pork plant there. Iowa Workforce Development director Beth Townsend recently talked about the setup of the mobile center. “We can do almost all of the services that we provide at the American Job Center in our mobile unit, and it can go anywhere, you know, river to river, border to border,” Townsend says. She says it allows them to make a quick response if there is an unexpected mass layoff, and they can set up in that community and be there as long as needed. Townsend says they can respond to other events as well.

“If we, God forbid, have natural disaster, we can show up and have a place to operate from, it does have a generator, so we don’t have to plug into an electrical outlet to operate,” she says.
Townsend says it doesn’t have to it doesn’t just go to a community for emergencies. “If you’ve got a career fair or you’re an employer that needs to do a lot of hiring all at once you can sign up and we can come out and feel close to career fair right there at the mobile center,” she says.

Townsend encourages anyone who is interested to learn more about the mobile center on the Iowa Work Works website.

(Radio Iowa) – A bill that would let state agencies hire private certified public accountants rather than have the state auditor’s office review spending is in limbo in the Iowa House. Senate Republicans approved the bill in February, the first bill to pass the Senate this year. This morning, Republicans on a House subcommittee decided to let the House State Government Committee chair decide the bill’s fate. Republican Representative Michael Bergan of Dorchester, an accountant, is not recommending the committee pass the bill. “There might be some additional costs and added inefficiencies, too,” Bergan, the subcommittee chairman, said after the hearing.

According to the Legislative Services Agency, it could cost up to three times as much to have private CPA firms rather than State Auditor’s Office staff conduct the annual audits, plus Bergan said private CPA audits of state agencies could make it difficult for the state auditor to compile a required annual report on how the state spends federal funds. Brad Epperly, a lobbyist for the Iowa Society of CPAs, said the group is neutral on the bill and he suggested if the bill goes into effect, state agencies would have to hire out-of-state CPA firms to do the work. “As of right now, I don’t know that we have any members that would have the ability to do the audits,” Epperly said.

State Auditor Rob Sand, the only Democrat elected to statewide office, has said letting state agencies pick who audits the books could conceal corruption. Representative Adam Zabner of Iowa City, a Democrat from Iowa City, voted no on the bill in subcommittee. “Auditor Sand does a nice job. To be honest, it really doesn’t matter what I think. It matters what the voters think and they reelected him to come back and be in charge of audits for the State of Iowa,” Zabner said. “I don’t like the idea that the legislature can circumvent that.”

There were a handful of speakers at today’s House subcommittee hearing on the bill and no one spoke in favor of it.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – “Iowa in the Jazz age” is the topic of a presentation 2-p.m. this Sunday, March 17th, in Atlantic. The program is sponsored by ARISE (Atlantic Rock Island Society Enterprise). Lively music, “flappers ‘” dresses and Iowa bootleggers may come to mind representing the 1920’s. There was much more happening. Prohibition, beginning of the depression and the end of prosperity. See the bigger picture this Sunday, at the American Legion Memorial Building (The Armory) in Atlantic.

Leo Landis examines life in the 1920s and early 1930s and the various conflicts concerning music, dancing, immigration, evolutions and race. These cultural clashes formed the basis for longstanding trends in America. Landis is the Curator for the State Historical Society and Iowa Museum. The museum houses more than 80,000 artifacts, of which about 1,500 objects are on display at any given time. More objects from the collection are on display in the State Capitol and on loan to other museums in Iowa.

There is no fee to attend the presentation, but donations are appreciated. The American Legion Memorial Building is located at 201 Poplar Street in Atlantic and is handicapped accessible. For more information contact LaVon Eblen, 712-254-2254.

(Radio Iowa) – Several elected officials from Iowa communities are in Washington D-C this week to attend the non-partisan National League of Cities Congressional City Conference. Dubuque Mayor Brad Cavanagh is among them and he says it’s an excellent opportunity to network with other civic leaders, and also with those at the federal level. “In Dubuque, we have a lot of things going on, particularly around infrastructure, and making sure that we’re creating and investing in a city that is going to last for generations,” Cavanagh says. “So we have really important meetings that we’ve had with lots of different federal departments, from the White House on down, meetings with the Department of Interior, USDA, Department of Transportation, Environmental Protection Agency.”

Organizers say the conference is being attended by more than 28-hundred city leaders from across the country who are discussing some of the most pressing issues facing cities today. Those include infrastructure, transportation, public safety, clean energy and digital equity. Being in the nation’s capitol, the mayor says he’s cementing good partnerships with key federal officials. “We have access to a lot of resources to be able to get some of these major projects done,” Cavanagh says, “so talking to these departments and having direct relationships with them in this way is really how we make sure we have good access to those resources, and we can apply for the grants we need to, and really be able to have these things moving forward.”

Cavanagh says many elements of federal legislation that are being approved have been “transformative.” “Generationally, for cities and towns, and I think in Iowa, there’s absolutely no exception to that,” Cavanagh says. “We are seeing a lot of things happen from an infrastructure standpoint. In the Inflation Reduction Act, we have a lot of access to things that surround the sustainability efforts that are really important to us in Dubuque, and I think are important across Iowa.”

Other Iowans who are listed as attending the conference include: Ames city council members Gloria Betcher and Anita Rollins, Cedar Rapids city council member Ashley Vanorny, Dubuque city council member Susan Farber, and Alan Kemp, the executive director of the Iowa League of Cities. The conference opened Monday and will conclude on Wednesday.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – The Montgomery County Board of Supervisors, today (Tuesday), voted unanimously to send a letter to the Director of Policy Studies Center in Washington, D-C, refuting an accusation that Montgomery County is a “Sanctuary” for illegal immigrants.

Board Chair Mike Olson said he consulted with Cass County Supervisors Chair Steve Baier on the matter. Last week, the Cass County Board agreed to send a similar letter to Jessica M. Vaughan, vehemently denying the claim.

Olson said in 2014, counties in Iowa passed a resolution stating unequivocally, they will NOT hold illegal aliens if they have no green card or visa, for more than 48-hours.

Olson said “I took offense to that.”

Olson said he was going to mail the letter by registered mail that requires a signature of receipt.

Montgomery County BOS mtg. 3-12-24

In other business, the Board received an update from Montgomery County Engineer Karen Albert.

And, they voted to approve allocating a refund payment from United Health Care (UHC) to the Two Rivers (Bank) partially self-funded account, in the amount of $12,878.80. The funds can be used to help reduce County employee health insurance premiums and/or deductibles.