That damn socialist mayor out in New York threatened to hike property taxes by 9.5% unless he can ram through a wealth tax. Wait a New York minute: Property taxes on our humble metal shed along Railroad Street shot up more than 70% this year. Potholes pock the streets and we can barely afford ...
A recently released U.S. House farm bill proposal underinvests in proven solutions farmers rely on to cut fertilizer waste, protect drinking water and reduce climate pollution, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). With mounting financial pressures on farmers, lawmakers should ...
I started my career in rural Iowa in 1974 as an English, speech and reading teacher. Our students were top performers and the state’s education system was the gold standard. Educators and public schools in general were revered and respected by their communities. We didn’t have a lot of ...
This week the House introduced House Study Bill 696 dealing with welfare reform. This bill aims to protect the integrity and sustainability of Iowa’s public assistance programs so it can provide proper care for the Iowans who really need it. It does this by empowering disabled Iowans. It ...
Tama County Public Health & Home Care is more than a department—we are a lifeline for our community. Today, some people are asking whether Home Health should continue in Tama County due to our budget. But they have not talked with us, learned what we do, what revenue we bring into the ...
One of the issues I’ve heard about a lot from constituents has to do with perceived, and real, concerns about weather engineering. House File 2173 is a bill that I’ve allowed to run through the Environmental Protection committee that I chair that deals with the real part of this ...
Last year, more than 4,600 Iowa taxpayers helped boost wildlife conservation with donations to the Fish and Wildlife Fund on their state tax form. This represents a decline of 12 percent from the 2023 tax year. Overall, the number of donors to the long-standing check-off have declined by more ...
This week, Iowa House Republicans released House Study Bill 596, our property tax proposal to put the taxpayers first. This plan is not about protecting the status quo for taxing entities; it is about creating predictability and protecting the bank accounts of hardworking Iowans. For too long ...
We have turned the page on another year at the Tama County Board of Supervisors. Mid-January means that it is time for budget hearings and discussions. When the new board took over last January, we promised transparency and made a commitment to the taxpayer to use sound budgeting principles. ...
2025 was arduous and is good to have behind us. The fever might have broken. Trump was raving mad on TV last week, almost spitting into the camera. This just days after saying that he doesn’t want Somalis living here because they are garbage. It was astonishing to hear even this president ...