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The Iowa Capitol dome is illuminated by the sunset Feb. 16, 2017, in Des Moines. (The Gazette)

Raising individual and corporate income tax rates in the state would require a two-thirds majority vote of lawmakers under a proposal advanced by Senate lawmakers Monday.

A three-member subcommittee of the Senates Ways & Means tax-policy committee advanced Senate Study Bill 1207. The joint resolution calls for an amendment to the Iowa Constitution to require a two-thirds rather than a simple majority vote of each the House and Senate to increase individual and corporate income tax rates.

The proposed amendment also would create the Taxpayer Relief Fund under the Iowa Constitution and specify it is to be exclusively used to reduce income tax rates, sales and use tax rates, or property tax rates.

The Taxpayer Relief Fund is currently established under Iowa Code, making it subject to amendment or repeal by lawmakers. Under the proposal, the fund would be protected under the state constitution, requiring voter approval for any changes.

Amending the Iowa Constitution requires the proposal pass both the House and Senate, be signed by the governor and pass again during the next General Assembly, either during the legislative session in 2025 or 2026, before then being put to voters for approval.

What we are trying to accomplish here is create an article in the Iowa Constitution protecting the taxpayer from runaway government, said committee chairman and bill sponsor Sen. Dan Dawson, R-Council Bluffs. What we are trying to do here is at least rein government in on its worst times.

Dawson added: It should be harder in Iowa to raise taxes than it is to cut it.

I find it perplexing that in the Iowa Constitution we protect money for highway funds, fish habitats and for trails, he said. But, what we dont do is protect the Iowa taxpayers, and thats what this is here about today putting something in the Iowa Constitution that actually protects the Iowa taxpayers.

Opponents, including the Common Good Iowa, the Iowa Catholic Conference and the Iowa Chapter of Sierra Club, called the proposal fiscally irresponsible.

Our economy is cyclical, and we need policies that adjust to that when it is expanding and when it is contracting, said committee member Sen. Cindy Winckler, D-Davenport. To put something like this in the constitution doesnt gives us the flexibility we would potentially need, particularly when previously approved income tax cuts fully kick in, resulting in an expected reduction of $1.9 billion from the state budget.

Dawson and Sen. Carrie Koelker, R-Dyersville, advanced the bill to the full Senate Ways & Means Committee for consideration, with Winckler opposed.

An Iowa Senate committee advanced a bill dealing with county compensation boards on Monday, but said they intend to remove a provision allowing county boards of supervisors to dissolve a compensation board.

As written, House File 314 would give county supervisors the option to dissolve and create a county compensation board, which annually sets the salaries of the county supervisors, attorney, treasurer, sheriff, auditor and recorder. Under current law, compensation boards are required. It passed the House 62-33 in February.

While the bill passed unanimously out of the Senate Local Government Committee meeting on Monday, Sen. Mike Klimesh, R-Spillville said the Senate intends to amend the bill on the floor to keep compensation boards as a requirement in each county.

The amendment, which has not been filed, would keep a requirement in the bill that compensation boards provide the data they used to reach the proposed salaries, Klimesh said. It also would dictate that the salary of new elected officials could not be lower than the previous officeholders salary and require members of a county compensation board to receive training on the position.

Klimesh said the decision to keep county compensation boards as a requirement came out of conversations with elected officials and supervisors, most of which wanted to keep compensation boards.

Erika Eckley, a lawyer with experience in health care, agricultural law and statehouse lobbying, has been named the new executive director of the Iowa Public Information Board, the state board that resolves disputes over Iowas public records and meetings laws.

Eckley becomes the fourth executive director in the boards 10-year history. She succeeds Margaret Johnson, who is retiring.

We are excited to have Erika join the staff of the board, IPIB chairwoman Julie Pottorff said in a news release. Erika brings a number of skills that will make her a tremendous asset.

The executive director advises and provides counsel to the nine-member board, and oversees the agencys administration.

Eckley has worked as an attorney for the Iowa Hospital Association and Iowa State University Center for Agricultural Law and Taxation. She also has worked as a lobbyist for the Iowa Hospital Association, the Hospice and Palliative Care Association, and Intoxalock, an ignition interlock device company.

Eckley has a law degree from Drake University, a masters in public administration from Iowa State University, and an undergraduate degree from Grand View University in Des Moines.

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Iowa Senate Republicans propose adding taxpayer protections to ... - The Gazette

Senate Republicans adopted a joint resolution Wednesday pressuring Gov. Tony Evers to convene a special election to replace Secretary of State Doug La Follette who resigned last week. State law, however, does not require a new election.

The move comes after the governor appointed Sarah Godlewski, former state treasurer and unsuccessful U.S. Senate candidate, to fill the rest of La Follettes nearly four year term.

Senate Republicans balked at Evers appointment, claiming voters should have the chance to choose their own secretary of state in a special election.

The legislature is simply calling on the governor to exercise his authority to allow the people of Wisconsin to elect their next secretary of state, Sen. Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu (R-Oostburg) explained at Wednesdays floor vote. The people of Wisconsin did not vote for Sarah Godlewski.

Democrats defended the appointment, recalling former Republican Gov. Scott Walkers appointment of Rebecca Bradley and Dan Kelly to the State Supreme Court without ever calling a special election, and pointing to Godlewskis recent history in elected statewide office.

Gov. Evers did not pick a random person off the street, said Sen. Kelda Roys (D-Madison). He picked Sarah Godlewski, a person who was elected in her own right, statewide, served four years as state treasurer, and she won her election overwhelmingly in a Wisconsin landslide by 100,000 votes.

Shell do a great job, Evers remarked at a press conference Tuesday. Shes been part of the executive branch of government, and I trust her.

Republicans have also accused the governor of colluding with La Follette, the popular 82 year old incumbent and fellow Democrat, to resign and give the much younger Godlewski an incumbency advantage in 2026. Evers denies any such involvement.

I think the last I talked to Doug La Follette, I saw him at the inauguration, and I said Good speech, Doug, Evers explained.

Additionally, Evers noted there was no collusion.

He brought [to] my office a letter saying Im sick of this stuff. He left, I appointed a completely competent person to do the work and thats the end of that story, Evers added.

The secretary of state is a largely symbolic position, mainly responsible for safeguarding the states official seal.

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If a special election is not called, Godlewskis term will expire in 2027. She will likely face a reelection challenge from Republicans in 2026.

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Wisconsin Republicans recommend special election for secretary of ... - Daily Cardinal

On Saturday, March 25th, along northbound Highway 101, beginning at Parkway Drive, you may have seen men and women wearing hardhats and vests. The Del Norte Republicans participated in a statewide effort to clean up California one segment at a time.

The CalTrans sponsored event, Clean California Community Spring into Action, encouraged groups and residents statewide to participate in cleaning their communities.

Under the Adopt-a-Highway program, the Del Norte Republicans are responsible for keeping the segment along northbound Highway 101 between Parkway Dr and Highway 199 clean.

Garbage collected on the highway.

Our committee cares about our community. Keeping our stretch of the highway trash free is one way to give back. Being part of the community is important, not just during election season.

Thats why we, the Del Norte Republicans, have adopted one of the most littered segments in Del Norte County, Karen Sanders, chairwoman of the Del Norte Republicans, said during the event.

The Del Norte Republicans are responsible for cleaning their section of Highway 101 about 6 times a year. They average 13 bags of trash each time. If you are interested in helping in the future, please go to their website at http://www.delnorterepublicans.org and click the "Volunteer" button.

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Del Norte Republicans Participate in the Clean California ... - The Triplicate

Inspired by a reader from Salem, last week we launched a game to invent a new meaning for the acronym RINO. For years thats referred to Republicans in name only, but more recently the insults taken on a new level of viciousness.

Thats because Donald Trump vehemently hurls it at any Republican who publicly rejects his evidence-free claims that President Joe Biden stole the 2020 election. And certain Trump acolytes have begun emulating his behavior.

One is Del. Marie March, R-Floyd, who in a recent fundraising email blamed Richmond swamp RINOs for thwarting pro-gun legislation she introduced in the 2023 legislative session.

Artist Celeste Tethal desired a kinder and gentler word-set to describe her rational conservative friends whove turned their backs on 2020s sore loser.

People are also reading

I published Tethals challenge in the March 21 column. Readers delivered and kept me laughing all last week. Here we go with their suggestions, which number in the dozens.

Betsy Biesenbach of Roanoke, a longtime freelancer for this paper, was first out of the gate. Her RINO proposal hit my inbox at 5:44 a.m. the day of publication.

She offered, Rejecting [an] Insanity-Normalizing Organization.

Tom Gourley of Penhook proposed Reasonable Insightful Never [Trump] Organizers.

Narrows resident J. Lewis Webbs suggestion required neither an extra word nor article. He suggested RINO signifies Republicans Intelligent Not Outrageous.

Jim Lawrence of Blacksburg offered something close: Republicans Informed, Not Outrageous.

Roanoke Countys Jeanne Larsen proposed five slogans for RINO. The best two were Righteously Indignant Nutcase Opponent, and Reckon Im Not One-a-them.

(The retired schoolteacher also created a feminine-gendered version, RINA, which she said signifies Raving Idiots Neednt Apply and Reagans [ghost] Is Nearly Apoplectic.)

Christiansburgs Jeff Crowder came up with six suggestions. One was Republicans In [a] Nightmare Ongoing. Another was Republicans In Need Of (fill in the blank).

I filled that in, and got Republicans In Need Of Sanity. And now we have a nifty plural acronym, RINOS. Thanks, Jeff!

The farthest-away reply came from California and it was brutally cynical. Peter Kleinman of Oakland offered no suggestion. Instead, he chided the game as a childish exercise to even care how jerks demean each other. What a joy-killer, eh?

Blacksburg artist Sally Mook offered five proposals. One was Reasonable Individuals Nixing Obstructionists. A second one: Refuting Insipid Nefarious Oddballs.

Reality Is Not Optional

Three readers independently suggested RINO ought to mean Reality Is Not Optional. Theyre Gregg Williams, from the Hollins area of Roanoke County; Dr. Jim Reinhard of Salem; and Ed Vigen of Blacksburg. (Another suggestion, by Reinhard, stands out for its creative punctuation Really? Im Now Odd?)

Bob Miller, who said he lives in the (mostly) Democratic enclave of Blacksburg, came up with another nifty phrase for rational GOPers Republicans In Normal Orbit.

Ingeniously, he also coined a new acronym to describe party members recovering from years of QAnonsense, Trumpism and election denialism: Republicans Accelerating Toward Sanity, aka RATS.

Rick Barrow of Christiansburg devised Ruthless Ideologues Negating Officeholders. Accurately, that captures the actions of GOPers who marginalized and ultimately drove House Republicans Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger out of office, for participating on the Select January 6 Committee.

Salems Matthew Keele managed to work a hue into his suggestion: Right In Negating Orange.

Anne Hunt of Franklin County offered four word sets to describe those she characterized as Republicans who seem to be exercising freedom of thought. One: Republicans, Impartial, Nonpartisan, Open-minded. A second: Republicans, Independent, Not Owned.

Nancy Duval of Roanoke had a minor dyslexic moment when composing three different entries. They were: Really Observant Non Ignoramuses; Really Observant Non Idiots; and Rationally Opinionated Non Idiots.

Those are worthy efforts, except she confused the vowel order. Her ideas form the acronym RONI. When I brought that to Duvals attention, she replied, Well goodness gracious it was way too early in the morning I guess.

Whoops. Have another cup of coffee, Nancy!

Charles McLaughlin of Daleville suggested two clever definitions for RINO. One was, Reveres Institutions, Not Oligarchies. The other: Resists Ignorant Nutjob Opportunists.

Hardys Sandi Saunders devised Republican Integrity Not Obsolete.

Retching Inside, Nonplussed Out

Michael Holloway of York County had a few suggestions. Two of them were Relatively Intelligent Nonsense Opposers, and Republicans in Nostalgic Opposition.

Roanokes Phillip Coffey suggested Rallying in National Opportunity or Rightly Impressive National Orators, to describe traditional Main Street Republicans such as former presidents Dwight Eisenhower and George H.W. Bush and the late U.S. senator from Indiana, Richard Lugar.

Coffey, who worked in mental health treatment or 35 years, said if RINO was applied to Trumpers, it could signify Rightly Insane Nutty Opportunists.

My apologies to former patients in using those words, he added.

Vicky Rowland of Salem came up with Reliable Intelligent Notable Observer.

Katrina White of Salem offered Republican Incumbents Need Ousting. Steve Huppert of Christiansburg proposed Return Intelligence Now Obtrusively. And Debbie Warren of Blacksburg suggested Reduce Insults Now, Outlaws!

I also heard from one of Tethals conservative friends who shares concern for the level of disdain Trump has brought to the term RINO. Bill Hill said he knows Tethal through the League of Roanoke Artists, to which both belong.

I am one of her conservative Republican friends, although she has no reason to be aware of that, he wrote. I am one of those Republicans who cannot stand Trump (ditto Biden, of course).

DJT is scarcely a Republican or conservative at all. I have been both since my college days more than a half century ago. I have never voted for a Democrat, or contributed to any. Trump has bragged that he has at least contributed to some. He may be the biggest Republican in name only.

Hill added: Any discussion of conservative principle must begin with respect and loyalty to ones culture, community, country, constitution, and willingness to use compromise and party to keep the system afloat. It is my judgment that [Trump] falls far short of all these requisite standards.

Well wrap this up with one final redefinition for RINO, from Diane Rhody-Scott of Giles County. Hers may be an apt description for feelings Hill described: Retching Inside, Nonplussed Out.

Thank you, readers, for the fun and yuks. If you care to vote for any of these RINO explanations, drop another email to dan.casey@roanoke.com with the one you liked best.

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Many different definitions for Republican In Name Only - Roanoke Times

NEW YORK, March 23 (Reuters) - Manhattan prosecutors on Thursday said Donald Trump misled people to expect he would be arrested this week and prompted fellow Republicans in Congress to interfere with a probe under way into his hush-money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels.

On Saturday, the former president said he would be arrested on Tuesday in the probe by the Manhattan District Attorney's office.

On Monday, three Republican committee chairmen in the U.S. House of Representatives went on the offensive against District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat, accusing him of abusing prosecutorial authority and seeking communications, documents and testimony from him.

As of Wednesday, a grand jury hearing evidence in the Stormy Daniels case had yet to issue an indictment, and on Thursday Bragg's office sent the committee chairmen a letter seen by Reuters.

The letter said the chairmen's accusations "only came after Donald Trump created a false expectation that he would be arrested the next day and his lawyers reportedly urged you to intervene."

It confirmed that Bragg's office was "investigating allegations that Donald Trump engaged in violations of New York State penal law."

If indicted, Trump would be the first U.S. president to face criminal charges. He served as president from 2017-2021 and has mounted a third campaign for the White House while facing legal woes on several fronts.

Trump also faces federal investigations stemming from his handling of government documents after leaving the White House and alleged attempts to overturn his 2020 election defeat as well as a state-level probe in Georgia into whether he unlawfully sought to reverse the 2020 election results there.

Trump has said he will continue campaigning for president if charged with a crime.

The response on Thursday from Bragg's office said the three Republican House committee chairmen had sought non-public information about a pending criminal investigation, which is confidential under state law.

"The letter's requests are an unlawful incursion into New York's sovereignty," said the letter signed by the district attorney's general counsel, Leslie Dubeck. "Congress cannot have any legitimate legislative task relating to the oversight of local prosecutors enforcing state law."

The grand jury, made up of U.S. citizens residing in Manhattan, convened in January. Its proceedings are not public and prosecutors are barred from discussing them. It was not expected to meet again until next week at the earliest after media reports said it would not take up the case on Thursday.

Michael Cohen, Trump's former personal fixer and lawyer, has said he made the payment to Daniels days before the 2016 presidential election at Trump's direction.

Daniels, a well-known adult film actress and director whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, has said she received the money in exchange for keeping silent about a sexual encounter she had with Trump in 2006.

Trump has denied he ever had an affair with Daniels, and has called the payment a "simple private transaction." He has said he did not commit a crime and has called the investigation politically motivated.

Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to campaign finance law violations and other crimes related to the payment and received a prison sentence. Last week he testified before the grand jury, which is believed generally to meet on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.

Reporting by Karen Freifeld; Writing by Doina Chiacu and Luc Cohen; Editing by Tim Ahmann, Noeleen Walder and Howard Goller

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Thomson Reuters

Reports on the New York federal courts. Previously worked as a correspondent in Venezuela and Argentina.

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Manhattan DA: Trump created false expectation of arrest ... - Reuters