(Radio Iowa) – State Auditor Rob Sand says this year’s legislature should repeal a 2023 law that restricts auditors in his office from accessing certain state-held information and prevents him from going to court to try to force the release of public records. But Sand, a Democrat who’s running for governor, acknowledges it is unlikely the Republican-led legislature will do that – or enact his other priorities. “Partisanship is a heck of a drug,” Sand said.

Sand has long sought to require prison time for public officials convicted of stealing 10-thousand dollars or more in tax money. “We’ve seen this bill advance, just a little bit, a couple of years. I have — even at the request of Republican legislators — been quiet about it in certain past years when they asked me to because they thought if I wasn’t talking about it that might help,” Sand said. “Of course, we are still today not in position where if you steal a lot of money from taxpayers, you have to go to prison…We’re going to talk about it because I think this is important.”

He also says the budget legislators provided for the audits his office does every eight years for Iowa’s smallest towns is not big enough to handle the volume and that delays results. “We have a number of proposals that we have proposed before that are oriented around improving transparency and accountability for the spending of tax dollars in the state of Iowa…all designed to help strengthen oversight, prevent fraud and make government work more efficiently,” Sand said.

Sand has been state auditor since 2019 and is the only Democrat currently serving in statewide office. Sand made his comments during a news conference in his State Capitol office.

(Radio Iowa) – Democrats in the Iowa House are proposing a freeze on the property taxes Iowans 65 and older pay on their homes, plus a new limit on property tax increases. Representative Dave Jacoby of Coralville says it would be a four percent annual limit on property tax increases.

“What Iowans would like to know is certainty in their tax liability and that’s what the flat tax that House Democrats are proposing gives them,” Jacoby said, “which is really needed in a time when property and buildings — their taxable values are shooting through the roof.” Until that new limit would take effect in 2027, House Democrats propose one-thousand dollar rebates for homeowners and five-hundred dollar state rebates for renter in each of the next two years — plus the homestead credit would triple immediately.

“We were looking at two things,” Jacoby said, “things that would be truly effective and things that would be immediate.” Jacoby says limiting Iowans’ residential property tax increases to four percent of less would let cities, counties and public school districts maintain critical services. Jacoby says a great percentage of Iowa seniors are on fixed incomes and a freeze on the property taxes they pay will help them stay in their homes.

“We know that they’ve worked hard for 50 plus years,” Jacoby says. “Not that young people aren’t working hard, but we need to have a whole different program or matrix…helping people when they’re younger afford to buy a new house.” House Minority Leader Brian Meyer says Democrats will propose a significant increase in the Iowa Finance Authority’s downpayment assistance program for first-time homebuyers.

(Radio Iowa) -The cost of employer-sponsored health insurance premiums dropped slightly for Iowa families and individuals from 2023 to 2024, according to a report from the State Health Access Data Assistance Center, or SHADAC, at the University of Minnesota. Premium costs rose nationally over those years. SHADAC research fellow Andrea Stewart says the percentage of Iowans who are on employer-sponsored high deductible plans is 52 percent, which also fell.

“Iowa has traditionally seen significantly higher enrollment in high deductible health plans,” Stewart says. “That number was 62% in 2023. It was an average of about 64% in 2022.” Stewart says the average family deductible has been slowly rising. “Iowa has crossed over that $4,000 mark again, five times in the last six years,” she says, “so that’s certainly a cost impact for anybody enrolled in an employer-sponsored insurance.”

Stewart says Iowa was one of 33 states in 2024 where more than 50 percent of workers were enrolled in high-deductible employer plans.

(Poweshiek County, IA) – The driver of an SUV died this (Monday) morning, when the vehicle went out of control and crashed in central Iowa. The Iowa State Patrol reports a 2005 Ford Escape driven by 45-year-old Kara A. Westphal, of Deep River (IA) was traveling west on Iowa Highway 85 in Poweshiek County, when due to icy road conditions, the vehicle left the road on a curve, and rolled multiple times.

Westphal – who was wearing her seat belt – died from her injuries at the scene of the crash, that happened northwest of Deep River, at around 7:05-a.m. Multiple agencies assisted at the scene.

(Clarinda, IA) – The Page County Attorney’s Office today (Monday) announced 43-year-old Andrew J. Rine entered pleas of guilty to two counts of Sexual Abuse in the Third Degree, class C felonies, and two counts of Indecent Contact with a Child, aggravated misdemeanors.

Chief Judge Craig Dreismeier sentenced Rine, in accordance with his plea agreement, to two concurrent 10-year sentences of incarceration for the sexual abuse charges and two concurrent 2-year sentences of incarceration for the indecent contact charges, for a total of up to 12 years of incarceration in the Iowa Department of Corrections. Rine will also be required to register as a sex offender for life.

This case was investigated by the Page County Sheriff’s Office and prosecuted by the Page County Attorney’s Office.

(Atlantic, IA) – The Cass County Board of Supervisors will hold a Special Meeting, beginning at 11-a.m., Tuesday, January 6th in their courthouse Board Room. During the session, the Board is expected to rescind their motion pertaining to Medical Examiner (M/E) fees set January 2nd, and approve a Resolution setting 2026 Medical Examiner fees as follows:

• $250 for all calls performed by M/E Investigators, and
• $100 for the M/E to review, sign the investigation, and certify the death,
• for a total of $350 per call, plus
• reimbursement for expenses incurred (as allowed under the Code of Iowa).

The Board will also consider and possibly approve, an Executive Assistant to the Board position. The meeting will be available electronically via Zoom:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/2899195216?pwd=R0hSa2FOOTh0NUdra1ZSdVhVWHpMUT09
Meeting ID: 289 919 5216
Passcode: 012064

or by Call-In:
312-626-6799, press *9 to indicate you wish to speak.

(Guthrie Center, IA) – A woman from Carroll was injured during a rollover accident Saturday night, in Guthrie County. According to the Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office, 28-year-old Angela Marie McMichael was driving a 2007 Chevy pickup truck north on Highway 25 from 210th Street, at around 8:25-p.m., when the vehicle’s tires dropped-off onto the shoulder of the road. McMichael over-corrected, causing the pickup to go out of control. The vehicle crossed Highway 25 and entered the south ditch, before rolling over into a creek.

Authorities say Angela McMichael – who was wearing her seat belt – suffered suspected serious/incapacitating injuries. She was extricated from the vehicle and transported by Panora EMS to Methodist Hospital. The pickup sustained a sheriff’s estimated $5,000 damage, and was declared a total loss.