(Radio Iowa) – State Auditor Rob Sand is investigation potential overpayments the Scott County Auditor approved for election workers. Scott County Auditor Roxanna Moritz (MORE-its) approved increasing pay for workers in the June, 2020 Primary Election to 15-dollars an hour. State Auditor Rob Sand says that may have been a misuse of federal Help America Vote funds made available to Iowa counties by Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate’s office. Moritz made the pay decision on her own, without approval from the Scott County Board of Supervisors.

Moritz retired as Scott County Auditor last month.

(Radio Iowa) –  Iowa Congresswoman Cindy Axne is sponsoring a bill designed to force big corporations to disclose how many jobs they outsource to other countries and if they’re using so-called tax havens in other countries to avoid paying U.S. taxes.  “In 2017, US corporations booked $32 billion of profits in Bermuda despite having 547 employees there. That’s something like an efficiency rate of $130 million per employee. Come on. I know Iowans are efficient when it comes to work, but that’s crazy,” Axne says. “That’s $32 billion in profits that’s been off-shored — they’re not paying taxes on that.”

Axne’s bill has cleared the U.S. House Financial Services Committee and similar legislation has been introduced in the U.S. Senate. Axne, a Democrat from West Des Moines, says it’s a fairness issue. “The large, multinational corporations are shifting those profits around and avoiding taxes,” Axne says, “while our Main Street businesses are paying their taxes and they’re struggling to make ends meet.”

If Axne’s bill becomes law, corporations with shareholders would have to publicly disclose details about operations on a country-by-country basis. Axne says it would show how many employees are based outside the U.S. and how much company revenue and profits are being claimed as being earned outside the U.S. “Once you disclose this, there is an obvious understanding of how much money we’re missing out in taxes because businesses are taking advantage of opportunities that the everyday Iowan, the everyday American doesn’t even know about,” Axne says, “or even have a chance to do.”

Axne’s bill would work in tandem with tax changes the Biden Administration is seeking to reduce the incentives for corporations to shift profits to low-tax countries in order to avoid U.S. corporate taxes.

Page County Sheriff Lyle Palmer reports deputies with the Page County Sheriff’s Office, Wednesday, arrested Justin Allen Williams. He was taken into custody at the Boone County Iowa Sheriff’s Office. Williams was wanted on two active Page County Warrants for Violation of Probation. He was transported to the Page County Jail and held on a $20,000 cash or surety bond.

The Iowa Department of Public Health on Thursday (today as of 10-a.m.) reported 295 new positive COVID-19 tests and five additional deaths. At 10 a.m., the health department reported 398,791 total positive tests, 353,564 total recoveries and 5,994 total deaths since the pandemic began. Twenty-four hours earlier, the health department reported 398,496 total positive tests and 5,989 total deaths. State data shows 1,216,277 people have been fully vaccinated in Iowa, with 2,538,058 total doses administered.

Iowa’s COVID-19 positivity rates continue to decline. In the last 24 hours, the 14-day average dropped from 3.7% to 3.6% and the 7-day average dropped from 3.4% to 3.2%. There have been 4,929,002 virus tests administered in Iowa. COVID-19 hospitalizations are up slightly from 159 to 162 overnight. There are 42 patients in ICU and 19 patients on ventilators. In RMCC Region 4 (hospitals in western & southwest Iowa), there are: 10 patients hospitalized with COVID or symptoms of the virus; three people with COVID are in an ICU; No new admissions to area hospitals are reported, and no one was on a ventilator in the latest report.

Iowa is again down to a single long-term care facility with a COVID-19 outbreak. The Risen Son Christian Village, in Pottawattamie County, reports nine positive cases among residents and staff. There have been 2,333 deaths reported in Iowa’s care facilities.

In the KJAN listening area, here are the current number positive cases by County; The # of new cases since yesterday {+} if any; and the total number of deaths in each county to date:
Cass, 1,470 cases; {+6}; 54 deaths
Adair, 985; {+0}; 32
Adams, 349 {+0}; 4
Audubon, 530 {+0}; 10
Guthrie, 1,298 {+2}; 30
Harrison County, 1,930; {+2}; 73
Madison County, 1,763; {+5; 19
Mills County, 1,791; {+5}; 22
Montgomery, 1,111;{+0}; 38
Pottawattamie County, 12,226; {+7}; 168
Shelby County, 1,369 {+2}; 37
Union County, 1,364; {+1}; 33