(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says the U-S Supreme Court has provided SOME clarity on the extent of the president’s power to impose tariffs. “I have said repeatedly congress needs to reassert its role (to) regulate interstate and foreign commerce,” Grassley said. Today’s (Friday’s) decision was silent on whether refunds must be issued, however, and there are likely to be separate rulings on that issue.

Grassley says Trump is a skilled negotiator and he’s urging Trump to continue making trade deals. “And while the president’s doing that, to work with congress to secure long term enforcement measures to provide broad market opportunities for farmers and businesses,” Grassley said. After Grassley spoke with reporters on his weekly conference call, Trump announced he would impose a temporary 10 percent worldwide tariff under a law that’s different from the one addressed in the Supreme Court ruling.

Ryan Marquardt, who raises cattle in Madison County, spoke during an online news conference organized by the Iowa Democratic Party.  “It’s kind of his thing it tariffs and it’s kind of the only thing he’s tried to run on,” Marquardt said, “and it hasn’t done much for us at all.” Berleen Wobeter and her husband raise corn, soybeans and cattle in Tama County. “Tariffs are a tool, so they can be used sometimes,” Grassley said. “A trade deficit is not necessarily a huge problem and he just has his own take on all this.”

Senator Grassley was a member of the U.S. House in 1977 when congress passed the law on tariffs Trump had been using, but Trump’s new round of tariffs are based on a law passed three years earlier. Last April, Grassley proposed a new law that would see any new tariffs imposed by a president expire if congress didn’t approve of the tariffs within 60 days. “And remember, congress always has to work with the president to get things done,” Grassley said. “I look forward to a cooperative working relationship with the president as we move forward.”

No other member of Iowa’s congressional delegation has commented publicly on today’s (Friday’s) Supreme Court decision. Zach Wahls and Josh Turek — the two Iowa Democrats running for the U-S Senate — says Trump’s tariffs have caused chaos for Iowa farmers, businesses and consumers and Congresswoman Ashley Hinson has failed to push back against Trump’s actions. Hinson is the leading Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate.

Rob Sand, the leading Democratic candidate for governor, points to a recent report from the U.S. Senate Joint Economic Committee that found the average Iowa family has paid 13-hundred dollars in higher costs due to tariffs.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa D-O-T is working to clear off state roadways following the snowstorm that moved across the state Thursday. Winter Operations director Craig Bargfrede says the timing of the storm created issues for crews. “The storm coming in late afternoon into the evening hours last night. It was a heavier, wetter snow, really slushy, and then there’s the normal issues with traffic,” he says. Bargfrede says temperatures dropped down into the teens, which added another variable to the work.

“Along with the type of snow, wet, heavy, slushy snow that we got, it froze up and so our treatment strategies, obviously salt is not as effective when we get down into those temperatures. So we’re doing a lot of scraping and a lot of plowing and treating as we can,” he says. “The best thing is the sun is out, so hopefully we can get some power from the sun to help us in doing some of the melting.” Bargfrede says the snow was heavy along the main storm path.

“If you draw a diagonal, basically from the Council Bluffs area going through Ames up to the Waterloo area, up to Decorah, that whole corridor, that line is still 100 percent snow and ice covered,” Bargfrede says. “And so that’s the area as well that got the heaviest amounts of snow. We’ve been getting reports of anywhere from six to eight plus inches and and even higher that in certain segments or certain areas.”

The National Weather Service has reports of ten to 15 inches of snow in north-central Iowa. Bargfrede says there are some towing bans in central Iowa, while the northwestern and southeastern corners of the state have normal winter conditions. He says clear skies should help them clear off the ice and snow. “As the sun gets out, hopefully we can use between the sun and the treatment that we put out there, we’ll be able to break through and get us back down to a bare pavement fairly quickly,” he says.

Bargfrede says another frustration is drivers not adjusting to the conditions. Bargfrede says another frustration is drivers not adjusting to the conditions. He says around the Council Bluffs area yesterday evening there where multiple cars and semis were involved accidents, he says were brought on by people traveling too fast for the conditions. Bargfrede says some plow trucks got hit as they worked across the state.

“Travelers just basically drive right into the back of our trucks, not slowing down and not really paying attention. So they’re driving distracted, they’re not realizing that they’re closing on our Iowa D-O-T plow truck as quickly as they are. And the video tells it all. I mean, you can just see the vehicle just drive right into the back of us,” Bargfrede says.

Bargfrede says drivers need to get back into safe winter driving mode and slow down whenever conditions change.

(Radio Iowa) – The city of Rock Valley and the Rock Valley Community School District are receiving millions of dollars in FEMA reimbursements nearly 20 months after devastating flooding. The City of Rock Valley has been approved for more than three-point-seven (3.7) million dollars. City Administrator Tom Van Maanen calls it “very, very positive news,” but says the recovery effort is still ongoing. “We’re far from done,” he says. The city currently has roughly 25 separate FEMA applications tied to flood recovery.

“With these getting signed off, we’re probably have resolved 15 of the 25, but money-wise, it’s probably about a third of our total requests into FEMA. But we have some big applications still working through with FEMA,” Van Maanen says. The funding reimburses the city for money already spent to replace equipment lost at the city shop, complete water and sewer work for displaced residents, and lease temporary spaces for city facilities.

Van Maanen says the money will be used to retire debt the city had to take on while waiting for federal approvals. The city has paid roughly one million dollars in interest while waiting for FEMA funding. Several large projects are still pending, including the reconstruction of the library and city shop, and a proposed 35 million-dollar home buyout program. FEMA says additional projects will continue to be reviewed and funded on a rolling basis.

This funding was part of a broader FEMA approval announced this week that included disaster recovery dollars for other communities in Iowa and Nebraska. The Rock Valley Community School District is receiving more than five-point-seven (5.7) million dollars for building repairs tied to the flood.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) Board approved the first awards today (Friday) for the state’s new Business Incentives for Growth or BIG program. Department of Economic Development spokesperson Kanan Kappelman says projects Bettendorf, Bondurant, Hiawatha, Vinton and Waverly are getting awards. “In total, the awards for these five companies will assist in the creation of 536 jobs and will result in close to 270 million dollars in new capital investment for the state,” she says.

Kappelman says they companies can use the money in several different ways.”Projects that modernize their facilities, include expansions, relocation of operations to Iowa. So it runs the gamut, but they need to fulfill their contractual obligations in order to receive the tax benefits,” she says. She says some of the companies that have been in Iowa for decades.

“And these companies include, of course, Arconic and Vermeer, truly legacy companies and we see their expansion projects are definitely a very positive reflection of Iowa’s advanced manufacturing industry,” Kappelman says. Arconic is going to build a new aluminum casting complex at its Davenport Works facility in Bettendorf, increasing its capacity to process and recycle aluminum into ingots used to make sheet and plate products. The 131 million dollars capital investment is expected to create 40 jobs.

Vermeer Corp. to build new production facility in Bondurant Vermeer is based in Pella and makes agricultural and industrial equipment and plans to develop a 300-thousand-square-foot production facility in Bondurant. The nearly 103 million-dollars capital investment is expected to create 182 jobs CCB Packaging in Hiawatha plans to add automated production line for packaging it provides to food and pharmaceutical companies. The 13 million-dollar capital investment is expected to create nine jobs. Two companies are receiving awards to bring business to Iowa.

“Sewer and Revolution Concrete Mixers, companies that are seeking new investment in Iowa. And so it’s really a great mix of companies,” she says. Sewer Equipment Company of America in Illinois plans to purchase a facility in Iowa to manufacture its sewer cleaning and vacuum equipment components. The three million dollars capital investment is expected to create 30 jobs.

Revolution Concrete Mixers in Minnesota will purchase an existing facility in Waverly and install approximately eight million dollars in equipment to establish new production and assembly operations. The 18 million-dollars capital investment is expected to create 275 jobs. Kappelman says many of the new jobs in the program will be paying top dollar. That includes Arconic.

“They are set to create 40 jobs incented at a qualifying wage of 28 dollars, 46 cents per hour. Vermeer also looking to create jobs 182 in total, 62 of which are incented at a qualifying wage of 35 dollars and 11 cents per hour,” she says. The BIG program was created last month.