(Radio Iowa) – The top Republican in the Iowa House says the latest federal pandemic relief package may prevent Iowa and other states from cutting taxes this year. Speaker Pat Grassley of New Hartford says House Republicans are waiting on next week’s report on state tax revenue, too. “There’s a lot of unanswered questions that exist right now,” Grassley says. “I think first and foremost, we need to get an answer on whether what the feds passed…if you even have the ability to pass tax cuts.”

The State of Iowa will receive one-point-three BILLION dollars from the American Rescue Plan passed by congress to cover unexpected expenses during the pandemic. The bill prevents states from using that money as an off-set to cut taxes.  “I think we need to have some clarity on what that would look like first,” Grassley says. Grassley says the other consideration for House Republicans is current state tax revenue and whether there is room to speed up income tax cuts and eliminate the inheritance tax. Senate Republicans voted to do that yesterday (Wednesday).

“With the inheritance tax piece, I know we have interest in that within our caucus, but I think it comes with a $90-$100 million price tag,” Grassley says. Senate Republicans have also voted to implement previously-approved income tax cuts without confirmation that total state tax revenue is growing by at least four percent. Grassley says House Republicans aren’t ready to vote for that plan.

“We’d like to work towards that,” Grassley says, “but theirs may be a little bit more aggressive than what we may be interested in at this point.” However, Grassley says these concerns could become moot, though, if a state panel that meets next week sets future tax projections high enough.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Transportation Commission has approved a plan to spend nearly 122 million dollars in federal pandemic relief funds. The D-O-T’s Stuart Anderson says the money is targeted at road repairs and related issues. “Five million of that will be set aside for a one-time application-based program for trails programs across the state,” Anderson says. “And that’s because this funding that was allocated to Iowa was intended to cover lost state revenue due to COVID-19. And trail funding was impacted by COVID-19.”

The loss in funding came from a drop in traffic on the roadways and taxes paid for fuel. Anderson says they will use the same formula for distributing the regular road-use tax funds to dole out the pandemic relief funds. There are some 945 cities that will get 20 percent of that funding. “For cities, it’s very straightforward — it’s in proportion to each city’s share of the total municipal population in the state. So, it’s strictly on a per capita basis on how it’s allocated to cities,” he explains.

The 99 counties will split up about 32 percent of the money for their Farm to Market Fund and Secondary Road Fund. )”Each of those funds has a formula for allocating revenue to each county that looks at each county’s area, each county’s rural population, their share of mileage, and their share of traffic. And it also looks at their share of bridges,” according to Anderson. The state will get the remaining 47-and-a-half percent of the money. Anderson says they are projecting the loss in funding for the state at about 50 million dollars.

“So actually this relief funding will more than cover the revenue that is lost in this fiscal year,” Anderson says. “We are expecting that there will be covid impacts in state road funding beyond this fiscal year.” The state saw a 40 percent reduction in travel last April at the height of the pandemic — but Anderson says it rebounded so January of this year was only about five percent below last January.

He says the changes brought on by the pandemic are expected to continue having an impact on road use tax revenue. “I think we expect there will be a longer-term reduction in travel — which is directly correlated then to a reduction in fuel tax revenue. Just as we think there will be some longer-term changes in telework patterns, even longer than the pandemic,” Anderson says. He says the state, counties, and cities are required to use the pandemic relief funds for road construction or maintenance projects.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa prosecutor is defending his unsuccessful pursuit of charges against a journalist who was arrested while covering a protest in a case that critics say amounted to an attack on the press. Polk County Attorney John Sarcone told The Associated Press on Thursday that the evidence against Des Moines Register reporter Andrea Sahouri was “more than sufficient” to take the case to trial and that dismissing it would have amounted to special treatment.

FILE – In this May 19, 2017, file photo, Polk County Attorney John Sarcone, speaks during a press conference at the Polk County Justice Center in Des Moines. Sarcone defended his unsuccessful pursuit of charges against a journalist who was arrested while covering a protest, saying Thursday, March 11, 2021, that he believed the evidence was strong and that dismissing the case would have amounted to special treatment. Polk County Attorney Sarcone, a Democrat who has held office since 1991, dismissed the outrage he has faced over his decision to prosecute Des Moines Register reporter Andrea Sahouri. (Brian Powers/The Des Moines Register via AP, File)

A Des Moines police officer pepper-sprayed and arrested Sahouri last May while she was covering a Black Lives Matter protest. Sahouri was charged with disobeying police orders to disperse and interfering with the officer who arrested her. A jury acquitted her on Wednesday.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa – March 11, 2021 – A project to replace a bridge on Interstate 880 over Potato Creek will begin on Monday, Mar. 15, and end on Wednesday, Dec. 1, weather permitting. The Iowa Department of Transportation’s Council Bluffs construction office says initial work will include constructing a crossover.

Starting on Apr. 1, weather permitting, traffic in the north- and southbound lanes of I-880 will be placed in a head-to-head traffic pattern. Permitted oversize loads will be prohibited on this detour route.

The Mills County Sheriff’s office, Thursday, reported the arrest Wednesday afternoon, of 40-year old April Michelle Hinman, of Omaha. She was taken into custody following a traffic stop on I-29. Hinman was wanted on a warrant for Contempt of Court. She was being held without bond in the Mills County Jail.

JOHNSTON, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa woman has been charged after officials say she kept three children locked in a blacked-out room in filthy conditions. Court records show 31-year-old Brittany Roozeboom, of Johnston, was charged last week with three counts of child endangerment and one count of child endangerment resulting in bodily injury. Police say the children were kept for extended periods in a room with black-painted cardboard covering the windows that locked from the outside and had no internal door knob.

Police say the children in the room so long that they sometimes soiled their clothes. Police say there also was trash strewn across the kitchen with bugs crawling on the floor. Roozeboom is being held in the Polk County Jail.

The Iowa Department of Public Health’s Coronavirus dashboard, today (Thursday), shows 448 additional positive test results for COVID returned from the labs, for a total of 369,084. There were 19 additional deaths statewide, including one additional death in Pottawattamie County, for a pandemic total of 5,620. Long-Term Care facility deaths account for 2,209 of the total number of deaths across the state.

Long-Term Care (LTC) facility outbreaks are down again, hospitalization stats are both up, and down, and the statewide positivity rate continues to fall. LTC outbreaks are down from six Wednesday, to five today. There were 166 Iowans hospitalized with COVID-19 or related symptoms, seven less than before, three more patients in an ICU (at 42), and 29 patients admitted to a hospital in Iowa. The IDPH says 12 patients are on a ventilator, two more than previously reported.

RMCC Region 4 hospitals (those in western/southwest Iowa) show 14 hospitalized COVID patients, seven in an ICU, two persons were admitted since Wednesday’s report, and two are on a ventilator. State data show 963,787 vaccine doses have been administered, with 305,794 having received both doses. The 14-day positivity rate is down to 3.9%, and the seven-day rate is at 4.0%.

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, 1,373 cases; {+1}; 52 deaths
• Adair, 934; {+1}; 31
• Adams, 327 {+0}; 4
• Audubon, 495 {+1}; 9
• Guthrie, 1,182 {+2}; 28
• Harrison County, 1,803; {+1}; 70
• Madison County, 1,600; {+4}; 18
• Mills County, 1,645; {+0}; 20
• Montgomery, 1,045; {+0}; 36
• Pottawattamie County, 10,921; {+10}; 149
• Shelby County, 1,240 {+0}; 34
• Union County,  1,274; {+0}; 31

CRESTON, Iowa – March 11, 2021 – A project to replace a bridge on U.S. 169 over the middle fork of the Grand River 5.3 miles south of Iowa 2 requires closing the roadway to traffic beginning at 7 a.m. Monday, Apr. 5, weather permitting, until Thursday, July 29, according to the Iowa Department of Transportation’s Creston construction office.

During this project, traffic will be detoured around the work zone with a marked detour route using Ringgold County roads J-55, P-46, and Iowa 2. Permitted oversize loads will be prohibited on this detour route.

The Iowa DOT reminds motorists to drive with caution, obey the posted speed limit and other signs in the work area, and be aware that traffic fines for moving violations are at least double in work zones. As in all work zones, drivers should stay alert, allow ample space between vehicles, and wear seat belts.

(Radio Iowa) – There’s still no agreement among Republican lawmakers on how much the state should spend to extend broadband service in Iowa — but it appears they’re edging closer to the amount Governor Kim Reynolds has proposed. Representative Phil Thompson of Jefferson says he and his fellow Republicans haven’t been able to hammer that number down yet. “I want to be really close to that governor’s number and be aggressive with this,” Thompson says.

Republicans on a House subcommittee say newly-approved federal funds to cover other state expenses likely frees up the 450 million Reynolds requested over the next three years. Representative John Wills of Spirit Lake, the third ranking Republican in the House, says the final broadband plan will probably be at or near 450 million. “I think that it is imperative that we have this build out so that Iowa stays and is competitive,” Wills says.

The governor had suggested that all companies getting state grants extend broadband service with speeds of 100 megabits per second, but the bill that cleared a House subcommittee today (Thursday) backed away from that high speed requirement. “It’s never done until it’s done, but we’re having some really constructive conversations,” Reynolds says.

The governor says she’s optimistic she and the legislature will find common ground and a broadband expansion plan will be passed by the House and Senate this year.