In the legislative session that starts on Monday, Iowa lawmakers will be asked to allow foreign businesses to buy vast tracts of Iowa farmland for massive manufacturing, biosciences or research companies.
The bill would lift a 320 acre limit on foreign purchases of Iowa agricultural land and create new tax breaks for Major Economic Growth Attraction or MEGA sites.
The MEGA program is a priority for the Iowa Business Council which represents 21 of Iowa’s largest companies.
IBC President Joe Murphy said measure would allow Iowa to compete on a national scale.
“Whether that’s from another state, or a business expansion from a company that could be owned by a different entity as well.”
Murphy added that the bill would create an opportunity to Future Ready the Iowa economy.
“This is about population growth, because if we were able to bring in a new company to Iowa, we’re not talking about remote jobs. We are talking about bringing in physical assets, creating physical assets, moving new people into our state. So it’s really a population growth strategy.”
Murphy says the measure would also allow local economic development authorities to lower the barrier of entry by offering a range of incentives.
“There’d be incentives related to jobs, there’d be incentives related to construction costs, there’d be incentives related to construction costs, there’d be incentives related to income exemptions and sales tax exemptions based on that construction.”
Murphy noted that without the MEGA program, Iowa cannot compete for major business opportunities.
“A lot of other states around the Midwest and certainly around the nation, have programs like this already, and so with Iowa not having a MEGA site program, we are at a competitive disadvantage, in fact we are not even allowed to compete.”
The Iowa Senate approved a bill creating the economic development incentive last year, on a 45-2 vote, but it stalled in the House in the closing days of the legislative session.
Last year when the bill came up, the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation said it was undecided but would monitor the bill because farmers oppose foreign ownership of agricultural land.
The Siouxland Humane Society announced today it has removed all of their cats from Coffee & Purrs in downtown Sioux City.
The Humane Society made the announcement on Facebookthis morning, saying it will no longer be partnering with the local cat café.
The announcement said people looking to adopt cats should go to their shelter or Petco and the Southern Hills Mall and PetSmart on select weekends.
The Humane Society’s post did not go into detail on why they decided to remove their cats. The organization said they would not be doing interviews about the decision.
Café Purrs has a closed sign on the door today.
A former Army Ranger and CIA operations officer, announced today he is running for Iowa's 4th Congressional District as a Republican, and he will compete against incumbent Republican Randy Feenstra.
Kevin Virgil says he is a political outsider, and his campaign is founded on the principles of true conservatism.
Fifty-year-old Virgil says his career in the military and intelligence community, as well as his experience as an entrepreneur in the private sector, have equipped him with the leadership skills and values needed to address complex challenges.
Virgil eventually started a company that builds AI-enabled security solutions for the Department of Defense and corporate customers around the world.
Virgil was born in Lincoln, Nebraska and raised in Sutherland, Iowa.
