• Home
  • News
    • Politics & Government
    • Business & Economy
    • Crime / Courts
    • Health / Medicine
  • Sports
    • High School Sports
    • Radio Iowa Poll
  • Affiliates
    • Affiliate Support Page
  • Contact Us
    • Reporters

Radio Iowa

Iowa's Radio News Network

You are here: Home / Business / Some question giving 10 million in state dollars to Wells Fargo

Some question giving 10 million in state dollars to Wells Fargo

August 1, 2003 By admin

Some Iowans are scratching their heads over the decision to give a 10-million dollar state loan to the nation’s fifth-largest financial institution. The board that hands out money from the state’s new economic development fund decided this week to make the forgivable loan to Wells Fargo for an expansion in the Des Moines area, but Betty Ahrens, co-executive director of the Iowa Citizens Action Network, says there are better ways to spend state taxdollars. Ahrens says the state should be spending its resources to enhance Iowans’ quality of life. She says it’s a far better strategy to spend money on schools and cleaning up the environment than on hand-outs for businesses. Ahrens says whenever states end up bidding against one another to attract businesses, it ends up being a race to the bottom. Ahrens says Iowa can’t afford such a high-stakes race in a time of budget constraints. Ahrens doesn’t call the Iowa Values award “corporate welfare” but she does find it ironic that the state’s making a loan to one of the country’s largest banks. Ahrens says it “doesn’t make sense” but she says the loan is more palatable than what she considers the “typical type” of corporate welfare — like tax breaks. Wells Fargo doesn’t have to repay the loan if it lives up to its promise to bring two-thousand new jobs to Iowa, and pay an average wage of 33-thousand-500 dollars to those workers.

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Filed Under: Business, Politics / Govt

Featured Stories

Iowa State Patrol tactical team leader killed in Grundy Center stand-off

Finalists chosen for the state’s top burger

Paintings by Clinton woman gain a following in Europe

Iowa deadline for individual income taxpayers moved to June 1

Dialing rules changing for two area codes in Iowa

TwitterFacebook
Tweets by RadioIowa

New title sponsor for Des Moines Marathon

Iowa State adds Minnesota transfer

Cedar Rapids preparing for big return of sports events

Iowa Games returning with full slate of sports

Iowa’s Garza sweeps national awards

More Sports

eNews and Updates

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

Archives

Copyright © 2021 ยท Learfield News & Ag, LLC