Date for special Legislative session now firm

Governor Tom Vilsack says Tuesday, September 7th is now firmly set as the date for the special legislative session to revive the state’s main economic development fund. Vilsack, who is a democrat, says the deal he’s struck with republicans lawmakers who control the legislature’s debate agenda appears to be getting the seal of approval from a major business group. Vilsack says the Association for Business and Industry’s board unanimously endorsed the “compromise framework” Vilsack and the G-O-P hammered out. The business group also endorsed the idea of plugging 100-million dollars into the “Iowa Values Fund” — an amount that would pay the already-promised grants as well as leave as much as 40 million dollars for state officials to hand out to new or expanding businesses in the next five months.