Iowa lawmakers agree on something

It’s not often that Iowa’s five U.S. House members find something they can agree on. But all five are telling Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to back off of his proposed cuts to the crop insurance industry. Thanks to being the biggest producer of corn and its reliable rainfall, Iowa is the richest single state for the companies that handle the federally subsidized policies and the agents that sell the coverage. The administration is proposing to cut both the companies’ profits and the agent’s commissions to save $6.4 billion over the next 10 years. The USDA says the commissions, which average 21 percent  in Iowa, need to be brought closer to other regions.