"Stop the Steal" — or rather, steel — has an entirely new meaning for some Iowa voters in 2026.
asserted
Stop → stop → 2026
Protesters at the Iowa statehouse Friday carried signs reading "No Steel Steal!" as lawmakers raced through a one-day special session to award Mesabi Metallics $1.36 billion over ten years in tax incentives for a
in Lee County.
asserted
lawmakers → carry → County
Mesabi Metallics is owned by the Indian conglomorate Essar Group.
asserted
Metallics → own → Group
The Iowa House passed it 75-17, the Senate 28-19.
asserted
House → pass → it
Gov. Kim Reynolds signed it into law Friday night.
asserted
Reynolds → sign → law
It comes after
that the largest steel plant in U.S. history will be built in Iowa.
asserted
plant → come → Iowa
Mr. Trump promised the $15 billion steel plant would create 1,750 permanent jobs and roughly 6,000 construction jobs.
asserted
plant → promise → jobs
The announcement caught many in the state, including
on to approve the tax incentives, by surprise.
asserted
announcement → catch → surprise
When Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told reporters at the White House "the deal is done" on Monday, lawmakers in Iowa still hadn't received details to review or timing for the special session held Friday.
asserted
lawmakers → tell → session
Opponents of the $1.36 billion in incentives are largely supporters of the project, but they wanted more safeguards and guarantees of public benefits.
asserted
they → want → benefits
The incentives roughly amount to about $777,000 in credits per permanent job over 10 years, a hefty price tag by any standards.
asserted
incentives → amount → standards
Proponents argue that math leaves out roughly 6,000 construction jobs — which opponents point out are all temporary.
asserted
opponents → argue → jobs
And a time when many of
are struggling, more than a billion-dollars in tax credit for an India-based conglomerate is a hard sell for some.
asserted
dollars → struggle → some
There are places in the U.S. synonymous with steel, but Iowa has never been one of them.
asserted
Iowa → be → them
The state has a couple scrap-fed steel mills — a small fraction of the size Mesabi is promising — and no commercial iron ore.
asserted
Mesabi → have → size
Mesabi Metallics is based in Minnesota, and its argument is that Iowa is conveniently downriver on the Mississippi.
asserted
Iowa → base → Mississippi
But Iowa has something that Minnesota doesn't: one of the most
in the nation.
asserted
Iowa → have → nation
The state also has tight Senate and governor's races.
asserted
state → have → races
The plant is proposed for Iowa's first congressional district, where Republican
is defending one of the GOP's most at-risk seats.
asserted
Republican → propose → seats
In 2024, the recount had her ahead of Democrat Christina Bohannan by just 798 votes.
asserted
her → have → votes
Sabato's Crystal Ball just moved the race from "toss up" to "leans Democratic" before the steel announcement.
asserted
Ball → move → announcement
Mesabi and Essar Group have a long history of missed deadlines and unfulfilled job promises.
asserted
Mesabi → have → deadlines
In 2008, Essar announced a $1.6 billion iron ore mine and steel plant in Nashwauk, Minnesota, home to some of the country's richest iron ore deposits.
asserted
Essar → announce → deposits
It promised more than 700 permanent jobs.
asserted
It → promise → jobs
But the steel mill plans were dropped in 2015.
asserted
plans → drop → 2015
Essar Steel Minnesota filed for bankruptcy in 2016, was renamed Mesabi Metallics under new owners, and later came back under Essar's control.
asserted
Minnesota → file → control
The India-based Essar has recevied billions of dollars in loans from the Russian state-owned bank VTB, according to local media.
uncertain
Essar → base → media
CBS News has not independently verified these reports.
uncertain
News → verify → reports
No one in the Hawkeye state wants the steel plant to be the 2026 version of Foxconn.
asserted
plant → want → Foxconn
By 2021, the plan was scaled back to $672 million and 1,454 jobs.
asserted
plan → scale → million
Republican Gov. Scott Walker championed the deal — and lost his 2018 reelection bid as public support for it soured.
asserted
support → champion → it
On Friday, Republican State Senator Kevin Alons told the Des Moines Register that lawmakers needed more time ahead of Friday's vote.
asserted
lawmakers → tell → vote
"The political extortion is breathtaking," he said.
asserted
he → say → ?
But in the end, he voted for it.
asserted
he → vote → it
State Senator Dave Sires, also a Republican, voted no to the project, complaining the process was rushed.
asserted
process → vote → project
State Senator Dan Dawson, another Republican, called it the "largest corporate giveaway in the state of Iowa's history."
asserted
Dawson → call → history
And Republican State Senator Jeff Taylor raised concerns that the state was already in a real budget crunch.
asserted
state → raise → crunch
Taylor was swapped off the Senate Ways and Means Committee at the last minute to ensure the bill would pass committee.
asserted
bill → swap → committee
It passed 10-8, with 6 Republican State Senators voting against the bill.
asserted
Senators → pass → bill
They're trying to thread a fine needle: follow their leaders and bring home jobs, without being seen as rushing more than a billion dollars in taxpayer money to a foreign-owned company with no time for review
asserted
They → try → review
…and 15 more, not listed.
The Aporia
