Mariannette Miller-Meeks

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will travel to Iowa Wednesday, Aug. 12 to appear with Republican U.S. Reps. Zach Nunn and Mariannette Miller-Meeks ahead of a competitive midterm election.

Bessent also plans to discuss the department's plan to permanently remove the requirement for U.S. companies to report beneficial ownership information to the Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network under the Corporate Transparency Act.

In an Aug. 11 news release announcing the plan, Bessent called the action a "victory for common sense and American small businesses."

The requirements were put in place to make it harder for foreign entities to commit crimes and hide behind U.S. shell companies by requiring firms to disclose their ownership structures to the government. Critics have said those requirements are overly burdensome for American small businesses and raise privacy concerns.

"President Trump promised to cut red tape, and this final rule delivers," Bessent said in a statement. "Treasury is eliminating a burdensome reporting requirement for millions of law-abiding business owners without compromising our national security."

Bessent will appear with Miller-Meeks Wednesday, Aug. 12, to tour an agriculture equipment manufacturer and participate in a roundtable discussion with agriculture manufacturers.

He'll also attend a panel discussion with Nunn and Iowa bankers to discuss the tax cuts included in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the federal savings program known as "Trump Accounts," and reducing regulatory burdens such as the beneficial ownership information reporting requirement change.

Both Miller-Meeks and Nunn are in the midst of highly competitive reelection efforts for the 1st and 3rd Districts respectively. Nonpartisan elections analysts at the Cook Political Report rate both races as toss-up elections.

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Brianne Pfannenstiel is the chief politics reporter for the Des Moines Register. She writes about campaigns, elections and the Iowa Caucuses. Reach her at [email protected] or 515-284-8244. Follow her on X at @brianneDMR.