When bills come to the floor of the Iowa House or Senate, the outcome of the vote is typically a foregone conclusion. Leaders rarely call up bills that don’t have the votes to pass. But in “the most surprising vote of the day, if not this year’s session,” Iowa House members on Friday rejected House File 2472, a bill designed to expand broadband access in small-town and rural Iowa. The initiative was among Governor Terry Branstad’s legislative priorities this year. While the goal is uncontroversial, especially in communities where people are stuck with dialup internet, lawmakers disagreed on how to accomplish the task.
The House Journal for April 25 includes details from the floor debate, including roll calls on two Democratic amendments that failed to pass on party-line votes. One of them was a “strike” amendment replacing the entire content of House File 2472 with stronger incentives favored by House Democrats. After the routine business of rejecting minority party amendments, a vote was called on final passage. But only 42 Republicans voted yes, joined by just two Democrats. I’ve posted a list of yes and no votes after the jump. House Minority Leader Mark Smith said Democrats opposed the bill because it “does not go far enough in expanding broadband access to more homes and small businesses.” The Republicans who voted no may have been put off by the size of the tax breaks or the lack of accountability. State Representative Guy Vander Linden told Radio Iowa, “We don’t say they need to meet any requirements in terms of our capacity, speed – anything. All we say is: ‘If you will put broadband infrastructure in place in any unserved or underserved area…we’ll give you all these benefits.’ That, to me, sounds like a blank check that I’m not willing to sign up to.”
House Majority Leader Linda Upmeyer has already filed a motion to reconsider the vote on this bill, so leaders may believe they can find the votes they need through friendly persuasion or arm-twisting. (She was one of the “no” votes, presumably to preserve her ability to file the bill again after realizing it would not pass.) Two Republicans (Clel Baudler and Ron Jorgensen) were absent from Friday’s vote. Assuming they support the broadband bill and Upmeyer changes her vote, House leaders would need to persuade four more Republicans or Democrats.
The 44 Iowa House members who voted yes on final passage of House File 2472:
Republicans:
Dwayne Alons
Rob Bacon
Chip Baltimore
Mark Brandenburg
Josh Byrnes
Mark Costello
Peter Cownie
Dave Deyoe
Cecil Dolecheck
Jack Drake
Dean Fisher
Greg Forristall
Joel Fry
Tedd Gassman
Pat Grassley
Stan Gustafson
Chris Hagenow
Mary Ann Hanusa
Dave Heaton
Lee Hein
Megan Hess
Jake Highfill
Dan Huseman
Bobby Kaufmann
Jarad Klein
Kevin Koester
John Landon
Mark Lofgren
Linda Miller
Brian Moore
Steve Olson
Kraig Paulsen
Henry Rayhons
Walt Rogers
Tom Sands
Jason Schultz
Jeff Smith
Chuck Soderberg
Quentin Stanerson
Rob Taylor
Gary Worthan
Matt Windschitl
Democrats:
Scott Ourth
Todd Prichard
The 51 Iowa House members who voted against the bill:
Republicans:
Greg Heartsill
Guy Vander Linden
Dave Maxwell
Dawn Pettengill
Sandy Salmon
Tom Shaw
Larry Sheets
Linda Upmeyer
Ralph Watts
Democrats:
Ako Abdul-Samad
Marti Anderson
Bruce Bearinger
Deborah Berry
Dennis Cohoon
Nancy Dunkel
John Forbes
Mary Gaskill
Chris Hall
Curt Hanson
Lisa Heddens
Bruce Hunter
Chuck Isenhart
Dave Jacoby
Anesa Kajtazovic
Jerry Kearns
Dan Kelley
Bob Kressig
Vicki Lensing
Dan Lundby
Jim Lykam
Mary Mascher
Brian Meyer
Dan Muhlbauer
Pat Murphy
Jo Oldson
Rick Olson
Tyler Olson
Joe Riding
Patti Ruff
Kirsten Running-Marquardt
Mark Smith
Art Staed
Sharon Steckman
Sally Stutsman
Todd Taylor
Phyllis Thede
Roger Thomas
Beth Wessel-Kroeschell
Cindy Winckler
Mary Wolfe
Frank Wood