In one of his final bill signings, former Governor Terry Branstad disregarded almost all the public input his office received regarding the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University. Last month, Republican state lawmakers voted to redirect revenues from a fertilizer fee that had provided the bulk of the center’s funding for 30 years. They zeroed out a separate line item which had covered most of the center’s other operating costs.

After GOP legislators ignored feedback from hundreds of Iowans who came to the Capitol or submitted written comments in support of the Leopold Center, attention turned to Branstad, since the governor has the power to veto line items from budget bills. Legal counsel Colin Smith informed me today that Branstad’s office “received approximately 907 emails” on this subject, of which only two favored eliminating the Leopold Center. More than 900 e-mails and “all but a handful” of more than 500 phone calls on this issue supported maintaining the center.

In other words, at least 99.8 percent of more than 1,400 constituent contacts urged Branstad to allow the Leopold Center to continue its work.

However, Branstad vetoed only two line items, which would have removed language about the Leopold Center from Iowa Code. He left in place provisions that redirected most of the center’s funding. Some income from the ISU Foundation remains, but that is insufficient to fund new research on topics such as water quality, conservation practices, soil erosion, and local food systems.

The ambush on the Leopold Center was a favor to corporate agricultural interests, which sought to divert fertilizer tax revenue to ISU’s narrowly-focused Nutrient Research Center, where agribusiness will likely have more control over the agenda. No one even pretended to make a substantive case for defunding the Leopold Center. Yet Branstad reduced a respected institution to a shell, ignoring almost every Iowan who appealed to him.

Before being sworn in as governor yesterday, Kim Reynolds told Barbara Rodriguez of the Associated Press, “I’m going to travel the state and I’m going to go into communities and I’m going to talk to Iowans and I’m going to listen. […] What are we missing? What are we doing right?”

A key test for Reynolds: will she–unlike her mentor–be willing to change course when Iowans overwhelmingly oppose her administration’s policy? Or will she “listen” politely, then have staff follow up with a form letter after she does whatever Republican ideologues or business lobby groups ask of her?

UPDATE: The Des Moines Register’s editorial board commented on May 27,

As reported recently by Vanessa Miller of the Cedar Rapids Gazette, the legislation that cut off the center’s funding also requires ISU’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences to “cancel any existing grant or project that is not in the process of being completed” — unless such cancellation could trigger a lawsuit — and that particular provision of the law remains intact, even in the wake of the governor’s veto.

Here’s where all of this leaves the Leopold Center: It can remain open, but it has lost all of its direct funding and it has to stop working on projects that aren’t already being finalized. It is the “Walking Dead” of state agencies. […]

Fortunately, ISU is taking the only sensible course of action — conflicting legislation notwithstanding. It is undergoing a reorganization that will include the Leopold Center and will enable Mark Rasmussen to remain as its director.

The university hasn’t commented on the legislation, but says the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences will manage the completion of certain projects through previously-allocated state dollars, and the school will then review its options.

From that story by Miller:

Ben Hammes, a spokesman for the governor’s office, told The Gazette that Branstad’s veto aimed to keep the center alive while also transferring the funding and control. Branstad doesn’t plan to amend his veto, Hammes said.

[Democratic State Senator Herman] Quirmbach said that’s confusing and leaves Leopold’s future convoluted.

“It would seem that Leopold has the right to exist, but they are being told not to do anything,” he said. “The governor’s item veto is less than it appeared. Those who wanted to save Leopold or thought that’s what the governor has done, I don’t think that’s correct.”

In a news release Thursday, Iowa State reported the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences must manage completion of Leopold’s competitive-grant projects funded through previously-allocated state dollars. ISU officials report 49 of those active projects, in addition to several others funded through private gifts.

Although the university didn’t respond to questions about confusion in the law’s language, Rasmussen and ISU College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Dean Wendy Wintersteen said the loss in state support means “options will need to be reviewed to discern the center’s future with resources available from current or future philanthropy.”