A story in the Sunday Des Moines Register got me thinking about how money affects what happens and doesn’t happen in the Iowa House and Senate. The gist of the article is that many interest groups are providing free food and drink to legislators without properly disclosing how much they spend on these events.

State officials concede the disclosure law is not enforced. Senate Ethics Committee Vice Chairman Dick Dearden, D-Des Moines, said he does not recall any organization ever being punished for not filing reception disclosures properly.

“I don’t know if anyone ever checks them,” Dearden said. […]

Filings from groups that complied with the law show interest groups have spent $187,000 this year to arrange at least 66 events. That is about 4 percent less than was spent during last year’s legislative session and 15 percent less than in 2007.

Reported spending on the legislative parties peaked at $264,000 in 2005, when the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board oversaw the disclosures.

Enforcement has since shifted to the House and Senate ethics committees, and reported spending has declined each year since. […]

Tracking exactly which or how many organizations filed their reports properly is difficult because there is no master list of receptions and no state officials are charged with verifying the filings.

[Charlie] Smithson [executive director of the Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board] said groups were never punished for failing to file when his board oversaw the disclosures, but his staff reviewed the Legislature’s social calendar regularly and reminded groups to send proper documents.

It’s not encouraging to learn that no one is enforcing our disclosure rules. I know legislative receptions are probably not the most important way to buy political influence, but someone should be making groups comply with the rules.

After the jump I briefly examine a few of the ways an interest group with an agenda and a pile of cash could use that money. There’s also a poll at the end–please vote!

On March 18 the Iowa House voted 96 to 0 to pass a bill banning candidates from using campaign funds to pay themselves or immediate family members a salary. This measure closes the so-called “Ed Fallon loophole,” named because Fallon received $13,750 from his gubernatorial campaign between June and November 2006 after losing the Democratic primary.

The Iowa Senate approved Senate File 50 in February (also unanimously). Governor Chet Culver is expected to sign the bill and may have done so already, but I did not find confirmation of that on the governor’s website.

Looking at the text of Senate File 50, I noticed that it defines “immediate family member” as “the spouse or dependent child of a candidate.”

I’ve been told that at least 20 members of the Iowa House (including Democrats and Republicans) employ either their spouse or child as a clerk. Apparently it is fine for spouses and children of state legislators to draw a salary from taxpayer dollars, but it becomes a terrible ethical problem for a candidate to draw a salary from money voluntarily contributed by supporters.

I have more to say about this farcical bill after the jump.

Sorry to bring you down on a Friday afternoon, but the Iowa Revenue Estimating Conference released new estimates today, and it ain’t pretty:

The conference estimated that the current year’s revenues will sink by $129.7 million compared to its December estimate. Revenue for the budget year that begins July 1 will drop by $269.9 million.

The drop is in addition to December’s estimates, which cut $99.5 million in the current year and $132.6 million in the fiscal year that begins July 1.

Charlie Krogmeier, Gov. Chet Culver’s chief of staff and a member of the conference, said federal stimulus money may help offset the blow but that the dramatically lower estimates will leave lawmakers with tough options.

It would be difficult to find enough job cuts and furloughs in the current fiscal year to fill the gap. The fiscal year ends June 30, in roughly 10 weeks. […]

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy […] and other Democratic leaders noted on Thursday that they were already planning a budget that was $130 million less than Culver’s in the upcoming fiscal year. It’s unclear how they will make up the additional $270 million loss for the current and upcoming year.

Clearly difficult choices lie ahead. I urge Iowa leaders not to implement spending cuts alone, because cutting government spending too much during a recession can make things worse.

I was encouraged to read recently that legislators are looking carefully at all of the tax incentives Iowa provides. The combined effect of all these tax incentives is larger than all state spending:

There are at least 191 tax breaks for income and sales taxes that cost or prevent Iowa from collecting almost $7.2 billion, according to a 2005 review by the Iowa Department of Revenue and Finance.

That’s more than total state spending, which is projected to be $7.1 billion next year.

Not all of these tax breaks provide good value for the lost revenue, and not all of them can be preserved with the budget shortfall we’re facing.

In other unpleasant news this Friday, the Principal Financial Group, one of Iowa’s largest employers, announced pay cuts between 2 and 10 percent, which will affect all employees, management and the board of directors. Some benefits will also be reduced.

Principal already imposed a large layoff in December, and I think they are doing the right thing by reducing pay rather than cutting more jobs now. Labor market specialists differ on whether it’s better for companies to cut pay or lay off more workers in lean times. Click here to read some arguments for reducing pay, or click here for the pro-layoff argument.

The assistant Iowa Senate majority leader and chair of the State Government Committee has taken on a new responsibility:

February 6, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                            

State Legislator Network Names Staci Appel Iowa State Director

State Senator Staci Appel of Ackworth has been selected to serve as Iowa State Director for the Women Legislators’ Lobby (WiLL).

WiLL President Sen. Nan Grogan Orrock (GA) announced the State Director appointment in Washington, DC, saying “Since her election to the Iowa Senate in 2006, Staci Appel has provided exemplary leadership on a number of issues important to her constituents and to Iowa.  Senator Appel has a legislative record that demonstrates a commitment to issues affecting children and senior citizens and the disadvantaged, as well as state budget and infrastructure needs.”

Orrock said that as a State Director of WiLL, Appel will work with the national non-partisan network of women legislators to influence federal legislation and budgetary policy.  Appel will work with women from all fifty states to amplify women’s voices, promote women’s leadership, and support a national agenda that promotes true homeland security and prosperity.

“With a membership base of one out of every three women legislators, WiLL is a strong voice for national policy to address family violence, to promote the health and well-being of women, children and families, to protect our environment, and to oppose bloated military spending that builds too many weapons and not enough schools,” stated Senator Orrock.

Staci Appel of Ackworth is a member of the Women Legislators’ Lobby (WiLL).  For more information about WiLL, contact Staci Appel (515) 961-6982 or the WiLL office at 202-544-5055.

WiLL | WAND

Women Legislators’ Lobby (WiLL), a unique program of WAND, is a non-partisan network of women state legislators working to influence federal policy and budget priorities.

Women’s Action for New Directions (WAND) empowers women to act politically to reduce violence and militarism, and redirect excessive military resources toward unmet human and environmental needs.

Appel has already made a mark during her first term in the Iowa Senate. She helped get the Farm to School program funded during the 2007 legislative session. Last year she secured more funding for after-school programs (although those funds unfortunately got “swept” for flood relief in the summer). She also managed the smoking ban bill in the Iowa Senate and chaired the conference committee that resolved the differences between the House and Senate versions of that legislation.

I don’t know how she finds enough hours in the day, because she is also a mother of six children at home. I will look forward to learning more about her work with WiLL.

The highlight of Governor Chet Culver’s “condition of the state” address yesterday (video here and prepared text here) was a proposal to issue state bonds to borrow up to $700 million over the next few years:

Thousands of new jobs will be created, Culver said. Every $100 million spent on highway construction alone means more than 4,000 new jobs, he said.

“We’re cutting back on the day-to-day expenditures of state government,” Culver said in his Condition of the State speech this morning. “But, at the same time, we will be investing in bricks and mortar – to create jobs and keep our economy going.”

Culver said Iowa won’t need to raise taxes to pay for the plan. The state is in the position to issue bonds, which is essentially borrowing money. Existing gaming revenue would repay the bonds, he said.

Predictably, road industry lobbyists like the spending plans while expressing some doubts about the borrowing plans.

Republicans also don’t seem to like the bonding proposal, while statehouse Democrats think it’s a good idea. State Auditor David Vaudt, who may be a Republican candidate for governor in 2010, said he needed to study the details before expressing an opinion, but noted, “What we’ve got to remember is we’ve got to dedicate and set aside a piece of revenue stream to pay that principal and interest.”

Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal made a great point:

Gronstal deflected Republican criticism by pointing out that [Senate Minority leader Paul] McKinley, in his opening day speech, talked about a business he once owned.

“He borrowed every nickel he could and leveraged himself as far as he could because he believed in his future. I believe in Iowa’s future. I believe it makes sense now to borrow money and move this state forward,” Gronstal said.

He added: “This is probably one of the best times in our history to go out and borrow money with a dedicated repayment stream. Do you own a home? Did it make sense for you to borrow money? Or did you just pay cash?”

Gronstal is absolutely right. Iowa has a triple-A bond rating, interest rates are fairly low, and creating jobs is essential to bringing the economy back. Two-thirds of our economy depends on consumer spending, and good jobs generate the money people then spend at businesses in their communities. Construction jobs tend to be good jobs too.

Des Moines Register columnist David Yepsen, who is usually a deficit hawk, also likes the infrastructure bonding idea:

The money will be borrowed over the next few years, supervised by an oversight board and repaid with gambling profits, so no tax increases will be necessary. (If we have to have all this gambling in Iowa, wouldn’t it be nice to see something tangible in return?)

It will be the modern-day equivalent of the Depression-era Works Progress Administration, which built infrastructure we still use today, such as dams, sewers, parks and shelters. Previous American generations left us wonderful systems of interstates, canals, railroads, river locks and dams. What are we leaving our kids? Potholes, bridge collapses and sewers that pollute river ways.

Iowans are a frugal people. Perhaps we are too frugal. According to state Treasurer Mike Fitzgerald’s office, Moody’s Investors Service says Iowa’s per-capita level of public debt ranked 48th in the country last year. Iowa has $98 of state public debt per person. The national average of state debt is $1,158. You could double Iowa’s $98 of per-capita state debt to $200, and we would then rank 46th.

Culver should have told us that. Clearly, most other states saddle their citizens with more debt than is proposed here. And many are more attractive places to live, too, as our children attest when they leave for the better jobs and brighter lights elsewhere.

It’s funny to watch all these Republican legislators, who borrow all sorts of money to buy, expand or repair homes, businesses and farms, now turn prune-faced when Culver suggests doing the exact same thing in state government.

The Des Moines Register explained how Culver’s plan would work:

* Borrow $700 million in 20-year tax-exempt state revenue bonds

* Secure the bonds with about $56 million a year in gaming tax revenues

* Create a Rebuild Iowa Infrastructure Authority to issue the bonds. It will be overseen by a five-member board.

* The authority would be administered and staffed by the Iowa Finance Authority.

How money will be spent:

housing

trails

highways

roads

bridges

mass transit

railways

airports

water quality and wastewater treatment improvements

flood control improvements

energy infrastructure

disaster-relief infrastructure

public buildings

Projects will be judged on:

Whether they are ready to proceed

How quickly the project can be started and completed

Number of jobs to be created by the project

Contribution to sustainability

On the whole, I support the idea. My main concern is that infrastructure money be spent on fixing what we already have, not on building every new road on developers’ wish lists. In the past, our legislators and state officials have focused too much on funding new roads instead of a balanced transportation policy.

The housing slump is likely to continue for at least two more years, and there is no reason to spend large sums to build new highway interchanges and major new roads through undeveloped farmland now. We should spend the money to fix stretches of existing major roads and highways and crumbling bridges, as well as on modes of transit that allow alternatives to driving. These projects will improve the quality of life for large numbers of Iowans while also creating jobs.

As for airports, I would only support spending money on needed repairs and improvements to existing airports. This is not the time to start building a bunch of small regional airports that would benefit a handful of corporate executives.

Culver emphasized that he did not plan to raise taxes, but Gronstal indicated that raising the state gas tax is still on the table.

I would like to hear more lawmakers talk about closing various tax loopholes that mainly benefit wealthy Iowans. The Iowa Policy Project has documented this and various other flaws in our current tax policies.

If you’ve got the time and the inclination, the governor’s official website has a video Culver showed during his address, called “In Deep Water: The Flood of 2008.” Iowa Public Television has House Minority leader Kraig Paulsen’s response to Culver’s address.

I have to be away from my computer this morning, but please use this thread to discuss Governor Chet Culver’s annual “condition of the state” address to members of the state legislature.

Citing Lieutenant Governor Patty Judge and Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal, the Des Moines Register reported that Culver is expected to announce some new proposals. Presumably those will address flood recovery and the state budget.

I’ll be interested to see whether Culver goes out on a limb to back anything really controversial. If he wants to go down in history as one of the all-time greats, he’ll need to take some risks.

I saw in the Sunday Des Moines Register that the newspaper’s editorial board will interview both parties’ statehouse leaders this week to talk about their priorities for the upcoming legislative session. People will be able to watch the interviews live at the Register’s website.

Monday, January 5:

At 10 am the Register’s editorial board will interview top Iowa Republicans in the legislature: Senate Minority Leader Paul McKinley, House Minority Leader Kraig Paulsen, and House Minority Whip Linda Upmeyer.

Tuesday, January 6:

At 9:30 am the Register’s editorial board will interview top Iowa Democrats in the legislature: Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal, House Speaker Pat Murphy, and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy.

I am adding these to the list of events coming up this week, which I posted on Friday.

The session begins on January 12. Please feel free to post diaries about important bills under consideration, lobby days planned by grassroots organizations, or other related topics. Also, please send me tips or notices about upcoming events (desmoinesdem AT yahoo.com).

At 10 am central time this morning, the Iowa Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Varnum v Brien, a case in which six couples are challenging Iowa’s law declaring that “Only a marriage between a male and female is valid.” Polk County has appealed a district judge’s ruling last year that the statute is unconstitutional. Last night jpmassar published a good overview of the legal issues underlying Judge Robert Hanson’s ruling as well as the county’s defense of the statute. (See also Osorio’s legal primer on the case.)

If you like, you can watch a livestream of the oral arguments at the Iowa Supreme Court’s website as well as at several other media sites. You can download pdf files of the district court ruling and the briefs submitted to the Iowa Supreme Court on appeal here.

My focus in this diary is not the legal arguments, but the political case that will need to be made for marriage equality once the Supreme Court has ruled on Varnum v Brien several months from now. Follow me after the jump for more.

At Iowa Independent Lynda Waddington posted a chart showing the committee assignments for all 56 Iowa House Democrats.

Bookmark this page so that you’ll know which lawmakers to contact on various issues during the upcoming legislative session.

It looks like all seven nine brand-new House Democrats have been named vice-chair of at least one committee or sub-committee.

UPDATE: Here is a list of all the committee chairs. Note that the Rebuild Iowa and Disaster Recovery Committee is a new standing committee:

Committee Chairs, 83rd General Assembly

Standing Committees

Administration and Rules – Rep. Beth Wessel-Kroeschell, Ames

Agriculture – Rep. Dolores Mertz, Ottosen

Appropriations – Rep. Jo Oldson, Des Moines

Commerce & Regulation – Rep. Janet Petersen, Des Moines

Economic Growth – Rep. Roger Thomas, Elkader

Education – Rep. Roger Wendt, Sioux City

Environmental Protection – Rep. Donovan Olson, Boone

Ethics – Rep. Helen Miller, Ft. Dodge

Government Oversight – Rep. Vicki Lensing , Iowa City

Human Resources – Rep. Mark Smith, Marshalltown

Judiciary – Rep. Kurt Swaim, Bloomfield

Labor – Rep. Rick Olson, Des Moines

Local Government – Rep. Mary Gaskill, Ottumwa

Natural Resources – Rep. Paul Bell, Newton

Public Safety – Rep. Jim Lykam, Davenport

Rebuild Iowa & Disaster Recovery – Rep. Tom Schueller, Maquoketa

State Government – Rep. Mary Mascher, Iowa City

Transportation – Rep. Brian Quirk, New Hampton

Veterans Affairs – Rep. Ray Zirkelbach, Monticello

Ways & Means – Rep. Paul Shomshor ,  Council Bluffs

Joint Appropriations Subcommittees

Administration & Regulation – Rep. Bruce Hunter, Des Moines

Agriculture & Natural Resources – Rep. Mark Kuhn , Charles City

Economic Development – Rep. David Jacoby, Coralville

Education – Rep. Cindy Winckler, Davenport

Health & Human Services – Rep. Lisa Heddens, Ames

Justice Systems – Rep. Todd Taylor, Cedar Rapids

Transportation, Infrastructure, & Capitals – Rep. Dennis Cohoon, Burlington

Statutory Committee

Administrative Rules Review – Rep. Marcie Frevert, Emmetsburg

UPDATE 2: If you want to know which House Republicans are serving on which committees, go to this page on the Des Moines Register’s political blog, and you’ll find a link to a pdf file with the Republican committee assignments.

UPDATE 3: Chase Martyn analyzed the Iowa House Democrat committee assignments here. Among other things, he noticed,

Almost all vulnerable Democratic incumbents have been kept off the Ways and Means committee.  In a year of budget shortfalls, Ways and Means will likely have to send some tax-increasing bills to the floor.  Members of the committee who vote to send those bills to the floor will be said to have voted for tax increases an absurd number of times because negative direct mail does not typically distinguish between committee votes and floor votes.

Many areas in Iowa are picking up the pieces after tornados, storms, and massive flooding.  I want to highlight some information on the widespread, intense flood damage in Cedar Rapids.  Legislative leaders from both political parties toured the damage in Eastern Iowa a couple of weeks ago.  You can find a background memo I prepared for their visit here.  Also available is information for Iowa residents and businesses affected by natural diasters.

Thursday I announced my re-election bid to represent Iowa House District 38.  You can see the full release here.  Here are some of the highlights:

Olson also cited raising the minimum wage, making health insurance available to 17,000 Iowans this year and all kids within three years, expanding voluntary preschool access, and keeping post-secondary education tuition increases the lowest in decades as legislative successes. Tyler was honored to receive the 2008 Lincoln Excellence in Governing Award from Bethel AME Church.

Olson will kickoff his re-election campaign with a reception at the Cherry Building (329 10th Avenue SE, Cedar Rapids) on Wednesday, June 11. The event runs from 4:45PM to 6:30PM. All are welcome, and more information is available at www.tylerolson.org.

We had great success on issues important to us.  I need your help to return to Des Moines.  Please consider a contribution of $20 to the campaign.  Your contribution will help me print cowboy cards to take door-to-door with me this summer and fall.

Two other pieces of legislation I floor-managed were expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and creating the Energy Cities program.  The EITC is available to working families making less than $32,263.  Last year I led legislation that became law to increase the state EITC and make it refundable, helping working families across Iowa.

Your contribution of $20 or $10 helps me continue working to increase the EITC.

The Energy Cities legislation encourages communities to gather the stakeholders (city council, board of supervisor, school district, private business, nonprofits) to develop an energy efficiency plan.  Participating communities are then given priority for certain state programs.

If you are in the Cedar Rapids area, make sure to stop by my campaign kickoff on June 11.  I hope to see you there!

Our “effective” Democratic leaders in the Iowa House and Senate have pushed through the Livestock Odor Research and Air Modeling Study. The Senate passed the bill late last night.

Leigh Adcock of the Iowa Farmers Union explains why this is a “seriously flawed piece of legislation”:

Research has already been done on cost effective ways to mitigate odor.  Included are better siting methods, and the use of biofilters and covers on lagoons.  Iowa’s taxpayers should not be required to fund another round of studies on proven technologies when the legislature has not shown any willingness to act on the information already gathered from previous studies.  Instead we should require producers to implement what we already know.

Minnesota has enacted ambient air quality standards that limit hydrogen sulfide to 0.05 parts per million and is working on limiting ammonia emissions.   Missouri, Nebraska, and Colorado regulate sulfur emissions and emissions of other types.

[…]

Ammonia and hydrogen sulfide, two odor causing gases emitted from confined feedlot operations, are known to cause serious respiratory problems.

The bacteria found within particulates emitted from livestock operations create lung inflammation that leads to non-allergic asthma.  Twenty-five percent of those who work in confined feedlot operations have some form of respiratory disease, 10% higher than the United States working population as a whole.

Rekha Basu’s latest column for the Des Moines Register showed how many times the Iowa legislature has blocked action to alleviate the pollution caused by CAFOs.

Most of her examples come from the years when Republicans controlled both chambers of the legislature. It is discouraging to see that the livestock industry continues to trump public-health and environmental concerns even under Democratic control.

In the Iowa Senate, some lawmakers including Joe Bolkcom (D, Iowa City) offered good amendments, but those were rejected on a voice vote, so that we don’t even have a record of how individuals voted.

I do have the breakdown of how senators voted on the final version of the odor-study bill, and I’ve put that after the jump. It was not a party-line vote. If your senator voted against this waste of taxpayer money, please give him or her a call to say thanks.

I’m trying to dig up the final vote for the Iowa House as well and will update this diary with that information when I find it.

If I were an adviser to Governor Culver, I’d tell him to veto this bill. It’s the right thing to do on the merits. We simply don’t need more study of this problem. Spending $23 million over five years on more study wastes our money and kicks the can down the road. Using state funds to implement the measures that are working in other states would be a wiser use of taxpayer dollars.

The odor-study bill is a far cry from what the governor proposed to the legislature concerning this issue in January.

Finally, a veto would be cheered by environmentalists who are disappointed that the governor hasn’t made it a priority to push for local control over the siting of CAFOs (also known as agricultural zoning at the county level). Culver has said he is for local control, but he didn’t put much muscle behind that during the 2007 or 2008 legislative sessions.

An action alert went out on the Iowa Sierra Club list this morning:

From: Lyle Krewson

Subject: HF2688 up for Senate debate

The Senate Majority Leader  gave the list of bills for today. It includes HF

2688, the Odor Control Bill–please contact your State Senator now!

We do have amendments being offered but no amendments were included during

House debate last week.

ACTION NEEDED:

We need you to contact your State Senator to vote NO on HF2688. Below is a

sample email that you may personalize–always be sure to include your name

and mailing address on an email to a Legislator.

You may find your Iowa State Senator by going to this weblink and using your

address or 9-digit ZIP code: http://www.legis.state.ia.us/F…

If you wish to call your State Senator, the switchboard # is: 515-281-3371.

The rest of the alert, which includes more details about this bill and some talking points for you to use, is after the jump.

Iowa Environmental Council Executive Director Marian Riggs Gelb: Iowa has a responsibility to help fix the Gulf of Mexico’s “dead zone.”

I encourage you to click the link and read the whole op-ed in Saturday’s Des Moines Register.

To our state’s shame, Iowa and other corn belt states are still the largest contributors to the “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico, according to a new study.

The logical thing would be to impose more regulations on the use of fertilizers and other farming practices that contribute to the problem. But don’t hold your breath for any movement on those issues at the statehouse. After all, Iowa is an agricultural state and anyone who doesn’t like it can leave in any of four directions.  

Potential sleeper candidate Joe Biden picked up two more state legislator endorsements this morning.  From a Biden for President campaign release:

“Today, Sen. Joe Biden received endorsements from two key Iowa elected officials.  State Representatives Dennis Cohoon of Burlington and Eric Palmer of Oskaloosa become the 15th and 16th Iowa State legislators to endorse Sen. Biden.  

“I am supporting Sen. Biden because he’s the most prepared to be president from Day One,” said Rep. Cohoon.  “And as a high school special education teacher for thirty years, I know Sen. Biden can accomplish the education reforms we need to get kids in preschool earlier and give them the opportunity to go to college.”

Rep. Palmer stressed Sen. Biden’s experience in world affairs and his commitment to civil rights: “The Des Moines Register talked about knowledge and experience in their endorsement. To me Joe Biden exhibits real knowledge and experience in foreign affairs and his understanding of the constitution, both qualities not exhibited by this White House.  As Vice-Chair of the House Judiciary Committee, I am particularly impressed with Sen. Biden’s expertise in constitutional law, which will be critical to getting America back on track.””

Like the release says, that brings his endorsement total to 16.  And trust me, that’s a lot in the state legislator race and puts him just behind Clinton and Obama.  That bodes well for Biden in terms of organization and contacts.  State legislators have strong local connections that help them get elected in the first place.  Their opinion matters if nothing more than to help Iowans pick a solid second choice.

Now, don’t get me wrong, these endorsements aren’t going to catapult Joe Biden into the top three.  But they could help him a lot.  If any of the three front-runners do poorly in terms of rural organizing or see troubles in viability, Joe Biden could see a boost.  And with his Iraq policy and seriousness he still captures Iowans’ attention to at least listen to him.  The question is what kind of crowd will show up to the caucuses on January 3rd.

John Deeth posted an update on legislative endorsements, along with a helpful chart showing which candidates Iowa Democratic legislators endorsed in 2004, and which counties the legislators represent.

The latest tally is Clinton 19, Obama 18, Biden 14, Edwards 10, Dodd 3 and Richardson 1. 

Deeth's chart also shows who has yet to endorse, and who those legislators backed (if anyone) four years ago. 

Iowa was a “red state” in 2004 and many attribute the rural electorate in Iowa as “leaning Republican” – and most definitely more conservative than the average urban voter,  New numbers released by the Center For Rural Strategies are showing a slight shift in favor of Democrats on “generic ballot” questions:

So, the newest member of the Republican House Caucus has published her first “post-flip” column on the website of the Des Moines Register.  In it she says:

All of my columns are written like a letter to my mother, because I want her to know what I’m doing and to be proud of me. And I want you to be proud of me too.

So, in her constant search for approval she has decided to participate in fundraisers with the same Republican leadership that did this:

Iowa Democrats are decrying Republican campaign tactics after two state lawmakers were falsely accused of voting for a bill to aid illegal immigrants — before the two legislators ever took office.A flyer mailed to voters attacking Democratic Reps. Bob Kressig of Cedar Falls and Dawn Pettengill of Mount Auburn said they supported a bill that would allow illegal immigrants to be eligible for in-state tuition. But the vote was taken in the Iowa House in 2004, months before Kressig and Pettengill were elected.House Minority Leader Pat Murphy of Dubuque said the attacks by Republicans have gone beyond negative campaigning to “outright lying.”“Iowans should be upset at that. Republicans have set a new low by breaking the public trust,” Murphy said.

Yes…just over one week after announcing her switch Rep. Dawn Pettengill has held a fundraiser with House Minority Leader Christopher Rants…The same Minority Leader who started the 527 that attacked her during the 2006 election for votes she did not take…

Take the poll, and elaborate on your opinion in the comments section if you like.

Take the poll, and elaborate on your opinion in the comments section if you like.

We environmentalists have been pretty downbeat about the 2007 legislative session. Even with Democrats in power, there was no action on local control over the siting of CAFOs and little progress on other issues related to water and air quality.

Some good news arrived in my in-box today, however. I had not realized that on the last day of the session, the legislature had approved and funded the Farm to School program, which will make locally-produced, nutritious food available in more Iowa schools while increasing the market for farmers using sustainable methods.

Stephanie Weisenbach, program coordinator for 1000 Friends of Iowa (website under reconstruction), fills us in on the details:

Senate File 452, introduced by Senator Joe Bolkcom from Iowa City, was stalled out for many weeks at the  legislature but ended up being amended onto other legislation at the end of the session last week.

Policy language creating the program and establishing a Farm to School Council was added to the “standings bill,” SF 601, the last bill of the session. An $80,000 appropriation to the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship (IDALS) was added to Agriculture and Natural Resources budget bill, Senate File 551. IDALS will administer the program with two full-time staff.

The Farm to School program was established to encourage and promote the purchase of locally and regionally produced or processed food in order to improve child nutrition and strengthen local and regional farm economies. A seven-member Farm to School Council will seek to establish partnerships with public agencies and non-profit organizations to foster communication between farmers and schools, and will seek financial or in-kind contributions to support the program.

The Farm to School Program is a wonderful starting point that will address many of 1000 Friends of Iowa’s concerns about how we use our land in Iowa and pass the benefits of that knowledge on to our most precious resource…future generations.

Although I know quite a few people in the sustainable agriculture community, I wasn’t following this bill closely. Last I heard, it wasn’t going anywhere. Weisenbach lets us know who helped the most at the statehouse:

Big thanks should go to Senator Joe Bolkcom from Iowa City and Senator Robert Dvorsky from Coralville for getting the policy language in the standings bill. Representative Mark Kuhn from Charles City advanced the $80,000 appropriation and Senator Staci Appel from Carlisle was a persistent supporter during key times in the legislative process.

To thank these legislators, you can e-mail them at:

firstname.lastname AT legis.state.ia.us

I’m posting the relevant language from the bill after the jump, but I want to call particular attention to one point.

The bill establishes a farm to school council with seven members, one of whom has to be an “Iowa organic meat producer.”

Sounds like the Farm Bureau isn’t going to be able to sabotage this program by putting a CAFO operator on that council!

Also sounds like we’ve got a better chance of getting organic meat products in Iowa schools.

I’m still fairly disappointed in the legislative session overall, but this is a great step for farmers, kids, local economies and the environment.

Wonks who like to read legislative text, you’ll find the relevant portions after the jump.

From the Des Moines Register:

The Republican leader in the Iowa House, Christopher Rants, will make

“a major announcement about the future of the House Republican caucus” today

at 10:30 a.m.

Rants’ staff said he will be holding a press conference in his office at the

Statehouse at 10:30 a.m.

The passage of the Civil Rights bill by the Iowa legislature is undoubtedly a victory for progressives.

I was very disappointed, though, when I opened up the Des Moines Register today and read the article on page 1 of the Metro section. Here’s the third paragraph:

“It is a historic vote,” said House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, a Des Moines Democrat. “I also think it was a mainstream vote. This was not some sort of liberal social agenda. This is just saying that under housing and employment, people should not be discriminated based upon their real or perceived sexual orientation.”

What have Des Moines Register readers just learned?

1. the “liberal social agenda” is outside the mainstream

2. mainstream = good, “liberal social agenda” = not so good

3. even that Democratic guy is kind of embarrassed about the liberal social agenda

I understand what McCarthy was trying to say: this is not gay marriage, this is not even civil unions, this is no-brainer anti-discrimination protection. This should not be controversial.

But when Democratic Party leaders reinforce the idea that things supported by liberals are outside the mainstream, they are continuing the work of those like Newt Gingrich who have tried for decades to demonize liberals.

Imagine Chris Rants bragging about the passage of a bill by saying, “This was a mainstream vote. This was not some sort of conservative social agenda.”

That would never happen, because Republican leaders know better than to frame their party’s base as on the fringe of public opinion.

McCarthy could have said something along the lines of, “This was a mainstream vote. This reflects the growing consensus in the United States that it’s not ok to discriminate against someone because of their real or perceived sexual orientation.”

I got this e-mail from Public Campaign Action Fund today. Three Democrats in the Iowa House need to hear from as many people as possible in the next two days:

The legislative session in Iowa is winding down. The General Assembly is scheduled to recess this Friday and the House leadership is trying to stall passage of the Voter Owned Iowa Clean Elections (VOICE) Act that would bring full public financing to the state’s elections. The bill is currently sitting in the House Appropriations Committee. We have the votes to bring the legislation to the floor, but we need your help.

Please call the following representatives and tell them to allow the VOICE Act, HF 805, to go to the floor.

Speaker of the House Patrick Murphy

(515) 281-3221

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy

(515) 281-3221

Rep. Jo Oldson, House Appropriations Committee Chair

(515) 281-3221

The VOICE Act would make elections in your state about voters instead of big campaign donors. House leadership would prefer to see this bill just die in committee, but we can’t let that happen. The legislation deserves a fair debate on the floor of the House.

We need your help today. Please take a few minutes to call the following legislators and tell them to support HF 805, the VOICE Act:

Speaker of the House Patrick Murphy

(515) 281-3221

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy

(515) 281-3221

Rep. Jo Oldson, House Appropriations Committee Chair

(515) 281-3221

With so much special interest money flowing into the elections in 2006, these legislators are feeling pressure to bow to their big donors instead of the interests of all voters. Put on a little pressure of your own with a few calls. Thanks for all you do.

Jeannette Galanis

National Field Director

Dear Iowa Legislators,

I am writing to voice my support of VOICE (HF 805 & SF 553), and I’m urging you to do the same next week when the bill comes up in committee. Given the significant influence of money in electoral politics as of late, the time for “Clean Elections” is long overdue. The public’s faith and trust in government has been gradually eroding and VOICE would be a significant first step in damming up the erosion and begin rebuilding public trust in our elected officials and the Democratic process. “Clean Elections” exemplifies the underlying principals of the Democratic Party. Although, through discussions with Republican friends, colleagues, and family members, I’ve learned that VOICE is not a partisan issue. When explained how “Clean Elections” works, I have yet to meet an Iowa Voter, Republican or Democrat, who would not support the bill.

Now that the Democrats have the majority power, it’s time to stand up and reverse the trend of politics as usual, and at the very least, help get VOICE out of committee where the bills merits can be discussed and debated on the House and Senate floors. Iowa Voters deserve this consideration, and I hope you will use your leadership skills to help make this happen.

I look forward to your support and hearing back from you regarding your thoughts on this subject. Thanks for your time.

T.M. Lindsey

Des Moines, Iowa – On a 52-46 vote, the Iowa House approved the Iowa Stem Cell Research and Cures Initiative on Thursday night. The bill upholds Iowa’s ban on human cloning while allowing stem cell research that holds great potential for curing diseases like diabetes, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and heart disease.

I’m reposting a recent press release from Speaker of the Iowa House – Pat Murphy:

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

For More Information:

Dean Fiihr, 515-281-0817

FOUR REPUBLICANS REQUEST PUBLIC HEARING BUT DON’T SHOW UP

Des Moines, Iowa – Four House Republicans, who requested a rare public hearing last week in the Iowa House, did not attend their own public hearing.  The members who did not attend the public hearing they requested include: Rep. Carmine Boal, R-Ankeny; Rep. Linda Miller, R-Bettendorf; Rep. Scott Raecker, R-Urbandale; and Rep. Tami Wiencek, R-Waterloo.

With a new General Assembly comes new legislators and I thought I’d take the opportunity to post once a week about some of our new incoming leaders.  In particular, I thought I’d focus on the new “youth movement” that the Iowa House Speaker Pro Tempore Polly Bukta talked about during the opening of the 2007 session:

Today, we celebrate a new youth movement in the House with a record number of eight members who are 30 and under. Think of the energy and fresh ideas these folks are bringing to our assembly!

Today we truly celebrate the fact that the People’s House looks more and more like the PEOPLE we represent.

As far as I can tell – Bleeding Heartland is off to a great start.  A big thank you goes out to Drew & Chris and anyone else who contributed to getting this off the ground.

Many of the ‘national’ community blogs (i.e. Daily Kos, MyDD…etc) have thriving “meta” discussions and collections of link resources.

In the interest of facilitating informed blogging about the Iowa Legislature I thought I would post some helpful links to resources available for bloggers…