As you may recall, Iowa Senator Matt McCoy of Des Moines was acquitted in December on federal charges of attempted extortion. The case against McCoy was weak and raised questions about whether partisan politics influenced his indictment.

One detail that emerged from the trial was that in December 2005, Des Moines businessman John Ruan III (a Republican) wrote a $2,500 check to McCoy with the words “Mike Blouen” in the memo line. A few days later, McCoy contributed $2,500 to the gubernatorial campaign of fellow Democrat Mike Blouin.

That disclosure led to an ethics investigation, which has now been settled, according to the Des Moines Register:

A prominent Des Moines businessman and an Iowa state senator have each agreed to pay $1,250 to settle allegations that one used the other to pass an illegal campaign contribution to a former candidate for governor.

John Ruan III and state Sen. Matt McCoy will pay the fines as part of a deal to end a state ethics investigation into a series of checks between the men and the failed candidate, Democrat Mike Blouin.

The settlement, approved by the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board late Monday, includes assertions that neither Ruan nor McCoy “intended to violate or willfully violated” campaign law with a December 2005 check from McCoy to Blouin.

Charles Smithson of the ethics board called the settlement “a fair resolution of the matter for all involved” and said Blouin would not have to return the disputed $2,500 contribution because “there was no evidence that he knew anything about the underlying situation.”

Barack Obama’s presidential campaign has raised more than $7.6 million since the Super Tuesday primaries, and Hillary Clinton’s campaign claims to have raised more than $4 million in the past two days.

It’s incredible to see these candidates’ supporters coming out in droves to contribute, and it should bode well for our nominee going into the general election.

At the same time, I urge anyone who has donated to a presidential campaign to set some money aside for worthy candidates seeking other offices.

As I’ve mentioned before, I am supporting Ed Fallon in the Democratic primary for Iowa’s third Congressional district. The incumbent, Leonard Boswell, has a huge money advantage, but as noneed4thneed recently pointed out in this thread, Fallon raised more money from individuals in January than Boswell raised from individuals in the whole fourth quarter of 2007.

If you are so inclined, you can donate to Fallon’s campaign through ActBlue.

Or, if you prefer not to get involved in this primary, I encourage you to seek out and support one of the many fine Democrats challenging incumbent Republicans this year.

For instance, in this diary RDemocrat makes the case for Heather Ryan, a candidate for Congress in KY-01 facing “one of the worst Congressmen in the land, Exxon Ed Whitfield.”

There are many state and local races worth donating to this year as well. In fact, a donation of a few hundred dollars to a statehouse candidate is more likely to make a difference than a donation to a presidential campaign that’s already raised more than $100 million.

I will be writing a check this week to the campaign of Jerry Sullivan, who is running in Iowa House district 59. It’s an open seat that leans slightly Republican, but Sullivan is a great guy with outstanding qualifications and experience in public service as well as the business community. I think he’s got an excellent shot to win my district for the Democrats.

Consider this an open thread to tell us which campaigns you plan to support this year.

I haven’t had time to look into the details, but the Des Moines Register ran this article on a bill which would deal with water quality. House Study Bill 615 has co-sponsors from both parties and calls for the following things, according to the Register:

Experts would study 11 regional watersheds per year and identify each area’s most pressing needs. Watersheds that present the greatest health risks would be prioritized, and the worst areas would get any available money from the state Department of Natural Resources. A Water Resources Coordinating Council would be established within the governor’s office to coordinate regulatory efforts, help Iowans organize local watershed projects and help them get money more easily for water quality projects. A marketing campaign would alert Iowans about the need to take personal responsibility for the water in their area.

Here’s a link to the text of House Study Bill 615, for those of you who want to read the whole thing.

This probably won’t be popular with many blog readers, but I am 100 percent behind Representative Swati Dandekar’s proposal to ban the use of cell phones while driving. Like she says, it’s a public safety issue. If you need to make a call, pull over, park and make your call.

I can’t remember where I’ve seen it, but research has shown that drivers are more distracted when talking on the phone than they are by talking to another person sitting in the car with them.

Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement (ICCI) is holding its lobby day at the State Capitol on Tuesday, January 29.

The main issues on the agenda are local control over siting of confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs) and the Voter-Owned Iowa Clean Elections bill, which would create a voluntary public-financing option for state elections.

Here is the agenda for the day:

10:30-11:15 – Rally and Legislators addressing crowd

11:15-12:30 – Lunch and individual lobbying

12:30-1 – Head over to Wallace Building

1-1:30 – Meeting w/ DNR Director Rich Leopold

1:30-2:30 – Other meetings/events

2:230-3 – Meeting w/ Gov. Culver’s Chief Policy Adviser, Jim Larew

“People Matter More, Money Matters Less”

If you attend this event, please put up a diary afterwards to let us know how it went.

The Iowa Environmental Council and about 20 of its member organizations held a lobby day at the state capitol on Thursday.

I missed the press conference at which IEC executive director Marian Riggs Gelb announced the council’s legislative priorities, but I received a copy of her statement. I’ve put almost the full text (minus a few welcoming remarks and introductions of IEC staff and board members) after the jump.

Just in time for the 2008 legislative session, the Iowa Environmental Council has created a new action alert center:

WHEN IOWA LAWMAKERS HEAR FROM THEIR CONSTITUENTS THEY LISTEN.  YOUR CALLS and EMAILS MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

Now you can receive these alerts, go to a special webpage to update your personal information at any time (e.g. your email address) and you can browse the site to see the latest information on pending Iowa bills related to environmental issues. You’ll find tools for your use, too, like a state legislative directory that allows you to look up your elected officials, and much more!

Take a look now.

There is a current alert waiting for you to respond to regarding renewable energy legislation. And there is lots of other information available about your lawmakers and state departments. At any time, you can go to our homepage at http://www.iaenvironment.org and click on the ICALL icon on the blue side bar.

I encourage people to sign up for this service and let your friends know about it. You can’t count on the media to report on important environmental legislation being considered at the statehouse.

These action alerts make it easy for you to stay in touch with your representative or senator. The corporate groups seeking to block environmental regulations will have people on the phone to legislators, so we need to do our part.

As you recall, a federal jury recently acquitted Matt McCoy after deliberating for less than two hours–an embarrassing outcome for the prosecution.

Marc Hansen, who for my money is the best columnist at the Des Moines Register, wrote a good column about speculation that politics influenced McCoy’s prosecution. Key passage:

Most Democrats you talk to around here say politics was behind the prosecution of state Sen. Matt McCoy.

They have their reasons. Some even sound legitimate, especially in light of a recent University of Minnesota study that brings hard numbers to the discussion.

For every elected Republican the Justice Department has investigated during the George W. Bush years, seven elected Democrats have been investigated, the research says.

Can that be right? Are there really that many more bad-apple Democrats?

The jury took about an hour and a half last week to decide that McCoy wasn’t guilty of attempted extortion. And that includes lunch.

Rekha Basu wrote a good column last week: Question lingers: Why was McCoy prosecuted? Click the link–it’s worth your time to read the whole thing. This passage toward the end was news to me:

McCoy’s defense tried to get access to memos between the FBI, Justice Department and local U.S. attorney’s office, but was turned down in U.S. District Court. His lawyers wanted to see whether anything indicated a political motivation. There’s nothing else they can do, says attorney F. Montgomery Brown. “Prosecutors have near absolute immunity. There’s just no remedy there.”

There is one, but it would have to come from a member of Congress. Sens. Tom Harkin or Chuck Grassley can and should request access to the correspondence. Voters and taxpayers deserve to know whether this was just a poorly conceived and badly bungled effort by the government – or whether something else was going on.

Grassley would never help on this matter, but I wonder if Harkin would consider it.

Also, I wonder if anyone on the Talking Points Memo muckraking staff has looked into this prosecution.

Just a quick-hit diary to note that a federal jury didn’t take long to acquit Senator Matt McCoy of Des Moines on charges of attempted extortion:

http://www.desmoinesregister.c…

I haven’t followed the case closely, but it always seemed fishy to me, given what we know about how Bush’s Department of Justice has encouraged U.S. attorneys to prosecute Democrats.

In the end, it wasn’t even close!

Here’s the e-mail I just got from The Interfaith Alliance of Iowa:

Dear Friends and Activists,

I am so thrilled that the Iowa House of Representatives passed the Civil Rights bill tonight, adding sexual orientation and gender identity to the Iowa Civil Rights Code.  The bi-partisan vote was 59 – 37!  What a tremendous accomplishment for this Legislature and what an amazing step forward in making Iowa a truly welcoming state!

Your calls, emails and contacts with Legislators made a difference!  Thank you so much for ALL of your work on this important and historic legislation.  It was so important that Legislators heard our collective progressive voice standing for Civil Rights for all people.

The Civil Rights bill adds sexual orientation and gender identity to the Iowa Civil Rights Code to prohibit discriminatory employment, public accommodation, housing, education and credit practices.  An amendment was added to the bill so it will need to go back to the Senate but it is expected to pass and the Governor is expected to sign the bill into law.

Don’t forget to contact the Representatives that voted yes for Civil Rights and thank them for their vote!  The Yes votes include:

Democrats

Abdul-Samad, Bailey, Bell, Berry, Bukta, Cohoon, Dandekar, Davitt, Foege, Ford, Frevert, Gaskill, Gayman, Heddens, Hunter, Huser, Jacoby, Jochum, Kelley, Kressig, Kuhn, Lensing, Lykam, Mascher, McCarthy, Miller H., Oldson, Olson D., Olson R., Olson T., Palmer, Petersen, Reasoner, Reichert, Schueller, Shomshor, Smith, Staed, Swaim, Taylor D., Taylor T., Thomas, Wendt, Wenthe, Wessel-Kroeschell, Whitaker, Whitead, Winckler, Wise, Murphy

Republicans

Clute, Forristall, Hoffman , Jacobs , Miller L., Raecker, Schickel, Struyk, Wiencek

Thank you for making a difference!

Connie

Connie Ryan Terrell

Executive Director

The Interfaith Alliance of Iowa & Action Fund

“promoting the positive and healing role of religion in public life…”

PO Box 41086

Des Moines, IA  50311

Office: 515-279-8715

Fax: 515-279-2232

www.iowatia.org

tiaiowa@dwx.com

Thanks to everyone who contacted their legislators.

I am so pleasantly surprised that my Republican House rep, Dan Clute, and my Republican Senator Pat Ward both voted for this bill. I honestly didn’t expect it.

I just received an e-mail from The Interfaith Alliance of Iowa. The Civil Rights bill hangs in the balance, and the time to e-mail your representatives in the Iowa House is now (Tuesday or Wednesday). Or, you can call during the day on Wednesday.

After the jump, I’ve posted the full text of the e-mail, as well as talking points about the legislation and information on how to contact your legislator by phone or e-mail.

If you believe in ending discrimination against the GLBT community, please act on this appeal.