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Bleeding Heartland
It's what plants crave.
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Terry Branstad 
Fri May 17, 2013 at 10:30:00 AM CDT
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Iowa House and Senate conference committee negotiators appear to have struck a grand bargain on taxes. I haven't seen any press release on the agreement yet from Senate Democrats, so I don't know whether there is consensus in the caucus for the deal. But both Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal and Minority Leader Bill Dix are backing the compromise, as is House Speaker Kraig Paulsen.
After the jump I've posted commentary on the deal and a memo outlining the details. The bulk of the tax cuts will go to commercial property owners, but I see no evidence that the majority of small business operators (who rent rather than own property) will benefit at all. Democrats are getting the earned income tax credit increase they've been trying to pass for years, and that's an important issue. However, the same vulnerable populations that benefit from the earned income tax credit will bear the brunt of the state and county service cuts that will likely happen as the commercial property tax reductions are phased in.
I haven't had my eye on property taxes during this year's legislative session, because I assumed no compromise would be found between the very different bills favored by Iowa House Republicans and Iowa Senate Democrats. A recent analysis by the Iowa Fiscal Partnership showed that the Democratic approach was better for commercial property owners "with less than $622,500 valuation in property," while larger businesses (such as national retailers or real estate trusts) would do better under the GOP plan. That must-read study also undercut the case for any urgency to reduce property taxes in Iowa.
Any relevant thoughts are welcome in this thread. UPDATE: Added some comments from Iowa legislators and information about a loophole that could disqualify a lot of commercial property from the tax reduction.
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Tue May 14, 2013 at 09:48:00 AM CDT
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Does anyone still doubt that Governor Terry Branstad plans to run for a sixth term next year? Those not convinced should read Mike Wiser's report on the full-time staffer just hired by Branstad's re-election campaign.
Meanwhile, Democratic State Senator Jack Hatch dropped a couple of hints lately about a possible run for governor.
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Mon May 13, 2013 at 09:35:00 AM CDT
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Governor Terry Branstad announced this morning that Mary Mosiman will be Iowa's new state auditor. She replaces David Vaudt, who resigned last month to become chairman of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board.
Mosiman served as Story County Auditor for ten years before Matt Schultz hired her to run the elections division of the Iowa Secretary of State's office. She is a certified public accountant, which Branstad said was a "major requirement" as he searched for Vaudt's successor.
After the jump I've posted the governor's press release, containing more background on Mosiman. She will serve as auditor until after next year's elections. I assume she will become the Republican nominee for state auditor in 2014 as well. I have not heard yet about any Democrat planning to run for that office. Iowa Democrats did not field a candidate against Vaudt in 2006. Jon Murphy launched his 2010 campaign less than five months before the general election.
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Fri May 10, 2013 at 10:20:00 AM CDT
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The Iowa legislature's 2013 session is already in overtime, and the standoff over whether to expand Medicaid is one of the last obstacles to adjournment. A conference committee including five lawmakers from each party has been seeking middle ground between Medicaid expansion, a priority for the 26 Senate Democrats, and the "Healthy Iowa Plan" that barely cleared the Iowa House but failed in the Senate.
This week Senate Democrats offered another gesture toward the Republican desire for low-income Iowans to have more "skin in the game" when they obtain health insurance coverage.
Meanwhile, three major advocacy groups stepped up their efforts to persuade lawmakers that the Healthy Iowa Plan offers inferior access for patients while incurring substantially higher property tax costs.
Finally, a coalition of progressive organizations announced that it will run a television commercial this Sunday targeting GOP State Representative Dave Heaton, the weakest link among House Republicans trying to pass Governor Terry Branstad's alternative plan. Details on all those developments are after the jump.
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Thu May 09, 2013 at 10:20:00 AM CDT
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Nice scoop by the Des Moines Register's Jason Noble yesterday: Mark Jacobs, the former president and CEO of Reliant Energy in Texas, may seek the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in Iowa. Jacobs moved to West Des Moines last year and recently founded an education reform advocacy group called Reaching Higher Iowa.
I've posted Jacobs' short bio after the jump, along with initial thoughts on his strengths and weaknesses as a candidate.
CORRECTION: The Register's Jennifer Jacobs was the first to report yesterday that Mark Jacobs might be a Senate candidate. In addition to other potential candidates Bleeding Heartland has discussed before (Matt Whitaker, Matt Schultz, A.J. Spiker, Joni Ernst, Rod Roberts, Bob Vander Plaats, and David Young), her piece also mentioned West Des Moines Mayor Steve Gaer, orthopedic surgeon Stuart Weinstein, McDonald's franchise owner Kevin O'Brien, and business owner Ron Langston, who served "as national director of the U.S. Department of Commerce's Minority Business Development Agency under President George W. Bush."
SECOND CORRECTION: I missed that The Iowa Republican speculated about Jacobs as a Senate candidate a couple of weeks ago.
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Mon May 06, 2013 at 17:10:00 PM CDT
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Appearing on Simon Conway's WHO radio program this afternoon, former U.S. Attorney Matt Whitaker announced that he is "taking steps to run" for Iowa's open U.S. Senate seat. You can listen to the podcast here. Whitaker plans to file paperwork with the Federal Election Commission this week and formally launch his campaign at a public event on June 3. His Senate campaign website is under construction. The Iowa Democratic Party is already poking fun at Whitaker's first legislative proposal.
Also, today, Lieutenant Governor Kim Reynolds told journalists that she has encouraged State Senator Joni Ernst to run for the U.S. Senate. You can listen to the audio at Radio Iowa, beginning several minutes into the clip. Reynolds said that she had encouraged Ernst to run for Montgomery County auditor nearly 10 years ago, and to run in the Iowa Senate special election to replace Reynolds.
At this point, I'll be surprised if Ernst decides against running. Sean Sullivan reported at the Washington Post's blog today that her "stock is high among Republican Gov. Terry Branstad's allies." Sullivan noticed an approving tweet about Ernst from Brad Dayspring of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, though that's far from a formal endorsement.
Ernst has little fundraising experience, but if Branstad activates his donor network, she could raise a lot of money for a Senate campaign. By the same token, Whitaker has strong fundraising potential even though he's never been a candidate for office before. CORRECTION: I forgot that Whitaker ran for state treasurer in 2002. Iowa Secretary of State Matt Schultz would almost certainly be at a financial disadvantage in the Republican primary compared to Whitaker and Ernst, if he goes for Senate rather than for re-election to his current office. Then again, he is probably better known among the Iowa GOP base, which loves his drive for voter ID laws.
Any comments about the IA-Sen race are welcome in this thread.
UPDATE: Added more news after the jump.
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Mon May 06, 2013 at 11:40:00 AM CDT
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The more I think about Steve King's Friday night announcement that he will not run for U.S. Senate in 2014, the more I suspect that someone rushed him into that decision.
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Mon May 06, 2013 at 07:25:00 AM CDT
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In a decision announced on Friday, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled that it is unconstitutional for the Iowa Department of Public Health to refuse to list a non-birthing lesbian spouse on a child's birth certificate. Details on this nearly unanimous ruling are after the jump. I was intrigued by how Governor Terry Branstad's three appointees from 2011 handled this case.
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Wed May 01, 2013 at 20:15:00 PM CDT
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Less than 24 hours after the Republican-controlled Iowa House approved language to enact Governor Terry Branstad's Healthy Iowa Plan, the Iowa Senate voted on party lines today (26 to 24) to reject the House version of Senate File 296. A conference committee will now attempt to work out a compromise on whether to expand Medicaid to all Iowans earning up to 138 percent of the poverty line, as the 2010 federal health care reform law envisioned.
After the jump I've posted a video of Senate President Pam Jochum speaking on the Senate floor today to contrast Medicaid expansion with the governor's plan. I've also enclosed details on Branstad's highly implausible claim that his plan would cost poor Iowans less out of pocket than expanding Medicaid. Senate Democrats have pointed out that Iowans living in poverty could never afford the co-pays and premiums envisioned in the Healthy Iowa Plan.
Finally, I've added below excerpts from the Iowa Hospital Association's latest blog post explaining why Medicaid expansion is a better choice than the governor's plan.
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Wed May 01, 2013 at 06:45:00 AM CDT
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Last night the Iowa House approved by 51 votes to 49 a version of Governor Terry Branstad's alternative to expanding Medicaid. Two Republicans opposed the plan, but State Representative Dave Heaton fell in line despite his major doubts about the bill.
Details on the vote and highlights from the debate are after the jump.
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Tue Apr 30, 2013 at 08:35:00 AM CDT
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For months, I've been wondering if and when some Republican lawmakers would balk at supporting Governor Terry Branstad's "costs more, covers less" alternative to expanding Medicaid in Iowa.
For the first time yesterday, an Iowa House Republican said he may not vote for Branstad's plan. I doubt it's a coincidence that the wavering lawmaker is unusually knowledgeable about health care services in Iowa.
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Fri Apr 26, 2013 at 14:20:00 PM CDT
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Former U.S. Attorney Matt Whitaker expressed interest in Iowa's Senate seat on the day Senator Tom Harkin announced his retirement plans, and it appears the Republican is close to launching a campaign. WHO-TV's Dave Price noticed today that there's a MattWhitaker.org website. For now, the only content is a picture of Whitaker, an announcement that "MattWhitaker.org is coming soon," and a link you can click to sign up for e-mails.
Whitaker likely won't clear the Republican primary field, but he should have no trouble raising a lot of money for a Senate campaign. A former University of Iowa football player, he served as U.S. attorney for the southern district of Iowa during George W. Bush's administration. He is now a managing partner in the Des Moines law firm Whitaker Hagenow & Gustoff LLP. The other senior partners are Iowa House Majority Whip Chris Hagenow and William Gustoff, whom Governor Terry Branstad tried to appoint to the State Judicial Nominating Commission. Branstad's legal counsel Brenna Findley joined the Whitaker Hagenow law firm in 2010, while she was campaigning for Iowa attorney general.
Earlier this month, Whitaker sparred with Democratic Senate candidate Bruce Braley's campaign manager Jeff Link on Dave Price's Sunday morning television show. He said he was getting a lot of encouragement to run for Senate from Republicans all over Iowa.
UPDATE: Republican blogger Craig Robinson predicts that in a GOP primary, Whitaker's "decision to represent Zach Edwards [...] could come back to haunt him." In early 2012, Edwards was arrested and charged with attempting identity theft against Iowa Secretary of State Matt Schultz. He ended up pleading guilty to a misdemeanor. Schultz is also thinking about running for the U.S. Senate seat.
SECOND UPDATE: Here are Whitaker's statistics as a football player.
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Tue Apr 23, 2013 at 19:35:00 PM CDT
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Lieutenant Governor Kim Reynolds announced today via e-mail that she will not run for U.S. Senate in 2014. It's a smart decision.
UPDATE: Added thoughts about other possible Republican candidates below.
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Thu Apr 11, 2013 at 15:35:00 PM CDT
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Last week Governor Terry Branstad finally introduced legislation to enact his Healthy Iowa Plan instead of the Medicaid expansion foreseen under the 2010 federal health insurance reform law. Strangely, neither the governor's office nor the Iowa House Republican caucus held a news conference or even posted a press release about House Study Bill 232. The bill arrived at the statehouse on Thursday, April 4, after many legislators had left for the weekend.
So far House and Senate Republicans appear united behind Branstad's approach, while the governor's office strives to counter the obvious case against his plan (costs more, covers less). I've posted arguments for both sides and other news links after the jump.
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Thu Apr 11, 2013 at 11:25:00 AM CDT
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Catching up on the week's news at the statehouse, the Iowa Senate rejected two of Governor Terry Branstad's nominees for the Board of Regents on Monday, and the governor withdrew two other nominees who were headed for trouble in the upper chamber. Details on the votes and thoughts about the implications are after the jump.
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Wed Apr 10, 2013 at 06:50:00 AM CDT
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Governor Terry Branstad has invested a lot of political capital in education reform. His staff organized a large conference on the topic in 2011, featuring U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and other nationally-recognized speakers. Later that year, the governor rolled out an ambitious blueprint for education reform, which was a focus of his "Condition of the State" speeches to state lawmakers in 2012 and 2013. Branstad wants something bigger and better than the narrowly-focused education reform deal approved last spring. To encourage legislators to work harder on this issue, the governor has even held up K-12 school funding decisions that should have been made a year ago under Iowa law.
Iowa House and Senate members are now negotiating over education reform bills approved in each chamber on party lines. But Branstad's past use of his line-item power is standing in the way of broad legislation.
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Wed Apr 03, 2013 at 18:35:00 PM CDT
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What's on your mind, Bleeding Heartland readers? Four years ago today, the Iowa Supreme Court announced its unanimous ruling in Varnum v Brien, striking down our state's Defense of Marriage Act. After the jump I've posted some links about that case, marriage equality in general, and today's Iowa Governors Conference on LGBTQ Youth.
This is an open thread: all topics welcome.
The return of Iowa wildflower Wednesday is probably still a couple of weeks away. By the first week of April 2012, many spring wildflowers were already in bloom (far earlier than usual), but even the bloodroot isn't out yet where I live.
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