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Bleeding Heartland
It's what plants crave.
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state legislature 
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Sun May 19, 2013 at 19:30:00 PM CDT
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Kirsten Anderson lost her job on Friday afternoon as communications director for the Iowa Senate Republicans. Today she went public alleging that she was fired after documenting sexual harassment by GOP state senators and staffers. WHO-TV broadcast Dave Price's exclusive interview with Anderson Sunday morning, and I recommend watching the whole clip at their website. After the jump I've posted highlights from Anderson's claims and a denial from Ed Failor Jr., a top staffer for Senate Minority Leader Bill Dix.
As a bonus, I enclose below your laugh for the day: a screenshot from the official Iowa Senate GOP website as of 7 pm on Sunday. The front page includes a link to the Des Moines Register's blog and the headline, "Iowa Senate GOP staffer claims she was fired for protesting sexual harassment; Dix aide issues strong denial." I wonder whether Anderson was the only person on that staff who knew how to update the website. It's also possible that the Des Moines Register political blog headlines automatically feed into that box on the front page, and no other Senate GOP staff checked the site over the weekend.
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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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Wed May 15, 2013 at 11:35:00 AM CDT
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State Senator Kent Sorenson claims to have made some Iowa House Republicans unhappy by helping the advocacy group Iowa Pro-Life Action pressure state representatives over abortion funding. Currently, Iowa's Medicaid program covers abortions under very limited circumstances. In fact, our state is among the most restrictive in this area. Nevertheless, a compromise worked out on the final day of the 2011 legislative session angered many conservatives. Some Iowa Republicans have pushed for a total ban on Medicaid-funded abortion.
In a Facebook post last night, Sorenson lambasted members of his own party who do not keep their promises on the "pro-life" issue. He claimed that some House Republicans "are considering filing ethics charges against me" because he signed a letter Iowa Pro-Life Action sent to lawmakers. Looking through the Iowa House Code of Ethics, it's not clear to me which rule Sorenson might have violated. House Republican staffer Josie Albrecht told me by telephone that she was not aware of any pending ethics complaints by legislators against Sorenson.
I enclose the full text of the Facebook post after the jump. At this writing, it has been "shared" by 63 Facebook users, including conservative talk radio hosts Steve Deace and Jan Mickelson.
Sorenson is already facing an ethics investigation related to alleged paid work for Michele Bachmann's presidential campaign. I have been wondering whether Republicans might be better off with a different nominee in Iowa Senate district 13 next year. However, an uncompromising stand against abortion funding would serve Sorenson well if he faced a GOP primary challenger.
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Mon May 13, 2013 at 16:45:00 PM CDT
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(Interesting commentary by an attorney and Iowa House member about a recent Iowa Supreme Court ruling and the bill drafted in response. - promoted by desmoinesdem)
cross-posted with permission from State Representative Mary Wolfe's blog
There have been many questions/concerns raised by the Iowa Supreme Court's recent ruling in Sallee v. Stewart, in which the Court was asked to interpret Iowa's Recreational Land Use Immunity doctrine. Like most of my colleagues, I've read the relevant court cases and studied the applicable statutes, and I've reviewed House File 605, the Farm Bureau's proposed bill intended to fix the "crisis" allegedly created by the Sallee ruling - and like many others, I've concluded that the actual impact of the Sallee ruling on Iowa's recreational land use immunity doctrine is minimal, and that the Farm Bureau's proposed legislation is an over-reaction to Sallee's extremely narrow holding.
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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 07:10:00 AM CDT
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One of the ten closest Iowa legislative races last year was in House district 68, where Democrat Daniel Lundby defeated two-term State Representative Nick Wagner by 117 votes, 50.3 percent to 49.6 percent. I've been expecting Wagner to attempt a political comeback in 2014, as Governor Terry Branstad recently withdrew his nomination to serve on the Iowa Utilities Board.
If Wagner attempts to return to the statehouse, he will need to get through a GOP primary first, because yesterday Ken Rizer announced his campaign in House district 68. I've posted background on Rizer and Lundby after the jump, along with a district map and the latest voter registration totals.
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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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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 19, 2013 at 12:20:00 PM CDT
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Two months ago, the Iowa Senate Ethics Committee voted to table allegations that Republican State Senator Kent Sorenson received improper payments as Iowa chair of Michele Bachmann's presidential campaign. This week a former Bachmann campaign staffer confirmed that he will soon submit testimony to the committee about the arrangement.
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Wed Apr 17, 2013 at 16:01:00 PM CDT
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State Senator Dennis Guth demonstrated today that he merits strong consideration in any search for the most clueless Iowa legislator.
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Tue Apr 16, 2013 at 13:25:04 PM CDT
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(Important story: more background on the Iowa Environmental Council blog and at the Vote Solar website. - promoted by desmoinesdem)
Today (April 12), Midwest Energy News ran the first coverage I've seen on an Iowa district court ruling in favor of allowing solar installers to install PV systems on a customers property and enter into a power purchase agreement with that customer.While great news, I'll explain why you may not want to get overly excited over this development. I'll apologize in advance for sounding like a grumpy curmudgeon. I'm a fun guy,Really!! There are reasons I'm sounding glass half empty here. First, this ruling could be appealed (and over turned by a higher court). This happened in 2005 when the Iowa Supreme Court reversed its ruling that required rural electric cooperatives to offer net metering. Let"s hope this recent ruling fares better. Still, as the good folks quoted in the article note, this decision will no doubt influence other court and utility commission rulings around the country. That's good news. The next reason I'm only moderately excited here is that this ruling only affects one financing method for solar PV, not any of the underlying regulatory changes necessary for its use to become widespread in Iowa. Many Iowans don't have access to net metering or standard interconnection procedures (investor owned utilities only, not RECs and Municipals). They also can't get a fair price for electricity sales. Remember that feed in tariff legislation I've been blogging about? The state Senate Democrats were unable to bring SF372 to the senate floor for a vote. Chalk up another one for the utility lobby. So, if you're dealing with any or all of these issues, you probably don't care much about leasing a PV system. Your potential PV system salesman won't be very interested either. Also, there are ways to structure a lease agreement without entering into a Power Purchase agreement with your PV salesman. Ideally, leases should also save you money over your current monthly electric bill and eventually enable you the option to own the asset. Leasing does have its place, schools, hospital, and other non-profit entities will be interested for sure. Finally, my opinion is that third party PPA leasing will be mostly used by customers interconnecting to Alliant energy, a utility with relatively high Iowa retail electric rates, net metering, and standard interconnection procedures. I see this as a continuation of the unequal experience Iowans have when trying build renewable energy systems. Solar installs in Alliant Energy service territory have become fairly easy and will become commonplace. Iowans working with other Iowa utilities could have more difficulties or find out it is almost impossible to build the same system. This unequal treatment for Iowa ratepayers will most likely result in more constituent calls to Iowa legislators to fix these regulatory issues and level the playing field in Iowa. Hopefully Iowa policy advocates will also unite and send a clear message to Iowa legislators about the policy changes Iowa needs to advance locally owned renewable energy. This court ruling should help move our state in the right direction. Gregg Heide renewablefarmerblogspot.com
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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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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 11:45:00 AM CDT
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Several Democrats have already announced plans to run for Iowa House district 99 in Dubuque next year. State Representative Pat Murphy has represented part of that city for more than 20 years. He is leaving the state legislature to run for Congress in Iowa's first district.
After the jump I've posted background on Kevin Lynch, Steve Drahozal, Abby Finkenauer and Greg Simpson, along with a map of House district 99 and the latest voter registration totals. More candidates may emerge in this strongly Democratic House seat before the filing deadline in March 2014. One or more of the current candidates may opt out of the race before the filing deadline.
APRIL 5 UPDATE: Erin Murphy of the Dubuque Telegraph-Herald reports that Lynch has decided not to pursue this campaign. According to a Bleeding Heartland reader in Dubuque, both Drahozal and Finkenauer (but not Lynch) addressed county Democrats at the off-year caucus in March.
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Tue Apr 02, 2013 at 07:15:00 AM CDT
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In an ideal world, evidence that more than half of Midwest rivers and streams can't support aquatic life would inspire policy-makers to clean up our waterways. Rivers that are suitable for swimming, fishing, and other recreation can be a huge economic engine for Iowa communities.
We live in Iowa, where most of our lawmakers take the Patty Judge view: "Iowa is an agricultural state and anyone who doesn't like it can leave in any of four directions."
Yesterday the Iowa House approved a bill to relax manure storage regulations for large confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs). All of the House Republicans and two-thirds of the Democrats supported this bad legislation. Details on the bill and the House vote are below.
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