PLA Compromise? 'Absolutely Not.'

A few days after Mayor Ron Corbett took an olive branch to Des Moines, Gov. Terry Branstad came this direction, carrying a big stick.

Corbett was hoping for a compromise with Branstad over the governor's executive order banning project labor agreements on public works projects in Iowa. Corbett made peace offerings, hoping to save $15 million in state funds for the city's new convention complex, which had a PLA in place before Branstad took office.

But Branstad is not interested.

“Absolutely not,” Branstad told me Wednesday in an interview hours before his planned stop in Hiawatha. “I did what I thought was absolutely right and certainly have the support of the contractors of the state of Iowa and the taxpayers of the state of Iowa. I just think it needs to be abided by.”

I give him points for backbone. But his vision is fuzzy.

Branstad isn't trying to see this through the eyes of local officials who forged a PLA with local trades, in hopes of making sure that local workers built the complex. To the governor, this is a statewide battle, a big picture painted in broad political and budgetary brush strokes. He didn't sweat the little details, even as he signed an order covering every big and little burg in Iowa.

He said he didn't consider Cedar Rapids' local circumstances when he signed the order. His objective was to reverse a politically motivated order by his predecessor, Chet Culver, encouraging state agencies to use PLAs. Branstad believes strongly that PLAs drive up the cost of projects and are unfair to non-union contractors. And if making that larger point causes problems for Cedar Rapids, so be it.

The fact that the first contract put up for bid under the Cedar Rapids PLA came in under budget and went to a non-union contractor also doesn't figure in to the big picture. “I took the action that I did based on the best information I had available. I don't know all the circumstances with all the communities in Iowa,” Branstad said.

And to me, that's the problem. Branstad should have considered local circumstances before issuing a sweeping order that changed them so dramatically. Wielding such broad authority within hours of taking office seems to be more about making a political point than making good policy.

The governor disagrees that he's overreached and insists his order is about keeping a campaign promise.

But he also promised to bring back adult leadership after Culver's foibles. And I think being an adult means putting down your sticks and working things out.

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