Iowa House, Senate members clash as collective bargaining debate begins in earnest

DES MOINES — Legislation to make sweeping changes to Iowa's 43-year-old public employee collective bargaining law is either a 'much-needed breath of fresh air' or 'vendetta politics,' according to opening arguments of what the floor manager said is 'likely to be a spirited discussion.'

Senate File 213 will put 'taxpayers back in charge,' Senate Labor and Business Relations Committee Chairman Jason Schultz, R-Schleswig, said Tuesday afternoon in opening what is likely to be a dayslong debate.

However, Sen. Nate Boulton of Des Moines, ranking Democrat on that committee, called the bill the 'point of no return' in attacks on collective bargaining and said Democrats were fighting to 'stop this freight train that is barreling toward our public workers.'

Schultz called the changes necessary to 'allow state and local official to develop employment contracts that make sense for taxpayers and employees (and) innovate with the times, reward their best employees and manage their finances without fear that unions or unelected arbitrators will stand in the way.'

You're attacking people in their homes, you're attacking their kids. You're making decisions that are very serious and it's not just about tearing down collective bargaining. You're ruining people's lives and you need to be aware of that.

- Sen. Rich Taylor, D-Mount Pleasant

After nearly 4.5 hours of debate on the first of more than a dozen amendments Boulton told senators 'this bill is not modernizing, it's marginalizing. This isn't tweaking … this is destroying.'

The Senate voted down his amendment 29-21 and adjourned until Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the House was just getting started. Rep. Steve Holt, R-Denison, opened the discussion by describing HF 291 as reforming the arbitration process and scope of bargaining, requiring unions to recertify before opening contract negotiations, streamlining the process for termination hearings while protecting employee rights, and placing the responsibility for the collection of dues on the union rather than taxpayers.

Rep. Bruce Hunter, D-Des Moines, ranking Democrat on the Labor Committee, responded that HF 291 is 'the most egregious, hateful, vengeful pieces of legislation I have ever seen' in his 15 years in the House.

'Whoever wrote this piece of garbage should be ashamed of themselves,' he said and suggested it had not been written not by Holt or any House member, but by out-of-state groups.

Earlier in the day, Holt said Republicans would offer an amendment to reinstate some of Chapter 20 provisions removed in HF 291.

The amendment reinstates 'proper cause' for suspensions and dismissals, makes grievance procedures, seniority and any benefits related to seniority, and release time permissive topics for bargaining, clarifies that public employers must provide health insurance coverage for fulltime employees as well as part-time employees if they are currently doing so and reinstates the right of appeal of civil service commission decisions to district court, but requires the court to give deference to the commission's ruling.

It also gives Department of Transportation enforcement officers the same bargaining rights as police and firefighters.

'We made a decision based on the difference between a controlled and uncontrolled environment,' Holt said. 'When a firefighter goes into a burning building when a police officer approaches a vehicle in the middle of the night or a domestic violence call there's simply no OSHA regulations. It's a totally uncontrolled environment so that led to the reason we categorized them the way we did.'

It also makes changes to ensure federal transit funds to Iowa cities will not be jeopardized, Holt said.

The amendment makes it a little better, 'but it's still a bad bill,' according to Hunter.

'It's nice that they've moved some items to permissible, but the bottom line is that when you go into a negotiation and want to talk about safety equipment or something that is on the permissible list, you're giving up something to do that,' he said. 'There's nothing to give up any more.

If Republicans were really listening they would scrap the bill, because of the estimated 1,100 people at the House Labor Committee public hearing Monday only four spoke in favor, Hunter said.

However, Holt said that was to be expected.

'At public hearings you're going to hear predominantly from those who are opposed to something,' Holt said. 'The folks that are good with what you're doing are not the ones who are going to make the trip up here.'

I think it's the right thing to do.

- Iowa Governor Terry Branstad, on passing the collective bargaining reform legislation.

Instead of listening to those who were there Monday, Hunter said, Republicans were listening to Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who talked to GOP lawmakers via Skype during the hearing, 'and the Koch brothers and corporate backers. They're the ones who want this bill. Not the people of the state of Iowa.'

Senate Democrats are listening, too, Senate Minority Leader Rob Hogg, D-Cedar Rapids, said, 'And there is not a single management side person who has told me they want this bill. Not a single one.'

One 'management side' person who wants the bill is Gov. Terry Branstad. He weighed in again Tuesday evening on a radio call-in show, saying here are 'some egregious things in our present law that need to be corrected.'

'I think it's the right thing to do,' he said.

Several speakers referred to the historic nature of Chapter 20, which was approved by a GOP-controlled Legislature and signed by a Republican governor. It was, Boulton said, a 'system of reason and compromise that has served our state well for decades.'

Now, Republicans seem intent on seeing it 'gutted and replaced by one which throws away reason and does so in a way that only compromises Iowa's future,' Boulton said.

Iowa's Chapter 20 bargaining law has been hailed as a 'bipartisan achievement for the long-term benefit of our state,' he said. 'History will judge us by where we take our stands today.'

Leaders on both side of the legislation, predicted the debate will continue Wednesday, but were unsure how many more days beyond that.

'We're going to be talking as long as we have to,' Hunter said.

And the debate won't be pleasant, warned Sen. Rich Taylor, D-Mount Pleasant.

'They say all's fair in love and war, well, the war's just starting and I'm hoping that you're really prepared for that because this isn't going to be pretty,' Taylor said. 'You're attacking people in their homes, you're attacking their kids. You're making decisions that are very serious and it's not just about tearing down collective bargaining. You're ruining people's lives and you need to be aware of that.'

The House also adjourned late Tuesday evening, temporarily deferring on the bill.

Comments (319) 398-8375; James.Lynch@TheGazette.com