Iowa GOP scores more wins than Congressional counterparts

Voters in 2016 gave Republicans full lawmaking control both in Iowa and in the nation's capital.

So far, Iowa Republicans have been far more productive than their federal counterparts.

The 2016 election resulted in all-Republican control of the Iowa Capitol - he governor's office, Iowa House and Iowa Senate - for the first time in 20 years.

It also resulted in the same power structure in the U.S. Capitol - GOP control of the White House and both chambers of Congress - for the first time since 2006.

But despite both possessing unfettered control, Republicans in Des Moines have had far greater legislative success than Republicans in Washington.

At the Iowa Capitol, Republicans have been flying through their agenda. With roughly two-thirds of the legislative session completed, statehouse Republicans have approved multiple pieces of significant legislation that have been on the party's wish list for years.

Iowa Republicans dramatically reduced the collective bargaining rights of public employees, created an identification requirement at the polls for voters and addressed lawsuit reform partly by limiting the amount of damages individuals can seek in cases involving workplace injury and made it more difficult to sue animal feeding operations for noise and odor nuisances.

There are more big bills on the GOP agenda moving through the chambers, including a ban on abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy and a measure to stop all state funding to women's health care providers that perform abortions, most notably Planned Parenthood.

'The promise that I made to my caucus, the promise I've made to my voters and supporters in my district, is that we're going to focus on policies that create a new legacy of opportunity here in Iowa, and we're not going to let them down,” Senate Majority Leader Bill Dix said a few weeks ago at the session's first key legislative deadline.

Republicans in Washington are having a more difficult time.

President Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress have taken a few big swings at policy changes, but thus far have come up empty.

It started with Trump's travel ban, which he said was necessary to protect the United States from terrorism and impacted largely majority-Muslim countries. The original ban was struck down by the courts, and a rewritten ban has suffered the same fate, although the appeals process continues.

And the federal GOP's attempt at health care reform fell flat when Republicans could not muster enough votes to approve legislation to repeal and replace the health care law implemented by Democrats when they had complete lawmaking control in 2009 and 2010.

National Republicans say their next target is tax reform, which will be another monumental undertaking. They also face critical votes on funding the federal government and raising its borrowing authority.

'I think we have to do some soul-searching internally to determine whether or not we are even capable as a governing body,” Republican U.S. Rep. Kevin Cramer, of North Dakota, told the Associated Press after the health care bill failed.

It bears noting that congressional Republicans have a more challenging task because the minority party in the U.S. Senate - Democrats, in this case - can use the filibuster to stall some legislation.

And federal Republicans have plenty of time to accomplish their agenda; while Iowa's legislative session is scheduled to end in April, Congress remains in session for most of the year.

But looking at the early returns, Iowa Republicans have been much more successful in taking advantage of their newfound authority than their national counterparts.

Erin Murphy covers Iowa politics and state government. His email address is erin.murphy@lee.net.