Governor looks ahead as legislative session nears

DES MOINES - Through more than four decades, Iowa voters are yet to reject Terry Branstad, the politician who enjoys pointing out he has never lost an election and was elected in November to a historic sixth term as governor.

Last week, the 68-year-old Republican from Leland sat down with The Gazette-Lee Des Moines Bureau to discuss his next - and perhaps final - term as governor, the upcoming legislative session and his role in the 2016 presidential race.

The following is excerpted from that interview.

GAZETTE: Will this be your final term as governor?

BRANSTAD: I learned a long time ago you don't want to rule things out. Obviously, it's pretty significant that it's my sixth term.

We're in a better position than we were four years ago when I came back. We got the state's financial house in order, and we've already passed significant education reform, property tax relief, and obviously, our focus on jobs, I think, is paying off. The unemployment rate's dropped nearly 30 percent. But there's still more things we've got to do.

GAZETTE: You keep a very busy schedule and travel the state extensively, visiting all 99 counties each year. Do you believe your health is good enough to withstand four more years at that pace?

BRANSTAD: I do. That's one of the reasons why I had this varicose veins (surgery) taken care of ... . But I have a pretty regular exercise routine. In the summertime, we go to Gray's Lake, but in the wintertime, we primarily go to Des Moines University. As a retiree, I can use the wellness center. ...

It's nine blocks from Terrace Hill (the governor's mansion).

GAZETTE: Perhaps it's improbable, but if the Legislature approves a minimum-wage increase, would you be willing to approve such a measure?

BRANSTAD: I've said I'll keep an open mind. I did, at one point in the past, sign an increase in the minimum wage. But even the Senate Democrats last year, in an election year, didn't pass it. And from what I understand, (Senate Majority Leader Mike) Gronstal didn't really bring that up as a subject that he thought they were likely to take up. So, I don't think we're likely to see that here.

GAZETTE: Both parties say they want to establish the rate of school aid, formerly called allowable growth, early in the legislative session. Can you tell us what rate you'll propose in your Condition of the State address?

BRANSTAD: I can't tell you the amount at this point. I will say that school aid is a big item in the budget, and I intend to make a recommendation as part of the Condition of the State address, as part of the budget for two years. And I intend to recommend that we continue what we did the last two years, and that is …

set supplemental state aid, all state dollars, no property tax.

It used to be allowable growth, which had a property tax component. I want to continue down this path of having it be 100 percent state aid.

My hope would be the Legislature would early in the session approve that for both years, so then school districts would know how much money they're going to get.

GAZETTE: The state last year passed a law that allows parents to use a marijuana extract to treat their children with epileptic seizures. But those parents saw the law, while well-intended, as virtually useless because parents have no way of obtaining the extract without breaking other states' laws. Would you support an expansion of the new Iowa law to allow the marijuana extract to be produced and distributed in Iowa?

BRANSTAD: We were one of many states that did something on that issue last year. … I talked to the governors of both Alabama and Utah that passed similar legislation. I think we'll want to look at what they're doing and how they're handling it. I don't want to run into some of the unforeseen circumstances …

(such as) in Colorado and some of those other states (with various forms of legalized marijuana programs). They have big problems, and they have problems because they have one set of rules for recreation marijuana and they have another one for medical. In some cases, they don't have strict enough controls, so you have people that are getting it that shouldn't be.

I just want to make sure what we do is carefully regulated and controlled. I certainly am empathetic to the families of children that have these seizures, and we want to try to get them an opportunity to try this. But also we want to do it in a way that it isn't going to get into the hands of people that (it wasn't intended for).

It's one thing to make that available. It's another thing to say you can grow it in Iowa. If you're going to do that, then how are you going to regulate and control that to make sure that it only goes for those purposes and meets all the criteria? I think there's a lot of questions that have to be answered.