While Indiana stumbles, equality could become Iowa’s sales pitch

So we've learned, thanks to Indiana's baffling legislative backflip into pariah canyon, that discrimination can be bad for business.

Sure, we can argue over the legalities and true intent of the Hoosier State's original 'religious freedom” law. I might insist that culture crusaders were cynically seeking to build an anti-gay force field around pious pizza joints. You may strongly disagree. Fair enough.

But what seems indisputable is that, as economic development strategies go, this was an astoundingly bad one.

A long list of businesses and organizations strongly criticized the law and joined the national backlash against it. There were threats of boycotts, businesses banning employee travel to Indiana and canceled conventions. Firms planning Indiana expansions hit the pause button. Can cut ribbons be uncut?

Development types in states such as Ohio and Virginia, as well as the city of Chicago, moved to entice Indiana firms to skedaddle.

And, in the end, it's that economic pressure, far more than any loud political criticism, celebrity intervention or outraged hashtag, that prompted Indiana leaders to backpedal at light speed.

It was business leaders who stood with Gov. Mike Pence Thursday as he called for changing the law to explicitly bar discrimination against gays and lesbians, at least where local protections exist. Perhaps this is the 'magic of the free market” we've heard so much about. On the flip side of an ugly mess like this stands a state like Iowa.

We're one of 19 states, one of just three in the Midwest, with a state law barring discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. We were the first heartland state with legal same-sex marriage. And after a rocky few years of consternation on the right, marriage equality is largely a settled issue here.

Iowa lawmakers briefly floated an Indiana-style religious freedom bill in 2011, but it was swiftly sacked and hasn't been heard from since. We have a long history of being out front on civil rights issues.

Basically, Iowa is not the kind of state anyone's going to be boycotting anytime soon. Snowstorms might cancel conventions, but our civil rights record won't.

Based on what we've seen in Indiana, it seems like a no-brainer that Iowa's civil rights landscape should be part of our economic development sales pitch.

'This is becoming a site selection variable regardless of one's politics,” John Boyd, a site selection expert, told Site Selection magazine last summer, while arguing gay marriage bans are bad for business. 'Companies want to be able to recruit and retain the best workers nationally.”

So how about it, Iowa Economic Development Authority?

'You're asking if we mention our non-discrimination status as a selling point,” said Tina Hoffman, marketing and communication director for the IEDA.

'No, I guess we sort of consider that a baseline thing. So it isn't necessarily something that we talk about. But I think our reputation for treating everybody with dignity and respect, you know, is pretty clear,” Hoffman said.

Sure enough, under the authority's 'Why Iowa?” section of its website, there's no mention of non-discrimination. We've got low housing costs, high graduation rates, short commutes, lots of parks and countless sunny facts and figures on growth, taxes and industries. We're 'Iowa nice,” and we implore you to 'raise your children in a place that raises your spirits.”

'And, did we mention we have more golf courses per capita than any other state? You'll have plenty of places to practice your swing,” the site says. Fore!

But civil rights doesn't make the cut. And even after Indiana's drama, Hoffman said there are no plans to incorporate that message.

'Certainly, we'll continue to answer any questions folks have and continue to showcase our communities and our culture of respect and treating people with dignity. If that arises we definitely answer. But in a lot of ways I think that speaks for itself,” Hoffman said.

But that's true of a lot of stuff we pitch. I don't think anyone would be shocked to learn we have shorter commutes than Atlanta. The facts that we're family-friendly, safe and awash in ethanol aren't jaw-droppers.

I'm not saying there's anything wrong with what we're pitching. And unlike Republicans who once assailed Gov. Tom Vilsack for not wearing a big, flashing neon button screaming 'Right to Work State,” I'm not calling for adding a rainbow to the state flag.

But if, as the flag says, we do prize our liberties and maintain our rights, it just seems smart to let the many, many companies who care about these issues know that Iowa shares their values. It's an important message, and a lucrative one as equality becomes an economic asset.

Perhaps this is a reflection of Gov. Terry Branstad's skittishness on these big civil rights issues. Asked this week about the Indiana debacle, Branstad steered clear. When Illinois raised taxes a few years ago, the governor gleefully pounced at the chance to poach businesses. But his development team made no effort to capitalize on Indiana's issues.

Branstad says he's a job creator, first and foremost. Surely he wouldn't let weak-kneed political calculating stand in the way of a good sales pitch. Surely IEDA Director Debi Durham, who once led development efforts in Sioux City, can see the possible advantages in the fact that Iowa has discrimination protections that South Dakota and Nebraska lack.

Sure, we're a right-to-work state, but we're also a state where people worked long and hard to gain equal rights. That says far more about what kind of state this is than our many fine golf courses.

l Comments: (319) 398-8452; todd.dorman@thegazette.com