Even a Statehouse trifecta can be trying

As I milled about our Pints and Politics event the other night, I fielded lots of questions from folks wondering what Iowa Republicans would do with their new legislative majorities.

The short answer is a lot. It's been 18 years since the GOP last controlled the Iowa Senate, House and governor's office, in 1997 and 1998. Democrats controlled or shared control of the Iowa Senate for more than a decade, which is a long stretch in the Branstadian-Vilsackian era.

So there's pent-up demand for Republican priorities, tax cuts, abortion restrictions, limits on collective bargaining rights, loosened gun restrictions, education reforms benefiting private schools and home-schoolers and much more. The list is very long.

Some are thrilled for change. Others are bracing for an onslaught. But what I tell everyone who asks is scoring the so-called Statehouse 'trifecta” doesn't necessarily guarantee two years of slam dunks and high-fives. With divided legislatures, most of the big battles are with the other side. With one party control, the big battles are family feuds. They can be far nastier.

Take 1998, the first year I covered the Iowa Legislature. Republicans had scored some big legislative victories in 1997, including a large income tax cut. Gov. Terry Branstad then spent much of the summer and fall touting an education reform package, spawned by recommendations from a task force chaired by close Branstad ally Marvin Pomerantz.

The package called for teacher pay raises and other measures. It was to be Branstad's education legacy as he left office. Well, for a while.

But Republicans who ran the House and Senate wouldn't go along with all the spending Branstad wanted. In retaliation, Branstad vetoed $17 million from the $24 million package legislative Republicans did pass, calling the bill 'halting, hesitant half-steps.” The governor figured he could call lawmakers back for a special session to fix it.

Fat chance, lame duck. Republican leaders called Branstad's action 'irrational and irresponsible.” Then-House Speaker Ron Corbett explored the option of calling a special session, not to fix the bill, but to override Branstad's vetoes. Both sides took their case to the airwaves. In the end, there was no special session and the vetoed funding was not restored. By the following January, Democrat Tom Vilsack was our totally new governor.

Democrats also had the trifecta from 2007 to 2010, and accomplished quite a bit. But they also feuded over high-profile pro-labor bills blocked by a 'six pack” of pro-business, moderate Democrats.

And, ironically, big majorities, like the ones the GOP now holds, can be tougher to manage than slim ones. When your advantage is a mere vote or two, party discipline is vital. With big margins, some lawmakers will feel more comfortable going loose cannon.

Of course, the Republican legislative caucuses running the show in 2017 are far less ideologically diverse than those late 1990s GOP majorities, which actually counted many moderate members. That purity may mean the thrilling change/horrid onslaught will march ahead more smoothly.

Still, family feuds are likely. They must be handled delicately. On a side note, Thanksgiving is coming up.

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