Ideological differences on spending still face Iowa lawmakers

DES MOINES – Top legislative leaders say they can see a pathway for ending the 84th General Assembly's 2011 session by the April 29 adjournment target.

However, they admit their global positioning systems have significantly different ideological settings that could make for a bumpy ride to reach that desired end point.

Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal, D-Council Bluffs, and House Speaker Kraig Paulsen, R-Hiawatha, both put the odds at about 50-50 that the Legislature will complete its work by month's end. April 29 is the session's 110th calendar day and a marker for when lawmakers' daily expense money runs out that traditionally ties in closely with the session shutdown.

While disagreements on funding for K-12 schools, preschool programs and other spending priorities continue to loom large as the split-control Legislature works to forge a budget agreement with Republican Gov. Terry Branstad, Gronstal said “there's little likelihood of impasse” because top leaders and the governor are experienced in looking for common ground and compromise and won't follow the federal model of gridlock and government shutdown.

“Obviously, this session has brought out strong feelings in both parties and there's going to be some real battles about what they think is important, but I'd just generally say that Speaker Paulsen and I are smarter than they are in Washington D.C. We're going to figure out a way to govern, we're going to look for common ground, we're going to set the things we disagree with aside, and we're going to find a way to govern,” Gronstal said.

Paulsen said progress probably has been slower than many in the Legislature would like to see but he noted the House and the Senate are “laying proper foundation” by working separately through their versions of budget bills and tax relief plans to get into position for some hard-nose negotiating in the coming days.

"Let's get everything up on the table and we'll just start wading through it. That's the process we're going through right now is getting everything up on the table,” the House speaker said.

“On many of these issues I see a pathway,” Paulsen added. “There are going to be some things that we disagree on that aren't going to happen. But I think we also all recognize that we need to govern and we're going to get the work done for Iowans.”

Both leaders expected the closing weeks of the session will produce significant commercial property tax relief which could be a mix of various versions that have been proposed. Gronstal said he also could see a hybrid budgeting approach that would set a fiscal 2012 spending plan and a base core for the following year that lawmakers could work from next session that might meet Branstad's demand for a two-year budget.

Gronstal also said a Branstad administration concession to make public donations to a nonprofit corporation that is part of the governor's proposed economic development overhaul could help forge agreement on revamping the current state agency into a public-private partnership for future job-creation efforts.

The Senate majority leader said a proposal gambling package that senators have been working on current “is on life support,” while a House-passed measure seeking tougher penalties for people who seek employment in livestock agriculture as a ruse to film “gotcha” videos will only move forward if lawmakers can resolve provisions that are “blantantly unconstitutional.”

Gronstal said the Senate will not shift water quality monitoring duties from the state Department of Natural Resources to the state agriculture department, while Paulsen said he expected legislation will pass the House addressing regulatory hurdles to MidAmerican Energy's plans to use new-technology nuclear modules as a future source for generating electricity.

Both leaders said the GOP controlled House and the Democrat-led Senate are about $300 million apart in reaching a fiscal 2012 budget agreement with funding preschool and K-12 allowable growth funding among the major areas of disagreement.

The Senate is slated to wrap up the confirmation process by Friday for Branstad appointments to state boards, commissions and department directorships with Isaiah McGee's nomination to lead the state Department of Human Rights likely falling short of the 34 affirmative votes needed for approval, Gronstal said. He said there may be one or two other Branstad nominees who are in jeopardy of not being confirmed but he declined to name anyone specifically.

Also this week, lawmakers will receive a recommendation from the Temporary Redistricting Advisory Commission regarding the new congressional and legislative district boundaries drawn by the nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency based upon 2010 census data. Votes in both chambers on the new reapportionment plan are expected as early as Thursday.

Both leaders called the maps fair because they create problems and opportunities for both political parties heading into a volatile 2012 election cycle, but Paulson said “I would not say that it's a done deal” the map will be approved.

The Senate, where Democrats hold a 26-24 majority, or the House, which currently is controlled by Republicans 60-40, or Branstad can reject the initial LSA redistricting plan. If that occurs, the agency has 35 days to produce a second map, which -- like the first -- cannot be altered. If that's rejected, LSA has 35 days to prepare a third map. That can be amended.

If the Legislature does not approve a map by Sept. 1, the Iowa Supreme Court will step in.