Governor’s order overreaches

By The Gazette Editorial Board

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Lines in the sand are drawn. The generals are in position. Gov. Terry Branstad vs. Cedar Rapids Mayor Ron Corbett. State Executive Authority vs. Local Home Rule. And now state Sen. Rob Hogg, of Cedar Rapids, has entered the high-profile battlefield.

It's a fight over the governor's executive order banning the use of state money for construction projects with project labor agreements. It's a fight that's drawing attention around the state. And the outcome could set precedent on how far and deep a governor's executive-order power can or should extend.

We think Mayor Corbett and the City Council should honor the commitments they made before the executive order.

The governor and mayor are at odds about the Convention Complex project in downtown Cedar Rapids. The state long ago awarded $15 million in I-JOBS money to the project. The City Council approved a PLA agreement in December, mostly because it wants to ensure that at least half the construction workers will be local. The wage rate is moot - it's set by the federal government because a federal grant is also involved.

In January, newly elected Gov. Branstad issued his executive order on PLAs. He's insisted that it applies to any public project using state money at any level of government - even where a PLA is already in place. Last week, the Iowa Finance Authority's general counsel told the city it could lose the I-JOBS grant if it keeps the PLA.

Meanwhile, Hogg has asked the Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller for a legal opinion on Branstad's order, related to the Cedar Rapids project. Hogg points out that the Iowa Supreme Court ruled several years ago that Iowa law allows city and county governments to use PLAs for state-funded public works projects. He says it's the Legislature's place to craft any statute change affecting PLAs.

We agree. No one official or office should dictate sweeping policy that contradicts existing law and court rulings. Not even the governor.

The Iowa Governor's Office executive-order power and limits are not well defined in Iowa code or the state constitution. But our state government is designed to operate on checks and balances - and we believe Gov. Branstad's order tips that balance too far.

Unless or until the Legislature passes a law that bans public project PLAs and meets constitutional muster, it's not a governor's place to tell cities and counties they can't use something that is legal.

And it's an even worse fight to pick when you also try to compel a local government to renege on legal, good-faith commitments.

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