Property tax reform bill fails to advance in Senate

DES MOINES - Hope for a compromise on commercial property tax relief dimmed for the second straight session last night as the Senate rejected two different versions of the legislation.

Majority Democrats first rejected by a 21-26 vote a more expansive version of the bill that had earlier passed the Republican-controlled House.

Sens. Rob Hogg, D-Cedar Rapids, and Jack Hatch, D-Des Moines, later joined Senate Republicans in voting down, by a 24-23 margin, a $350 million plan offered by Senate Democrats.

“They sunk their own bill,” said Sen. Randy Feenstra, R-Hull, who led the effort to win support for the House-passed bill. He criticized Democrats for walking away from an approach that won bipartisan support in the House by a 71-26 vote.

Before the floor debate, Hatch said he was concerned that the $350 million in relief would unduly hurt cities, counties and school districts with lost revenue. Hogg, meanwhile, said state government already is failing to meet its financial obligations without siphoning off revenue to lower business taxes. He said Cedar Rapids businesses' biggest losses could be attributed to the Floods of 2008, not property tax burdens, and the current trend of paring back key government services was doing more to hurt the state's growth and employment prospects.

Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal, D-Council Bluffs, said it appeared GOP senators were playing politics, nixing a $350 million package this year after voting 46-4 for a $200 million deal last session.

“I'm mystified,” said Gronstal, who said negotiators no longer have a legislative “vehicle” to work from. “We'll assess. We'll look for the opportunity to find common ground on this. This is not a good signal.”

Gov. Terry Branstad - in Decorah for a town meeting Tuesday - earlier spoke about the property tax reform, saying that “if the Senate Democrats fail to take it up or pass it, I think the onus is going to be on them for failing to do what they promised they were going to do and we're going to hold them accountable.”

Education reform on way to Branstad

Also Tuesday, lawmakers sent Gov. Terry Branstad an education reform package that seeks to bolster student reading skills in early grades and allows high school students who demonstrate competency to advance.

The Senate passed the bill by a vote of 31-15, and the House voted 87-9 for passage.

“This bill has been like a cat with nine lives. It was close to death many times,” said Rep. Royd Chambers, R-Sheldon, co-leader of a 10-member House-Senate conference committee that negotiated the legislation.

Sen. Herman Quirmbach, D-Ames, the other conference committee co-chairman, praised the panel for finding “appropriate” compromises. He declined to speculate whether it would meet Branstad's standard for “bold” reform, telling reporters: “I don't like the word bold. That implies a certain macho swagger. I would prefer to do smart and effective reform and I think that is what this is.”

Branstad praised lawmakers for their work this session, calling it “an important first step,” but said there was “much work left to be done to give all students a globally competitive education. That requires a great teacher in every classroom, a great principal leading every building, high academic standards and strong matching assessments.”

Under the third-grade retention compromise, the parents of a student not proficient in reading based on a test, portfolio or alternative assessment at the end of third grade would have the choice of enrolling the student in an intensive summer reading program to keep advancing. If the parents did not exercise that option, the child would be held back to repeat the third grade.

The program - contingent on funding by the state - would not be implemented until the end of the 2016-17 school year and would apply to students entering kindergarten in the 2013-14 school year.

“I think that's a good compromise and it puts the onus back on the parent a little bit to make sure that they're involved in their child's education,” Chambers said.

Quirmbach said he was disappointed there was not adequate funding in the bill to fund early literacy support in fiscal 2013, making overall funding for education reform a major focus of the Legislature next year.

The standings appropriations bill this year includes $2 million for the reform effort - a level far short of the $17 million Branstad requested.

Rep. Sharon Steckman, D-Mason City, called the compromise “a good start” for much broader work that will have to come in subsequent years.