Branstad, Reynolds expect smooth transition of power

DES MOINES - Gov. Terry Branstad and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds said Monday they expect a smooth transition of power next year presuming he is confirmed by the U.S. Senate to serve as President-elect Donald Trump's U.S. ambassador to China and resigns to turn the governorship over to Reynolds.

Branstad said he will continue in his role as governor by presenting the Condition of the State address and a two-year state budget proposal on Jan. 10 and will work as a team with Reynolds during the two-tracks of his confirmation process and the 2017 session until the 'historic” change of leadership at the top state executive post takes place once he has secured his new federal assignment.

'The reality is that we're really not going to do anything differently,” said Reynolds, who expected to be sworn in once Branstad resigns as governor and to appoint a new lieutenant governor to work with her in an administration that generally will carry on many of the same practices and people as the current Branstad-Reynolds team. Both Branstad and Reynolds said the transition of power they envision is spelled out in the Iowa Constitution and the state code.

'It's unique. I never imagined this,” Branstad told reporters during his weekly news conference. Given the uncertainty of the timetable for his Senate confirmation, Branstad said he could well be governor during much, if not all, of the 87 Iowa General Assembly's 2017 session, which is slated to run 110 days.

Branstad said there is 'a huge amount of paperwork” associated with his new appointment, but he doesn't know when he'll begin that process given that Trump won't be inaugurated until Jan. 20 and then there is a 42-day review process before confirmation proceedings would be scheduled with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He hoped to meet with every committee members in advance of his confirmation hearing but he didn't believe he would need to be in Washington more than a few days during the session.

The governor said he and his wife talked with current U.S. Ambassador to China Max Baucus last weekend and expects to have more discussions as his appointment proceeds for an office with 'a big staff” that oversees the embassy and five consulates in China. He declined to discuss recent developments as it relates to Trump's approach to America's 'One China” policy involving China and Taiwan, saying it would be inappropriate for him to weigh in given his appointment is pending.

'It's not for sure. I've got to be confirmed by the Senate before I become the ambassador.

I'm taking that responsibility very seriously, Branstad told reporters.

'It's not my role to be setting policy, but rather to be one that helps implement policy and act as a go-between,” he added. 'There are a lot of challenges out there today. I understand that I have been appointed to a delicate and difficult position and I will do my very best.”

Branstad later told leaders of the Iowa Older Iowans Legislature his daughter may take a leave of absence from her teaching job and move her family to China to be with him and his wife, Chris, once they have settled in his new assignment.

Reynolds said ensuring a smooth transition when she becomes Iowa's first female governor 'is paramount” and she expects to maintain the same partnership with the lieutenant governor she appoints as she had enjoyed with Branstad for six years.

'She's in on all the decision-making,” Branstad said. 'She has from the beginning. We will continue to work as a team.”

Branstad said the upcoming state budgeting cycle will be challenging and he was 'very hopeful” the new GOP-led Legislature will approve state supplemental aid to schools for the next two fiscal years within the first 30 days of the new session which opens Jan. 9.

Last week House Speaker Linda Upmeyer, R-Clear Lake, said she expects the Legislature would set fiscal 2018 state funding for K-12 schools early in the session but she was reluctant to commit to a second year of funding more than 18 months out given the uncertainty surrounding state tax collections. l Comments: (515) 243-7220; rod.boshart@thegazette.com