Legislature adjourns after contentious session

By Rod Boshart, Gazette Des Moines Bureau

DES MOINES - Fireworks enthusiasts who hoped to end the overtime legislative session Friday with a bang got a dud instead.

And they weren't the only Iowans who left the Statehouse disappointed as the split-control 86th General Assembly adjourned its first year's work after 145 days - many spent hashing out partisan difference on a $7.168 billion budget for next fiscal year and finding middle ground on a narrow list of bills that ranked among one of the lowest legislative outputs in recent memory.

'Divided government is tough,” said Sen. Bob Dvorsky, D-Coralville, head of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and one of the chief budget architects in talks involving Democrats who hold a 26-24 Senate majority, Republicans who hold 57-43 sway in the House and Republican Gov. Terry Branstad.

The negotiations also produced about $135 million in surplus funds that were earmarked for one-time spending purposes by the House and Senate.

Fiscal analysts said total funding from all sources subject to legislative action this year topped $7.8 billion - including the general fund, the Rebuild Iowa Infrastructure Fund and one-time surplus spending.

The session drew mixed reviews, even from the top leaders.

Senate President Pam Jochum, D-Dubuque, called the output 'mediocre.” Senate GOP Leader Bill Dix of Shell Rock lamented a missed an opportunity to jump start Iowa's economy.

'My analysis is that it was a difficult year,” said House Speaker Kraig Paulsen. 'We walked in in a difficult financial situation, made tough decisions, but we, once again, balanced the budget, did it by balancing ongoing revenue with ongoing expenses and met the priority of Iowans.”

Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal, D-Council Bluffs, noted that while increasing the state gas tax by 10 cents a gallon to generate infrastructure money was a significant achievement, it 'seemed to at some level suck the oxygen out of the building and that's part of why here we are in June.”

Legislative Democrats were particularly distraught over a finished product that gave K-12 schools and public higher education institutions a 1.25 percent increase in aid for fiscal 2016. The budget deal also included $55.7 million in one-time surplus funds for Iowa's 338 public school districts and nearly $8.8 million to be divided among Iowa's 15 community colleges and three state universities in hopes instate undergraduates would see a third straight year of tuition freezes at the regent institutions.

'This bill is a Band Aid over a festering sore in the area of education,” said Sen. Herman Quirmbach, D-Ames, chair of the Senate Education Committee, during debate on House File 666, which cleared the House 85-4 and the Senate 27-23. Both chambers also ratified the 1.25 percent state aid increase for K-12 schools, after Democrats receded from their 4 percent request.

During Senate debate, Sen. Julian Garrett, R-Indianola, questioned the advisability of spending down the state's surplus, which once topped $900 million but likely will dip below $300 million by June 2016, He noted the state got mired in red ink when the recession hit.

'We've got a history of not being very prudent with our money and I don't want to see us going down that road again, but it looks like that's kind of where we're headed,” he said.

Across the rotunda, Rep. Chris Hall, D-Sioux City, accused majority Republicans of 'playing games” with guiding principles to create 'an artificial expenditure limitation” so they could 'intentionally underfund” education, human services and other government programs.

Sen. Jeff Danielson, D-Cedar Falls, floor manager of the bill to allow fireworks starting Dec. 1, said he was disappointed the measure didn't come to a vote but believed it would see action next year. Others expressed disappointment that the session did not address bullying in schools, gun law changes and fiscal 2017 school aid funding.

Branstad told reporters that he has not 'given any assurances to anybody” regarding the fate of his signature on the Legislature's work.

'We're going to do a total independent review and judgment to determine what we think is the best public policy,” he said.