Absent senator returns to Iowa Capitol

DES MOINES - A retiring senator from southwest Iowa who returned to the Capitol Wednesday after an extended absence attending to his family's farm business said he will not take daily expense money for the days he has missed during the 2014 session.

Sen. Hubert Houser, R-Carson, who does not plan to seek re-election, said he has been helping his 34-year-old granddaughter with preparations for a major project to erect two large buildings to house broiler chickens which has forced him to spend less time at the Statehouse.

'That's my future, this is my past,” said Houser, a 22-year veteran of the House and Senate who is completing his last, lame-duck session in a chamber that has 26 Democrats and 24 Republicans.

As a minority-party member, Houser said there has not been much for him to do at the Senate since he scaled back his committee assignments in anticipation of his farm obligations and oftentimes his vote is inconsequential on legislation with broad bipartisan support or pushed by majority Democrats.

'Really I don't have anything to do but twiddle my thumbs and push a button once in awhile,” Houser said.

House, 71, said he has been in contact with Senate GOP leaders during the time he has concentrated on expanding his family's farm operation and was told he would be summoned to the Capitol if even critical votes came up.

Normally, minority-member votes don't decide issues unless they're issues where there's no party position, but affirmative votes can be decisive for gubernatorial nominees who encounter controversy in receiving the required two-thirds majority for confirmation - a process that wraps up by April 15.

Houser thought his absence generally had gone unnoticed until news accounts of his monthlong hiatus surfaced this week. The Carson Republican said he hasn't had access to 'Des Moines media” in southwest Iowa 'so I didn't realize it had become such an issue up here.”

Houser was greeted by a number of Senate colleagues upon his Senate return Wednesday, telling reporters 'Everybody's been very gracious to me so far, even you guys.”

Secretary of the Senate Mike Marshall said Houser met with him Wednesday and requested that he not receive daily expense money for the session days that he was not at the Capitol this year.

After some calculations, Houser wrote a check for $576 to reimburse the state for the $144 in daily expense money he had received for four days he was not at the Capitol while the Senate was in session. Marshall also noted that Houser did not take the check for two weeks' per-diem paid to lawmakers on Wednesday that covered the period through last Saturday.

Houser indicated he would 'settle up” the accounting issues pertaining to compensation at the end of session, which he noted could go past the Easter holiday.

'The bottom line is he's only going to be paid per-diem for the session days that he's here,” Marshall said. 'It's not an unusual occurrence to have that.”