Bransition Update -- Pickin' but not Much Grinnin'

So who will pick the new justices?

Surely it will be the new/classic governor-elect who just won by a country mile thanks to many of the same voters who tossed three justices clean off the Iowa Supreme Court.

“I think it would be inappropriate to have a governor that was just rejected by the voters try to rush through appointments to a court when the court was just rejected as well. I think we need to really sit down and think this thing through in a really careful way,” Branstad says.

Yeah, it will probably be Branstad, says a member of the Judicial Nominating Commission, which nominates a slate of judges for picking by governors:

Des Moines lawyer Guy Cook, a member of the Judicial Nominating Commission, said the panel can't meet until the Nov. 2 election results are certified in late November. The panel will meet in early December, and it has 60 days to make decisions for three vacancies on the seven-member court.The Republican Branstad will be sworn in Jan. 14, replacing Democratic Gov. Chet Culver.Cook said it's almost certain the justice choice will be left to Branstad.“Do the math,” said Cook.

The Republican Branstad will be sworn in Jan. 14, replacing Democratic Gov. Chet Culver.

Cook said it's almost certain the justice choice will be left to Branstad.

“Do the math,” said Cook.

Math schmath. It has never been Gov. Culver's best subject:

“They decide the timeline, they decide the names they send and we don't know what that timeline will look like, but if they send those names to me I will exercise my duties as governor as I am required to do,” said Culver in an interview with the Associated Press.Culver, who supports marriage rights for same-sex couples, previously has told reporters after the Nov. 2 election that he didn't know how or if he would act on the judge reappointment issue. His statements Monday were the clearest to date of his intentions.

Culver, who supports marriage rights for same-sex couples, previously has told reporters after the Nov. 2 election that he didn't know how or if he would act on the judge reappointment issue. His statements Monday were the clearest to date of his intentions.

For those of you scoring at home, it looks pretty clear that it will be Branstad who fills these slots. Which will be sort of awkward, considering that he'll be getting his selections from a nominating commission that he assailed during the campaign as being controlled by Democrats.

And he was right, it is controlled by Democrats. So the nine nominees for three SUPCO slots Branstad gets will be the same ones Culver would probably get. Branstad's final picks from those nine may be different than Culver's, but the differences might not be apparent to the naked eye.

There's really no good option for Branstad.

He can pick what the D-stacked commission gives him, which is the most likely scenario.

 Or he can wage a fight to pass legislation mandating party balance on the panel, which Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal says he isn't interested in debating. And while that match of wills plays out, the four-member Supreme Court struggles to operate. We don't even know who will give the Condition of the Court's speech, for goodness sake.

On the sidelines, an empowered BVP,  newly annointed Overlord of Outrage, will be strenuously urging Branstad to issue an executive order to dissolve the Supreme Court and begin deciding workers' comp cases, drunken driving appeals, lawyer misconduct, etc. as "Chief Magistrate." 

Vander Plaats told Radio Iowa he thinks the other four justices should skedaddle:

The leader of a successful campaign to oust three Iowa Supreme Court justices says the four justices who remain on the court should consider stepping down. Bob Vander Plaats of Sioux City, the leader of Iowa for Freedom, says he is not asking for immediate resignations.“But I do believe those four justices do need to think about the message that was sent on November 2, and I believe that they fully realize that if they would have been on that ballot along with their three other peers that they would have been voted off too,” Vander Plaats says, “so as the appointment process takes place, I believe they need to take a look at a timeline and see if that's something that they would choose to do, is to step down to make sure that they honor the court and they don't disrupt the court proceedings by not having a quorum.”

“But I do believe those four justices do need to think about the message that was sent on November 2, and I believe that they fully realize that if they would have been on that ballot along with their three other peers that they would have been voted off too,” Vander Plaats says, “so as the appointment process takes place, I believe they need to take a look at a timeline and see if that's something that they would choose to do, is to step down to make sure that they honor the court and they don't disrupt the court proceedings by not having a quorum.”

This is a guy who knows that when you're rejected by the voters, it's time to go away.

Secretly, on a boat in France, Branstad whispered to his wife that he really wishes Culver would hurry up and pick the judges, thus taking the whole mess off his plate. Clearly, it was the Bordeaux talking, but still.

But these are Branstad's picks to make. He won the election. The justices were ousted by the same voters. You have to respect that, regardless of what you thought of the outcome. Doing otherwise, I think, would only inflict further damage on the courts' credibility.

LABOR PAINS -- Meanwhile, negotiations with the largest union representing state workers have started. But who will get to finish them?

Before he leaves office, Culver could also sign a new two-year contract with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Council 61, the state's largest employee union. The governor told Rob Boshart of Source Media Group News that his administration has had “productive talks” with the union for a contract that would run until June 30, 2013.Branstad said he hopes Culver will turn the negotiations over to him when he is sworn in, something he said he did when he turned over Terrace Hill to his replacement, Tom Vilsack. But Culver said the new administration must respect the fact that there is “one governor at a time,” and he will continue to do his job until Jan. 14.

Branstad said he hopes Culver will turn the negotiations over to him when he is sworn in, something he said he did when he turned over Terrace Hill to his replacement, Tom Vilsack. But Culver said the new administration must respect the fact that there is “one governor at a time,” and he will continue to do his job until Jan. 14.

The stakes are very high for Branstad. A big chunk of his plan to cut the "size and scope" of state government by 15 percent over the next five years involves putting a pretty significant squeeze on state labor costs. If Culver inks a sweet deal with the union, Branstad's job gets tougher.

The bank will foreclose on the Capitol, and the Legislature will have to meet around a trashcan fire in an alley. Or something like that.

And if Culver entertains any notion of running for public office again, he knows helping out AFSCME as he walks out the door could help him in the long run. He'll get a green AFSCME T-shirt with "Big Lug" on the back.

Rod Boshart has a great survey of the landscape here. The guts:

AFSCME'S proposal called for a 2 percent increase in base wages on July 1, 2011, and a 1 percent increase on Jan. 1, 2012, in the first year of the agreement, and a 2 percent increase on July 1, 2012, and a 1 percent on Jan. 1, 2013, in the contract's second year. The proposal would not change the current 4.5 percent "step" increases in wages for state workers who are not at the top of their pay scales.Ray Walton, director of the Iowa Department of Administrative Services, the agency that oversees collective bargaining negotiations, said state is scheduled to make a counter offer on Nov. 19. He said he sent the AFSCME offer to Culver, who has taken a post-election vacation, but had not spoken with the governor about the upcoming talks with the four bargaining units representing unionized state workers."I don't know what direction it's going to take," he said. "I don't know what the governor's intentions are."Among the options Culver could consider would be to accept the AFSCME offer and sign a new contract, pose a counter offer with lower wages or seek to open other areas in the negotiations for discussion, or defer the talks to the incoming Branstad administration, Walton noted.

Ray Walton, director of the Iowa Department of Administrative Services, the agency that oversees collective bargaining negotiations, said state is scheduled to make a counter offer on Nov. 19. He said he sent the AFSCME offer to Culver, who has taken a post-election vacation, but had not spoken with the governor about the upcoming talks with the four bargaining units representing unionized state workers.

"I don't know what direction it's going to take," he said. "I don't know what the governor's intentions are."

Among the options Culver could consider would be to accept the AFSCME offer and sign a new contract, pose a counter offer with lower wages or seek to open other areas in the negotiations for discussion, or defer the talks to the incoming Branstad administration, Walton noted.

I'm betting Culver makes the deal. Just a hunch. He loves T-shirts.

NEW WEBSITE -- Branstad's trasnition now has an online site. 

There's a place to submit your resume. Who knows, you could be the next director of the Iowa Department of Transportation, and control a lot of totally cool bulldozers and pavers and snowplows and stuff.