Iowa Senate finds bipartisan agreement -- to limit governor's authority

On a day marked with party line votes and, at times, sharp verbal exchanges between majority Democrats and minority Republican, the Senate reached unanimous agreement – to impose limits on the governor.

The Senate approved House File 148 48-0 to limit the governor's authority to transfer funds when the Legislature is not in session. According to the state Constitution and code, Iowa's governor has more transfer power than most governors, Sen. Jeff Danielson, D-Cedar Falls, said.

However, it was more than simply an issue of maintaining the balance of power between the legislative and executive branches, added floor manager Sen. Bill Dix, R-Shell Rock.

“More importantly, we'll limit overspending in the future,” he said. That's because, in the past, when governors have transferred money, legislators have felt a need to “fill that hole” in the next budget. That leads to spending more money, which, according to Dix, crimps job creation and funding for other legislative priorities.

One change to HF 148 was to require the Revenue Estimating Council to meet three times a year to render advice on the state economy and government revenues. Current language is ambiguous, Danielson said.

The Senate amendment also requires that in light of the move to two-year budgeting, the REC must make a three-year estimate. The estimates for the second and third years would be non-binding for legislative budgeting purposes.

The changes in HF 148 limit the governor's authority to transfer funds when the Legislature is not in session to no more than one-tenth of 1 percent of the total budget per transfer and no more than one-half of 1 percent in any given year.

For the 2012 budget that would amount to $6 million per transfer for a total of no more than $30 million, Dix said.

House Speaker Kraig Paulsen, R-Hiawatha, said the change will be acceptable to the House, which earlier passed HF 148 100-0.

A spokesman for Gov. Terry Branstad said the governor supports the limits.