Even with GOP support, Iowa Legislature won’t have special session

CEDAR RAPIDS - A handful of House Republicans have joined the call for a special session of the Iowa Legislature to override the governor's veto of one-time money for education. But even with that additional support, there are not enough members in agreement to make that happen.

Reps. Bobby Kaufman, R-Wilton, and Quentin Stanerson, R-Center Point, have joined House Democrats in asking for a special session because of overwhelming opposition to Gov. Terry Branstad's vetoes of one-time education funding after the Legislature adjourned in June.

'I've never seen such an outpouring of constituent requests for a special session,” Kaufmann said Wednesday.

'I was hearing from people not typically political,” he said, adding it was not just teachers, school administrators and board members, but 'parents who aren't political but angry about the vetoes.”

Branstad vetoed a bipartisan compromise that would have provided nearly $56 million in extra state aid to kindergarten-through-grade-12 school districts beyond the 1.25 percent base budget increase the governor approved, according to figures released by the Senate Democratic staff.

Democrats control the Senate 26-24 while the Republicans have a 57-43 majority in the House. All 69 Democrats called for the special session.

However, even with Stanerson and Kaufmann joining, there are far fewer than the required two-thirds of each chamber who must individually make the request. The GOP representatives said they had heard of a couple other House Republicans asked for a special session, but those members did not respond immediately to requests for verification.

'Of course we're disappointed,” Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal, D-Council Bluffs, said. 'Schools have been talking about this for three weeks, the impact it will have, and I'm surprised Republicans haven't listened more, especially in the House, since they voted for it.”

Gronstal set a July 29 deadline for lawmakers to call for a special session. There is nothing in state law that would prevent lawmakers coming back later, but the Senate leader thought a decision should be made as soon as possible so schools could plan accordingly.

Speaker Kraig Paulsen, R-Hiawatha, wasn't as surprised as Gronstal. Many House Republicans agree with Branstad that one-time funding is not a good budget practice.

Kaufmann and Stanerson made that clear even as they asked for a special session.

'I don't like the one-time funding scenario,” Stanerson said, 'but we did come up with a compromise.”

'We're 57 different people. We don't agree on everything,” Paulsen said.

Disagreement between the parties is likely to continue when the Legislature reconvenes in January, Gronstal said. Lawmakers also will have to decide how to deal with an 'imperial governor making decision from on high.”

'We'll have to find a new way to relate to this governor,” he said.