Iowa Politics Today: Iowa attorney general joins other AGs in immigration lawsuit

A roundup of legislative and Capitol news items of interest for Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2017:

FULL HOUSE:

Monica Kurth, D-Davenport, was sworn in as a member of the Iowa House on Monday.

Kurth, who will represent the western portion of Davenport, won a Jan. 31 special election to fill the seat left vacant when Rep. Jim Lykam, D-Davenport, was elected to the state Senate in a Dec. 27 special election. Lykam replaces state Sen. Joe Seng, D-Davenport, who died in October.

With Kurth's swearing in, there are now a full 100 members in the Iowa House and 50 in the Iowa Senate.

QUESTION OF SUCCESSION:

A lawmaker's request for an Iowa attorney general's opinion on how and whether a lieutenant governor is replaced if the office becomes vacant isn't needed, according to Gov. Terry Branstad.

He believes the state Constitution is clear 'that in the case of the death, resignation or disability of the governor, the lieutenant governor becomes the governor,” Branstad said Monday. A state law gives the governor the authority to appoint a lieutenant governor if that office becomes vacant.

'That's pretty clear as can be, and I don't think there is any question about that,” he said.

Sen. David Johnson, an Ocheyedan independent, formally requested an opinion from the attorney general because he reads the Constitution to say the lieutenant governor would have the duties and power of the governor's office, but not the title.

She would be addressed as governor, but would remain lieutenant governor. Under that interpretation, the lieutenant governor's office would not be vacant and Reynolds would not appoint a successor.

The question has come up because Branstad has been nominated by President Donald Trump to be U.S. ambassador to China.

IOWA JOINS IMMIGRATION LAWSUIT:

attorney general Tom Miller today joined 15 state attorneys general in a friend of the court brief in support of the states of Washington and Minnesota in the federal lawsuit against President Donald Trump's executive order on immigration.

'The president has broad authority to oversee our nation's immigration policies and procedures but not even the president has authority to circumvent our Constitution's fundamental guarantees of equal protection, religious freedom and due process,” said Miller, a Democrat.

The amicus brief supports the states' standing to challenge the order, citing the harm it inflicts on the states themselves, including their educational institutions, medical institutions and diminished tax revenues from students, tourists and business visitors.

DECORUM:

The Iowa House spent more than an hour debating whether representatives should be able to use visual aids in debate. A proposed rule change would allow visual aids, such as charts and graphs, 'at the leave” of the Speaker of the House.

Rep. Mary Wolfe, D-Clinton, called it an example of the majority party voting away free speech rights of the minority party. It would also allow the majority party to rebut a minority party member's comments before they are made on the floor.

'This is a pretty big deal,” Wolfe said about what she considered stripping the minority party's ability to present its arguments.

Rep. Mike Sexton, R-Rockwell City, floor manager of House Resolution 5, called the change necessary to protect the decorum of the House.

He pointed out there are many behaviors he does not think likely to happen, such as a representative shouting obscenities from the House floor, but there are rules to prohibit them.

The resolution was approved 58-37.

MINORITY UNEMPLOYMENT:

Reducing unemployment in Iowa's minority communities is the goal of a State Workforce Development Board subcommittee announced by Gov. Terry Branstad on Monday.

According to the latest Census information, Iowa's statewide unemployment rate was 3.9 percent. The rate for African-Americans is 14.2 percent, 11 percent among Native Americans, 5.3 percent for Asian-Americans and 8.1 percent for Hispanic Americans.

The subcommittee goal is to reduce unemployment in minority communities by 5 percent (or to the state average) in five years.

'It is unacceptable that we have such a huge disparity between our average unemployment rate and the rates in our minority communities,” Branstad said.

He asked the subcommittee to align its work with the Future Ready Alliance, which is emphasizing post-high school training and education for Iowa's workforce.

Branstad credited former Rep. Wayne Ford, D-Des Moines, with bringing this issue to the State Workforce Development Board and helping develop the group's goals and agenda.

Four counties - Polk, Dubuque, Black Hawk and Pottawattamie - have been identified as pilot communities based on having high concentrations of minority residents and unemployment rates.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: 'Younger and younger children are being injured requiring hospital stays that take longer and longer to discharge the more severe injuries. The injuries are more serious and the age is getting younger.”

- Katy Hill, a representative for the Iowa EMS association and UnityPoint of Des Moines discussing a Senate bill that would legalize consumer fireworks in Iowa.