Capitol Digest 4-6-09

Here are some legislative items of interest for Monday, April 6:

CAMPAIGN CASH: Donors gave $25 million to candidates for state offices for the 2008 elections, an analysis by the National Institute on Money in State Politics showed. A large share of dollars, about $15 million, went to candidates in the Iowa House, according to the institute. The average amount raised for a House race increased to $70,846, as the parties battled for the majority. That's an increase of 16 percent from 2006 and up 78 percent from 2004. The average amount raised for an Iowa Senate campaign dropped 25 percent to $89,122 in 2008.

SCAM-ARTIST WARNING: Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller warned Iowans Monday that scam-artists are trying to take advantage of Iowans who are caught up in the nationwide foreclosure crisis. “Beware if someone contacts you, claims they can help, and asks you to pay an up-front fee,” Miller said in a statement. “Mortgage foreclosure rescue schemes ask you to pay hundreds of dollars up-front for so-called assistance or rescue from foreclosure, but they just take your money and do nothing to help.” Miller advised Iowans to call the Iowa Mortgage Help Hotline at 877-622-4866 if they are facing foreclosure or having trouble making mortgage payments. He also encouraged Iowans to contact his office if they have been cheated by a “rescue scam.”  The toll-free number is 888-777-4590, or 515-281-5926 in Des Moines.

SILLY TRINKETS: Rep. Steve Lukan, R-New Vienna, has withdrawn his objection to the shovel key rings being distributed at Gov. Chet Culver's “shovel-ready” jobs tour events, but he still thinks it's a silly gesture. After a constituent questioned whether state funds were being used to distribute the key rings, Lukan was assured Culver's campaign was picking up the tab. “I still think it's a silly trinket to promote an agenda that reflects the mindset of big government and uncontrolled spending,” he said.

GOVERNOR'S AUTOGRAPH: Gov. Culver signed into law SF 49 regulating the transfer of funds between campaign committees, SF 207 providing for the use of funds in the Iowa Finance Authority's Housing Trust Fund and SF 268 regarding local watershed improvement grants.

ADJOURN WHEN?: Majority Democrats softened their predictions Monday that the 2009 Legislature will adjourn this week, but Rep. Scott Raecker, R-Urbandale, was even less optimistic. Bemoaning the lack of fiscal responsibility so far in this session, Raecker urged his colleagues to demonstrate fiscal prudence in the “last several weeks” of the session.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: “Your response is pure obstruction. You're telling the people of Iowa ‘no' to giving them a vote. It is wrong to silence the voice of the people of Iowa and it is wrong to silence the voice of our fellow colleagues in this body.” – Senate GOP Leader Paul McKinley of Chariton after Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal, D-Council Bluffs, declined to co-sponsor a leadership bill with him on an amendment to the Iowa Constitution that would define marriage as between one man and one woman.

Compiled by Des Moines Bureau staff