Capitol Ideas: Hope is dimming for some Branstad priorities

DES MOINES - Borrowing a phrase from former Yankee catcher Yogi Berra, Gov. Terry Branstad likes to point out that the 2015 legislative session 'ain't over 'til it's over.”

But hope is waning for a few of his priorities to make the perilous Statehouse trek to his desk by the time lawmakers finally end their overtime gathering and go home for the year.

Branstad opened the year asking the split-control Legislature to address infrastructure concerns that included better connecting Iowans on the ground and in the air by tackling challenges to transportation and broadband services.

He also wanted lawmakers to update Iowa's anti-¬bullying law, deal with a nagging problem of school start dates that divided the education and tourism communities, and consider streamlining state programs designed to improve quality-of-life amenities in Iowa.

Branstad said he has been heartened by bipartisan action to address the transportation and school start-date issues, even if there are people unhappy about paying 10 cents a gallon more when they fill their tanks with gas or waiting until Aug. 23 for fall classes to begin at elementary and secondary schools.

However, the rest of his 2015 legislative agenda is mired in the political back woods - with members of his own party in the House holding up action on an anti-bullying bill that likely would pass if it were cleared for floor debate.

They're also less than enthusiastic about revamping the state's recreational and cultural enhancement programs into an 'Iowa Next” concept with a yearly $25 million price tag.

Meanwhile, Senate Democrats are balking at a House-passed bill that seeks to expand high-speed Internet to unserved or underserved areas, mostly in rural Iowa.

As a six-term incumbent presiding over his 21st legislative session and having spent six years as a member of the Iowa House in the 1970s, the Republican incumbent said Branstad is aware that oftentimes the top priorities of a session do not get resolved until the closing days or even the waning hours of a session.

But, as Yogi said, 'it's déjà vu all over again,” given that lawmakers previously have considered the anti-bullying and broadband issues with a proven track record that they are willing to walk away from both topics without resolution.

House Republicans say a 2007 anti-bullying law is in place and they don't want to take parents out of the decision-making chain when addressing cases of bullying on school grounds or via social media unrelated to classroom activities.

The broadband measure has been scaled down from its initial approach of expanding tax incentives and dealing with cell tower placements. But Senate Democrats question whether the legislation is needed or will promote action beyond what the industry would do on its own anyway without government assistance.

Last-ditch efforts are underway to keep the governor's priorities alive by attaching stalled issues to must-do budget bills or pursuing other avenues.

But it remains to be seen what the outcome will be in the waning days of a session that already is three weeks beyond its expected adjournment and laboring to completion.

It's kind of like Yogi said, 'it's tough to make predictions, especially about the future.”