Hope of special Iowa legislative session fading

DES MOINES - Prospects for a special session of the Iowa Legislature are dimming as a self-imposed July 29 deadline approaches.

As of Thursday, 20 of Iowa's 50 state senators and 35 of 100 Iowa House members had officially requested a special session to overturn Gov. Terry Branstad's veto of $56 million in one-time money for K-12 education, according to figures released by the Senate Democratic staff. The one-time money, a compromise accepted by the Legislature, would have gone to K-12 school districts in addition to the 1.25 percent base budget increase approved by the governor.

For a special session to take place, two-thirds of the members of each chamber must individually request it. The Iowa Senate is led by Democrats, who hold a 26-24 majority, while the Iowa House is controlled by 57 Republicans.

'I know all 43 House Democrats will stand by our vote and make educating kids our top priority again,” House Democratic Leader Mark Smith of Marshalltown said in a statement. 'Since the $56 million for schools received 87 votes in the Iowa House, I know there is enough support to overturn the veto in a special session if Republicans will put politics aside and stand up to their own governor.”

Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal, D-Council Bluffs, said he expected all 26 of his caucus members would join the effort to overturn Branstad's school-funding vetoes, but he noted that at least eight GOP senators would have to concur and 'so far, not one has done that.”

An updated list of the signed statements from individual legislators calling for a special session that have been received at the Iowa Statehouse can be found here.