Iowa lawmakers work all night, then adjourn

DES MOINES — Majority Republicans capped off a marathon legislative shutdown Saturday by putting in place a $7.269 billion state budget and setting the framework for a medical cannabis system to treat ailing Iowans, but leaving behind a water-quality improvement issue that was outgoing Gov. Terry Branstad's final priority.

Bleary-eyed lawmakers began casting votes as daylight broke outside the Statehouse, waiting idly throughout the night for agreements to be struck and drafted or for issues to be tossed aside on the 104th day of a session that proved to be one of the most eventful and politically charged in recent memory.

'We came here to give Iowans a better deal, and we delivered,' declared House Speaker Linda Upmeyer, R-Clear Lake, before representatives adjourned for the year amid cheers, hugs, hand and head shaking at the close of a 22-hour shutdown that finally ended at 7:14 a.m. Saturday. The Senate ended its work two minutes later.

'At the beginning of this session, I said Iowans wanted us to change the way we do business. ... ' said Senate Majority Leader Bill Dix, R-Shell Rock. 'Well, we accepted that challenge and we kicked the door in. Now, the door of opportunity is wide open for Iowans to invest, grow and succeed.'

Minority Democrats saw it differently, however, saying the new GOP majority pursued a 'divisive, partisan agenda' rather than address the real challenges of bolstering wages, education, skills and the social safety net for thousands of Iowans who came to the Capitol in droves to express their concerns.

'Unfortunately, rather than deal with these real problems, the Republican majority made a decision to pursue the fake problems I warned about on opening day — like the fake problem of collective bargaining, the fake problem of Planned Parenthood funding and the fake problem of fake people casting votes,' said Senate Democratic Leader Rob Hogg of Cedar Rapids.

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Legislative score card: What passed and what didn't

Summaries of major legislation

Branstad and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds, his eventual successor when he becomes U.S. ambassador to China, praised the Legislature for a long list of accomplishments but expressed disappointment the session ended again without a long-term solution to Iowa's water-quality problem.

'When you look at the volume and diversity of policy issues that were addressed this year, I am proud to say this has been one of the most significant and productive sessions in our history,' said Branstad, who will have 30 days to act on the budget bills and remaining policy decisions.

Reynolds said that establishing a reliable and dedicated source of funding for water-quality infrastructure 'remains of utmost importance' and something she will push to address in 2018.

While the 2017 session was eventful, Upmeyer signaled that the major conservative agenda that began this year with Republicans in control of the Legislature and governor's office would carry through to next session with tax reform at the top of the to-do list.

She said the just-completed session was about moving bold ideas and breaking the status quo.

'This is just the start of a conversation, however. Our tax system is overbearing, overcomplicated, and uncompetitive. Our top personal income tax rate is the fourth highest in the country. Our corporate income tax rate is the highest in the nation,' she said. 'Iowans deserve a better deal.'

Republicans used a 59-41 edge in the House and a 29-20-1 majority in the Senate to enact sweeping changes to gun laws, workplace rules and abortion restrictions at the top of a list conservative accomplishments.

'I mean you look at the things that we have done in one session,' said Sen. Jake Chapman, R-Adel. 'I can imagine there are states looking at us jealous that we were able to accomplish as much as we did in one session.'

Much of the session's final hours were spent in closed-door meetings where House and Senate negotiators tried to break an impasse over competing water quality plans and resolving differences in how best to provide broader access to medical cannabis to more people facing painful medical conditions.

MEDICAL CANNABIS

By working across the aisle and with senators, Rep. Jarad Klein, R-Keota, said, lawmakers were able to reach a last-minute deal on a bill 'that provides more relief to suffering Iowans' by expanding access to medical cannabis. House File 524 could provide relief for more than 12,000 Iowans by allowing them access to medical cannabis with a THC level of no more than 3 percent — the same as Iowa's 3-year-old cannabidiol oil law that would have expired this year.

'We've got a good bill here in front of us,' Klein told reporters. 'We're talking about growing, we're talking about manufacturing, were talking about distribution in the state. I think we have a very significant step.'

Not as significant as the Senate sponsor had hoped for, 'but it contains some provision which are probably OK,' said Sen. Tom Greene, R-Burlington.

It covers fewer diseases and conditions than legislation that passed the Senate 45-5, Greene said, but it gets the process started.

Des Moines Democratic Rep. John Forbes agreed HF 524 is a start, but several Senate Democrats expressed concern the House's approach would offer false hope in dealing with a problem they wanted to attack on a more expansive basis.

'We came up with a bill that would get through the chamber this year,' Forbes said. 'Hopefully, next year we'll be able to revisit and make some modifications if necessary.'

HF 524 — which passed the House 83-11 and the Senate 33-7 — would expand the disease list for Iowans who wish to have access to cannabidiol. Debilitating conditions that will be covered from the outset are cancer, multiple sclerosis, seizures, AIDS and HIV, Crohn's disease, ALS and any terminal illness that gives a person a life expectancy of one year or less.

It also creates an advisory board to review medical evidence and studies to determine what conditions should be added to the list of debilitating conditions. It also would recommend to the Board of Medicine additional diseases that should be covered.

'We've worked on this for quite a while,' said Rep. Bob Kressig, D-Cedar Falls. 'We've always wanted to have a comprehensive system that would allow that the plant would be grown here, be processed here and have distributed here and Iowans could get access to it here in Iowa. This bill is going to be able to do that.'

WATER QUALITY

The news on water quality improvement was not as good because 'it's complicated,' according to Senate Natural Resources and Environment Committee Chairman Ken Rozenboom, R-Oskaloosa.

'There are a lot of different sides to it. It involves a lot of money,' he said Saturday about House File 612 that the House and Senate punted back and forth before leaders removed it from their must-do list.

'There's a big desire to do something,' said Rep. Chip Baltimore, R-Boone. 'I think the vote we took last night, which was all but one Republican and almost of the Democrats — a 79-19 vote — should send a signal to leadership and the governor and the to the secretary of agriculture and to the public that the House of Representatives, as a body, wants to do something advanced in terms of water quality.'

The Senate plan would appropriate $744 million for specific purposes including agriculture infrastructure program, demonstration projects and research.

The House plan called for $513 million, but included provisions to allow the Iowa Finance Authority sell bonds to finance more.

The key to the House plan, Baltimore said, was that it would encourage cities, rural landowners, soil and water conservation districts, industries and others to collaborate.

Collaboration is good, Rozenboom said, 'but bringing more partners to the table creates more complexity. That's where some people tend to get nervous that we're going to lose track of what's going on.'

It wasn't just competing plans that sunk water quality, Rozenboom and Baltimore said.

Pressure from Branstad, Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey and others complicated negotiations.

'I think it's pretty obvious the governor wants it pretty badly,' Rozenboom said, but warned that lawmakers shouldn't 'let his legacy determine Iowa's future. This is a about water quality. This isn't about the governor.'

One point of agreement for Rozenboom and Baltimore was that the failure to reach agreement this year is not the end of the discussion.

'We made a lot of progress and we're going to continue with the effort over the interim and continue that on into the next year,' Baltimore said.

BUDGET PLAN

Before adjourning for the year, legislators passed the standings bill that includes a 1.1 percent increase for K-12 schools next year as the final piece of the general fund budget for the 2018 fiscal year that begins July 1. The House passed Senate File 516, 55-39, and the Senate approved the bill by a 27-13 margin.

When the dust had settled on a contentious and difficult budget year, officials in the nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency estimated the state will end the current fiscal year on June 30 with a $1.6 million ending balance in the general fund and $606.9 million in its cash reserve, after borrowing $131 million from it to cover a projected shortfall due to eroding growth in state tax collections.

For fiscal 2018, lawmakers appropriated $7.269 billion from the general fund — an increase of $9 million over this year's estimated net appropriations and $28.1 million below the state's 99 percent expenditure limitation.

The state's estimated ending balance for fiscal 2018 is $106.9 million, and the reserve funds balances are estimated to total $625.1 million, or $112.0 million below the statutory maximum of 10 percent of the adjusted revenue estimate, according to documents.

l Comments: (515) 243-7220; rod.boshart@thegazette.com