Paulsen rejects suggestion he resigned over gas tax increase

CEDAR RAPIDS - Iowa House Speaker Kraig Paulsen has rejected a former congressman's assertion that Paulsen decided to step down as speaker because of the backlash to his handling of a fuel tax increase earlier this year.

Former 3rd District U.S. Rep. Leonard Boswell, now chairman of the Iowa Transportation Commission, told fellow commissioners Monday that his 'suspicion” is that Paulsen is stepping down because of the pushback he received from the decision to raise the state motor fuel tax a dime.

At the commission meeting, Boswell said Paulsen, R-Hiawatha, looked 'very, very stressed” when Boswell met with the speaker right after the increase was approved by the House and Senate. Bos­well, a Democrat and former president of the Iowa Senate, added that Paulsen was continuing to get backlash from the decision and the way he engineered it.

'I have a suspicion as to why he is going to resign as speaker,” Bos­well said, referring to the gas tax. 'He took a lot of heat over this.”

Paulsen had to move a lot of people around to get this increase passed, Boswell said.

Paulsen replaced one member of the Ways and Means Committee and named himself to the committee for a day to provide the votes needed to win committee approval.

However, Paulsen on Wednesday said Bos­well's speculation was off the mark.

'Leonard and I have never talked about me stepping down and, no, that is not the reason” for stepping down, Paulsen said. 'Do you seriously think I would leave over one issue?”

As he did when he announced his decision Aug. 5, Paulsen said 'now is the right time for me to step aside as leader.”

'My turn's over,” he said Wednesday. 'I'm good with that. Actually, I'm excited about it.”

The House GOP caucus is scheduled to meet next Thursday to elect a new speaker. Majority Leader Linda Upmeyer of Clear Lake and Rep. Josh Byrnes of Osage are seeking the position.

Paulsen will ask the new speaker and majority for committee assignments, but declined to say which committees.

Paulsen, 50, was first elected to the Iowa Legislature in 2002. He spent seven years as the leader of the GOP caucus as minority leader from 2008 to 2010 and speaker from 2011 to the present.

Gazette reporter B.A. Morelli contributed to this report.