In the end, governing emerged

By The Gazette Editorial Board

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Three remarkable bipartisan compromises on three huge issues add up to a landmark session for the Iowa Legislature.

Of course, we don't like every provision packed into complex deals on property tax relief, education reform and health care expansion. But we do like the fact that lawmakers of both parties came together in the end, worked out their differences and were willing to trade the comfort of partisan gridlock for the risk of difficult compromise.

Iowans elected a divided government. And despite all the friction that causes, all the stubborn disagreements that pushed the session well into overtime, this is how it's supposed to work.

Like lawmakers, we see items within these compromises worthy of praise and some that raise concerns.

We applaud lawmakers for providing some property tax relief to businesses, both in the form of credits and by rolling back the taxable valuation on commercial properties to 90 percent over two years. But we're also concerned about the potential loss of revenues to local governments and the state's ability to keep its promise to lessen those losses.

We've long supported an overdue increase in the Earned Income Tax Credit for low-income Iowans, but we see little justification for the $60 individual income tax credits tacked on to the measure.

Lawmakers provided much-needed funding increases for Iowa schools, and we're hopeful that reforms aimed at raising pay and creating new professional development opportunities for teachers will improve the teaching profession. We'll be watching carefully as stakeholders develop a new teacher evaluation process.

We're still not convinced that these education measures will be truly transformational, but we are heartened by a 10-school pilot program to test competency-based educational methods. That could be an important first step in future transformation.

Perhaps the most remarkable of the three compromises is the one on health care. Hopes for a compromise between Gov. Terry Branstad, who opposed Medicaid expansion, and Democrats who favored it seemed dim. Now, the state will seek to use federal dollars to fund a hybrid Iowa program covering 150,000 low-income residents.

So, here in Iowa, governing prevailed over dysfunction. Our leaders in Washington D.C. should take note.

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