By Jason Hancock

When Iowa Democrats took over the legislature and retained the governor’s office in 2005, it marked the first time in 42 years the party was in complete control of state government.

What followed was a harmonious first session where nearly everything on the new governor’s campaign agenda was embraced by the legislature. The tobacco tax and teacher salaries were increased, the Iowa Power Fund was created, the ban on stem cell research was lifted and the minimum wage got a bump. Gov. Chet Culver and Democratic legislative leaders entered their second session together with high hopes of continuing progress and fulfilling the promises they made.

As it turned out, the honeymoon was nearly over.

Culver’s planned expansion of the bottle bill, something he felt strongly enough about to highlight in his Condition of the State address, received a lukewarm greeting at best from legislators. Then, a labor-backed expansion of collective bargaining rights for public workers caused another split after leading Democrats pushed ahead with approval of the bill despite a last-minute appeal from Culver that they allow more discussion. The governor then threatened to veto the measure. The bill has since been sent to Culver, who has not said specifically what he plans to do.

“Unfortunately it has become clear that it is not possible to amend or revise this bill in a way that reflects a genuine consensus,” Culver said in a statement. “As such, I have reached the conclusion that the current bill must be signed or vetoed as it stands today in its present form.”

Some blame the fact that 2008 is an election year for the tension, as most of the legislature is up for reelection while Culver doesn’t run again until 2010. Others say it is a power struggle between legislative leaders and the executive branch. Culver, in an interview with Cityview, said there is always going to be tension between the governor and the legislature, and that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

“That’s how our government was set up by our founders,” Culver said. “Our job is to work together and hope that in the end both sides can do what is right for the people of Iowa. I think that tension makes us work towards a consensus, which is a good thing.”

While there were disagreements, Culver said he and the legislature had a good working relationship this session and were able to accomplish a lot. He pointed to the statewide smoking ban, the expansion of children’s health care, an increase in road funding and more money for the Iowa Power Fund as just a few examples of this year’s victories.

“We came into this session with a very broad agenda,” Culver said. “And we’ve had some major successes. There have been disagreements, but what truly matters is when the legislature adjourns, what can you say you’ve done? We’ve made significant steps forward.”

The statewide smoking ban was one of the more high profile, and controversial, pieces of legislation passed in recent memory. It also marked one area where Democrats seemed to be in agreement, despite past statements Culver has made in advocacy of giving local municipalities the power to ban smoking, as opposed to banning it statewide. House File 2212 bans smoking in most public places of employment, including bars and restaurants, starting July 1.

“I was proud to sign that into law,” Culver said. “There were compelling arguments against the ban, but it will save lives, plain and simple.”

Legislative leaders have long denied that any unusual tension exists with the governor. Sen. Majority Leader Mike Gronstal (D-Council Bluffs) has repeatedly declared his loyalty to Culver throughout the session.

“I have the utmost respect for the governor,” Gronstal said earlier in the session to a group of reporters. “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, he could break Terry Branstad’s record of 16 years in the governor’s office and I look forward to working with him for the next 20 years.”

Observers, however, say the disagreements are a sign of a power struggle in the Democratic Party between legislative leaders and the governor.

“There are serious divisions in the Democratic Party,” said House Minority Leader Christopher Rants (R-Sioux City). “This is a clear test of roles between the governor and Gronstal. That is something that will continue to play out.”

Many say the rift between the two dates back to Culver’s 2006 run for governor. That year, Gronstal and a large group of Democratic lawmakers backed former congressman Mike Blouin instead of Culver in the primary.

“There will always be differences in philosophy or personality,” Culver said. “But I have a great deal of respect for the legislature and the difficult job that they do. We’ve built a good relationship and work together very well.”

At a press conference, Gronstal, Senate President Jack Kibbie, Speaker of the House Pat Murphy and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy called this an historic session that proved that the voters were right when they called for change in 2006.

“I’m proud of the fact that on a host of issues this session, it was Democrats and Republicans working together in a broadly bipartisan way,” Gronstal said. “We had real success working together to accomplish not the Democrats agenda, not the Republicans agenda, but the people’s agenda.”

Gronstal said that the more than $600 million in our savings account is the most ever in the history of the state, all the while still maintaining the commitments the Democrats made last year.

Nathaniel Baer, energy program director with the Iowa Environmental Council, said this session was marked with legislation that went in the right direction but was not as ambitious as it could have been.

“The governor clearly made renewable energy, conservation and energy efficiency a priority,” he said. “But the legislature didn’t follow through.”

Baer said the governor led the way on environmental issues and hopes voters will send a message this fall, when the entire House of Representatives and half of the Senate is up for reelection, that they want action.

“By next session we’ll have a lot more information and will have done a lot more work, and that should open a lot of legislators’ eyes to what we need to do,” Baer said. “This is policy that is not only good for the environment, but also could create a strong clean energy economy in Iowa.”

Rants, not surprisingly, did not share the high opinion of Culver’s leadership skills this session.

“The governor has failed to lead,” he said. “Not only has he pushed for the wrong priorities, but he’s been absent. He’s busy campaigning for (presidential hopeful) Barack Obama while we’re debating school standards and he’s in Florida on vacation while we’re debating collective bargaining.”

An Associated Press study found that Culver was out of state for all or part of 34 days, or nearly one-third, of the legislative session. Those include three campaign trips for Obama, but also include meetings of the National Governors Association and the Democratic Governors Association, as well as a trip to Kosovo to meet with Iowa troops.

Democratic legislators said the governor was always accessible during his time out of state, but Rants said he has had difficulty getting to speak with Culver.

“I’ve spoken with him twice all year,” he said. “He’s been absent this session.”

That absence has contributed to the session being a complete failure, Rants said. School standards weren’t raised, rising property taxes weren’t addressed and spending skyrocketed, Rants said.

“The only ones who got a tax break this year were Bill Gates and Microsoft,” he said. “This session was about backwards priorities.”

Rants said the division in the Democrats would give Republicans an opportunity this fall to gain seats in the legislature.

“This upcoming election will be very important,” Rants said. “This session was an absolute failure. I think the Democrats overplayed their hand. The voters definitely voted for change in 2005, but I don’t think they wanted this.”

However, most observers say Republicans stand to lose more seats in the legislature, as 15 incumbents — many of them political moderates —have chosen not to seek re-election, compared to only five Democrats.

Last month, a Survey USA poll showed Culver with an approval rating of 43 percent and a disapproval rating of 50 percent, worse than the 48-approval and 49-disapproval of an earlier poll. The margin of error was plus or minus four points. Even a third of Democrats disapproved, according to the poll. Previous polls regularly had him with an approval rating in the mid-50s.

Another critic of the governor’s performance was Marvin Pomerantz, a past president of the Iowa Board of Regents and former co-chair of the Institute for Tomorrow’s Workforce. Pomerantz, along with attorney Doug Gross and three Iowa families, filed a lawsuit against Culver and Judy Jeffrey, director of the Iowa Department of Education, alleging state officials have allowed the quality of education in Iowa to slip. Pomerantz declined comment for this story.

Culver said one of the biggest things he’s learned since taking office is that you have to work towards finding common ground with political opponents, as that is the job Iowans sent their elected officials to the statehouse to do.

“You have to be flexible and try to find a consensus,” he said. “I’ve focused on building good relationships with legislators and learned that it’s important to work with everyone, listen to differing opinions and be open to change.”

He’s proud of what was accomplished this session, Culver said, and feels Democrats have built on the foundation they laid last year.

“We have a great record to run on this fall,” he said. “The party will absolutely be unified, and I’ll do everything I can to increase our margins in the House and Senate. I’m looking forward to hitting the campaign trail.

“There is no silver bullet, no easy solutions to any challenge,” Culver continued. “Legislating is hard. We just work at trying to do the right thing.” CV

Highlights of the session

• Statewide ban on smoking (effective July 1)
• Statewide 1 cent sales tax, replacing the local option tax, for school infrastructure repairs
• Expansion of bargaining rights for public employee unions
• Expansion of health care to cover more children
• $18 million for the Resource Enhancement and Protection program
• Increase in vehicle registration fees to fund road and bridge improvement projects
• An initial commitment to spend up to $300 million on prison construction and renovation

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