Dems taking control of Iowa Legislature
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By Charlotte Eby | Thursday, November 09, 2006 |
DES MOINES — A day after Democrats took the majority in both chambers of the Iowa Legislature for the first time in 14 years, party leaders agreed they would move to raise Iowa’s minimum wage as one of their first tasks.
“There’s no question that Democrats worry about working-class people,” Democratic House Leader Pat Murphy of Dubuque said.
The latest tally taken Wednesday showed Democrats with a 54-45 majority in the House and a 30-20 edge in the state Senate.
Murphy and Senate Democratic Leader Mike Gronstal of Council Bluffs pledged to reach across the aisle to Republicans when lawmakers convene in January.
“I think one thing that became very clear from this last election was that people want some of the partisan bickering to stop,” Murphy said.
Gronstal said the Senate has managed to accomplish a number of things the past two years when the chamber was split evenly between the parties.
“We’re going to look for those opportunities when we can work together and do good things for Iowa,” he said.
While Senate Democrats have had practice sharing the majority over the past two years, House Democrats will have a bit of a learning curve.
Just five Democrats in the House have been there long enough to have served in the majority when Democrats last held control in 1992. That means present minority members will step up to serve as committee chairs and run the agenda and day-to-day tasks for which the majority party is responsible.
They also will have lobbyists and interest groups knocking on their door. The Iowa chapter of the American Cancer Society already was urging lawmakers to allow local control of smoking restrictions and to raise Iowa’s cigarette tax by $1.
Those measures were blocked by GOP legislative leaders in the past.
“That change in control makes us very, very optimistic and energetic for the upcoming session,” said Sandra Quilty, a lobbyist for the group.
Gronstal was not making any promises Wednesday, although he acknowledged the idea has many backers.
Office space also will shift as the new Democratic leaders take over offices directly behind the House chamber now occupied by Republican Speaker Christopher Rants, R-Sioux City, and his staff.
House Democrats will meet for the first time since the election Nov. 16 and Senate Democrats will convene Sunday.
The loss of the majority control represented a stinging defeat for Rants, who took over as the top House leader in 2002.
Rants was re-elected to his seat Tuesday but did not know whether fellow GOP House members would keep him in a leadership role after they lost the majority.
“We’ll see what my members decide next week. I thought we had put a good plan into place to weather the storm,” he said.
Charlotte Eby can be contacted at (515) 243-0138 or chareby@aol.com.
Democratic control in the Iowa Statehouse
What likely will happen
* Increased minimum wage — Democratic legislative leaders say one of their first priorities will be to raise Iowa’s minimum wage, a plan Gov.-elect Chet Culver supports.
* Renewable fuels investment — Democratic lawmakers have pledged to increase renewable energy sources. It is not known whether House Democrats would support Culver’s $100 million Iowa Power Fund to invest in renewable energy.
* Raising teacher salaries — Democrats in both chambers support a proposal to raise those wages to the national average.
What might happen
* Cigarette tax increase — House Democrats do not appear to have a unified position on the issue.
* Local smoking bans — Lawmakers might look at the issue, but it is not on their priority list.
* Property tax reform — Democrats want to revise commercial property tax rates to make them fairer.
What won’t happen
* Local control of hog lots — Legislative leaders of both parties say it is unlikely the Legislature will vote to hand over control of animal confinements to local governments. Culver has said he supports local control.
Key contests
A glance at key Iowa legislative contests:
* In House District 18, Democrat Andrew Wenthe of Hawkeye knocked off Rep. David Lalk, R-Westgate.
* House Speaker Pro-tem Danny Carroll, a Republican from Grinnell, was ousted by Oskaloosa Democrat Eric Palmer in District 75.
* Rep. Don Shoultz, a Democrat from Waterloo and a veteran House member, was defeated by Republican Tami Wiencek, a former television news anchor in District 21. Shoultz has served 24 years in the Legislature.
* Rep. Jim Van Fossen, R-Davenport, lost in an upset to Democrat Elesha Gayman of Davenport in House District 84.
* Waterloo Democrat Doris Kelley defeated Cedar Falls City Council member David Wieland, a Republican, to fill the seat in District 20 being vacated by Rep. Willard Jenkins, R-Waterloo.
* Bill Heckroth, a Democrat from Waverly, defeated Parkersburg Republican Tom Hoogestraat in Senate District 9. The seat is being vacated by Sen. Bob Brunkhorst, R-Waverly.
* Story City Democrat Rich Olive narrowly defeated Rep. Jim Kurtenbach of Nevada in Senate District 5. Republican Stewart Iverson of Clarion is vacating the seat.
* Republican Larry Noble of Ankeny defeated Democrat Merle Johnson of Ankeny for an open seat in Senate District 35.
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