Hartsuch is not content to sit on Senate sideline

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By Todd Dorman | Thursday, February 1, 2007 1:57 PM CST | () comments

DES MOINES — Traditionally, freshman members of the Iowa Senate stay pretty quiet during their first days at the Statehouse — devoting more time to settling in than to sounding off on issues.

That’s what makes Sen. David Hartsuch a non-traditional freshman. The 2007 session is only a few weeks old and already the Bettendorf Republican is making waves in the generally placid, buttoned-down Senate.

Hartsuch, 45, an emergency-room-doctor-turned-senator, has taken an active, aggressive role in the first big floor debates of the year — involving a minimum wage increase and legislation requiring schools to adopt anti-bullying policies expressly protecting gay students.

During Tuesday night’s anti-bullying debate, Hartsuch’s confrontational style rankled majority Democrats and even a few members of his own party.

But Hartsuch insisted Wednesday that he didn’t come to Des Moines to be a Statehouse wallflower.

“When I see something that needs to be said that’s true, I say it,” said Hartsuch, who was elected last fall after defeating longtime Sen. Maggie Tinsman in the Republican primary.

“I’m not a career politician here. I was elected to come and represent our district, and I’m going to do that,” Hartsuch said. “Just because I’m a freshman, I’m not going to compromise that representation that our district demands.”

Hartsuch offered a series of amendments Tuesday night as part of a GOP effort to change a Democratic-backed anti-bullying bill. One of his proposals would have given school officials more power to enforce discipline while also allowing students to be excused from school for up to five hours each week for religious instruction.

While offering that amendment, Hartsuch quizzed fellow freshman Sen. Staci Appel, D-Indianola, about her work as a Sunday school teacher. Democrats objected to what they saw as an overly personal exchange.

“Point of order,” yelled Sen. Bob Dvorsky, D-Coralville, who accused Hartsuch’s line of straying from his amendment’s subject and violating Senate rules.

Hartsuch persisted and was stopped again by Democratic objections.

“You’re supposed to keep things sort of impersonal … He was getting pretty close to the line there,” Dvorsky said Wednesday. “I think he basically just needs to know the rules of the Senate and how you do debates and how you address people.”

Hartsuch didn’t back down Wednesday. He insists Democrats’ anger was really about his insistence that the anti-bullying bill would infringe on the religious freedom of students and private schools that see homosexuality as a sin. The bill requires accredited public and nonpublic schools to create policies protecting gay and lesbian pupils from harassment.

“If you want a bill that’s going to address bullying, then you have to deal with the moral development of children. And I was trying to get to that,” said Hartsuch, a father of three. “What really happened here is the Democrats basically shouted me down and said no, that is irrelevant.

“Clearly, the state has gone over the line on this and is now imposing its morality on its parochial schools in a manner that’s never been done before.”

Tuesday night’s debate prompted a few veteran Republican senators to offer some private, constructive advice to their brash newcomer.

“The ability to be effective has a lot to do with self-control. And that self-control comes with experience,” said Senate Minority Leader Mary Lundby, R-Marion. “And I’m confident that Sen. Hartsuch took advice from other senators to heart and that the longer he’s here, the stingier he will be with debate.”

Hartsuch said he has no plans to be less outspoken, even though he concedes standing in front of a mic on the Senate floor can be intimidating for a freshman.

“When you see idiocy and you face idiocy, you need to confront idiocy,” Hartsuch said. “I did residency in an emergency room in inner-city Detroit. I’m used to a lot of heat.”

Todd Dorman can be reached at (515) 243-0138 or at todd.dorman@lee.net.