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Thanks to Gov. Veto

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By Times staff | Friday, May 23, 2008 |

Iowa Gov. Chet Culver did two huge favors for Democratic colleagues who may be cursing him today

Veto No. 1

Culver vetoed an expansion of public employees’ collective bargaining, a measure that had deep support among Democrats and public unions, but few others. The support was so deep, the bill was scarcely debated. It whooshed through the Democrat-controlled House and Senate before taxpayers knew what was happening.

That, as much as the substance of the bill, drew howls from Republicans and from school district and municipal elected leaders. The bill would have allowed public employee unions to bring lots of new issues into collective bargaining.

Despite impassioned pleas in support of the bill, neither union leaders nor legislative supporters could name a single Quad-City problem that might be fixed by it. We asked.

We heard about concepts of fairness and laments about the age of existing collective bargaining law. But no one could articulate a single working condition that could only be remedied by this extensive bill.

Which is why Culver vetoed it.

“It is vaguely written with the potential for far-reaching, unintended consequences that could obligate the citizens of Iowa to substantial new public expenditures.”

Had it become law, every Democrat would rightly face the wrath of confused voters, who like us, still do not know what actual problem this was intended to fix.

If public employee unions have unresolvable problems, let them be aired by the public and the legislature long before this bill hits the Capitol again.

Veto No. 2

We join many Iowans saying thanks again to Culver for vetoing pay raises for himself, other state executives and judges. Again, his Democratic colleagues should say thanks as well.

They had approved a package with 23.5 percent raises for the auditor, agriculture secretary and other elected leaders. This measure, also rushed through, was defended by Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal for raising executive wages that had been exceeded by some of those executives’ chief deputies.

The salary imbalance needs to be addressed more thoughtfully, without knee-jerk, windfall raises for elected officials.

Culver’s summarized his veto of the pay raises this way: “I believe it is wrong to say to the people of Iowa that you have to tighten your belts, but elected officials don’t.”

We believe that, too.