Interesting discussion on Iowa Public Radio about what's going on in Des Moines right now.
*The House debated for over 9 hours on a bill that would supposedly allow arbitrators in salary disputes in schools to have more latitude. The bill wasn't going anywhere in the Senate.
*The Senate approved legislation making texting while driving a primary offense. If this moves along, and I have no idea why it won't, cops will be able to pull drivers over on the suspicion they are texting. Brad Zaun was one of only 6 Republicans that voted against it. He said you "Can't legislate common sense". Odd thing to say. Murder isn't common sense, but we make rules stating it's illegal anyway.
*Katie O'Bradovich was on the panel and she said she thinks Chuck Palmer, who is the head of the Dept. of Human Services, will be the sacrificial lamb in the fight over closing the state facilities in Clarinda and Mt. Pleasant. Say one thing about Terry Branstad. He's never been afraid to throw a pal under the bus if it keeps the stink from getting on him. Palmer must be reconfirmed this year, and their are rumblings several Republicans want Palmer gone.
*After scaling back commercial property taxes the financial stress is making school funding very hard. House Republicans refuse to move off of a 1.5 percent increase in funding. Democrats in the Senate have come down from 6 percent to 4 something.
*Don't take it for granted that Branstad will be able to stuff the Board of Regents with stealth candidates. With three open seats on the board he's intent on politicizing it.
*No funds have been approved for outdoor recreation and water quality improvements even though the voters approved this several years ago. It was tied to an unspecified future increase in the state sales tax. One of the panelists noted that like the gas tax several years ago, the Iowa Farm Bureau is now pushing quietly for the sales tax to go up, thereby funding more water quality improvement projects.
Kind of an odd session. It's an off year for elections, so you'd think with a split chamber and a governor with so few principles something would get done. But, besides a rapid push through of the increase of the gas tax very little has been accomplished.
Discuss amongst yourselves.
