Reorganization Bill Moves to House Floor

The House State Government Committee on Thursday night approved the government-reorganization bill on a 20-1 vote after making a number of amendments; the bill was then approved by the House Appropriations Committee on a 25-0 vote.

The lone "no" vote came from Representative Christopher Rants (R-Sioux City), who said the amendments the committee made -- estimated to save roughly $4 million more than the Senate version for a total of $75.5 million -- were not enough.

"We're not even halfway there," Rants said. "While I appreciate this is progress, the gap didn't get any smaller. I'm going to vote against the bill. I may be the only one who votes against the bill, but the gap is too big. When the committee turns down the savings that I think are frankly tough to explain to our constituents, like continuing to provide services to adult illegal aliens in the state, I don't know how we can consider our work done."

Earlier in the week Representative Mary Mascher (D-Iowa City) said it was working to cast a wide net on reorganization ideas.

"To be honest with you, some of these are really delicate negotiations," said Mascher, chair of the State Government committee. "And obviously, we are trying to work with all the partners to get there before we roll it out and get opposition. One of the things we find is the more we include people, the more buy-in we get."

A public hearing on state-government reorganization will be held at 10 a.m. Monday in the old Supreme Court chamber of the Capitol, and the bill will likely be debated by the full House on Wednesday or Thursday.

House Minority Leader Kraig Paulsen (R-Hiawatha) said the bill doesn't go far enough to save money. He also questioned why the public hearing was scheduled at a time not convenient for people to attend, and in the Supreme Court chamber instead of the larger House chamber.

The House State Government Committee approved more than a dozen amendments on the bill, but rejected Republicans' proposals for an additional $290 million in savings.

"It seems fairly apparent that the bill is headed toward a conference committee," Paulsen said. "My concern is obviously that the whole plan is to get into conference committee and then hammer out a plan behind closed doors -- much like was done with the budget last year -- and that Republicans just end up being window dressing."

Culver to Sign Early-Retirement Bill

Culver next week will sign into law an early-retirement package for state workers, which he calls a "vital step to reforming state government, finding cost-savings, and moving Iowa forward."

Culver's announcement came quickly after the Iowa Senate gave final legislative approval Thursday to the bill aimed at saving the state $60 million. Senators approved Senate File 2062 on a 41-6 vote.

Gronstal said that once the bill is signed into law, the legislature will then look at expanding early retirement to employees in the legislative branch.

The bill aims at enticing an estimated 2,261 eligible state employees to take early retirement. Participating employees that have worked for the state for at least 10 years would receive $1,000 for each year of employment up to 25 years. They would also receive unused vacation funds and monthly health-care-premium costs over a five-year period beginning this September.

Senator Staci Appel (D-Ackworth) told senators Thursday that the House only made one small change to the bill: The exit date for employees taking early retirement would be June 24, rather than May 28, to give state agencies a little more time to plan for the workers' departure.

Braley Finishes 2009 with Biggest Bankroll

U.S. Representative Bruce Braley (D-Waterloo) finished 2009 with the biggest bankroll of anyone in Iowa's House delegation, with $538,008 cash on hand.

The second biggest bankroll belonged to U.S. Representative Tom Latham (R-Ames), who ended the year with $477,265 in cash after raising $97,625 in the fourth quarter.

Braley also raised the most of any incumbent, with his $172,670 in contributions just outpacing U.S. Representative Leonard Boswell's $169,377.

But the biggest fundraiser for the quarter wasn't an incumbent: Republican Jim Gibbons of Des Moines, one of seven GOP candidates vying for the right to challenge Boswell, raised $207,310 from October 1 through December 31. Gibbons is a former Iowa State University wrestling coach.

But despite Gibbons' successful fourth-quarter fundraising, Boswell had more than twice the amount of cash on hand left at the end of the reporting period -- $462,193 compared with $205,069. No one else in the GOP primary reported more than $55,000 in cash on hand.

Boswell is serving his seventh term in the U.S. House and has often been targeted by Republicans; he's thought to be vulnerable and mentioned as someone who might retire. However, Boswell told IowaPolitics.com that he is definitely seeking re-election this year.

Meanwhile in the Second District, U.S. Representative Dave Loebsack (D-Mount Vernon) raised $94,479 and reported $336,311 in cash.

In that district's Republican primary, Steve Rathje of Cedar Rapids raised nearly three times as much as Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Ottumwa.

Rathje raised $59,130 in the fourth quarter compared to Miller-Meeks' $20,660. Rathje also had more than twice the amount of money left at the end of the fundraising period: $46,242 compared with $20,621. Miller-Meeks was the Second District's Republican nominee in 2008.

This weekly summary comes from IowaPolitics.com, an online government and politics news service. Reporter Andrew Duffelmeyer and other correspondents contributed to this report.

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