Iowa is likely to retain its first-in-the-nation presidential caucuses in 2012, Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller -- a member of the Democratic Change Commission -- announced following the December 30 report of the commission.
The 2012 Iowa caucuses will be held in early February 2012, along with caucuses or primaries of Nevada, New Hampshire, and South Carolina, Miller said at a Statehouse news conference.
"There was no, in my view, no serious challenge to Iowa being first on the commission's deliberation," Miller said. "The one time it was even sort of gently suggested -- can we do something about the order of the first states -- one of the leaders of the commissions spoke up very quickly and said, 'No, that's not part of the charge of the commission.'"
Miller credited Iowa's staying first with how the members of the commission were chosen. Commission members were backers of President Barack Obama, who won the 2008 Iowa caucuses. "Because of the president, Iowa was in a very good situation in this commission," Miller said. "He had a great result here. He loves Iowa and he's never going to forget us."
The commission recommended that the "window" for all other states should open the first Tuesday in March, and encouraged states to cluster their primaries or caucuses by region or sub-region, and to stagger clusters throughout the primary/caucus season. Miller said there's been increased discussion between the Democratic and Republican parties to coordinate and hold the caucuses and primaries on the same day.
Absentee voting in the presidential caucuses would be left as an option to each state under the commission's recommendations, but Miller said he opposes making that option available.
"Many of us in Iowa feel, somewhat reluctantly, but feel very clearly, that they shouldn't" make absentee voting available, Miller said. "The reason for that is if absentee voting was allowed, you would change the whole dynamic of the caucus."
The resolution by the commission said absentee voting is something that each state can consider and experiment with.
The Democratic Change Commission's recommendations must still go before the rules committee of the Democratic National Committee, and then before the full committee.
Iowa Economy Continues to Give Off Mixed Signals
The latest reports showed mixed signals on Iowa's economy.
The value of the Iowa Leading Indicators Index increased 0.4 percent in November, the second monthly increase after 18 months of declines, according to a report by the Iowa Department of Revenue.
Another hopeful sign came when state tax collections in December finished in the black for only the second time in 2009. Net state tax receipts were up 12.2 percent, although some of that $47 million in growth for December was due to last year's delays in processing estimate payments and large corporate refunds.
But for the first time since August, Iowa's Business Conditions Index slipped below growth-neutral in December, according to a Creighton University survey.
"Over the past decade, Iowa lost almost 45,000, or 18 percent, of its manufacturing employment," said Creighton University Economics Professor Ernie Goss. "Most losses were due to productivity growth of almost 50 percent over the decade. While I expect Iowa to grow overall jobs by 0.2 percent in the first half of 2010, manufacturing job growth will be nil as producers continue to grow output via productivity gains."
Iowa's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate also edged up slightly to 6.7 percent in November from a revised October rate of 6.6 percent. Elisabeth Buck, director of Iowa Workforce Development, said "it will take some time before Iowa can achieve a healthy and sustainable recovery."
Officials Kick Off Census Campaign
The 2010 U.S. Census campaign kicked off in Iowa with officials emphasizing the importance of participating in the 10-question, 10-minute survey that each household will receive on March 15.
"It's all attached to funding," Des Moines Mayor Frank Cownie said. "We need an accurate count in the city of Des Moines. We want all citizens counted."
Cownie said more than 100 federally funded programs rely on the census count in determining funding . That includes agricultural and education programs, Head Start, social services, state children's health insurance, temporary assistance for needy families, and programs for the aging.
The U.S. Census Bureau estimated on December 23 that Iowa's population was 3,007,856 on July 1, up from 2,993,987 the year before; a census official said during a press conference in Des Moines that the official 2010 number is expected to be pretty close to that estimate.
Rich Gerdes, assistant regional census manager, said Iowa and Minnesota have the highest return rates in the nation for mail-back census questionnaires. While there is a fine for those who don't return the census form, Gerdes said the U.S. Department of Justice has never enforced that penalty.
Gerdes emphasized that information submitted to the census is confidential, and undocumented immigrants do not have to fear deportation by participating.
"It is safe that they do respond," Gerdes said. "The data that we do have is only used in aggregate form as far as statistics at the local level; we never release any information on a particular person."
About 5,000 people will be hired statewide. Jobs will pay between $9 and $15.25 an hour. Iowans can go to Hy-Vee grocery stores to fill out a questionnaire if they didn't get one. Workers will also go door-to-door to get surveys from those who don't complete them.
Jonathan Narcisse, a potential candidate for governor who publishes newspapers for Latinos and African-Americans, criticized the lack of outreach he said the census has had with minorities, saying it's been "oppressive." He said only six out of every 10 African-Americans were counted last time.
Culver Plans to Release Budget in Late January
Governor Chet Culver will not submit his Fiscal Year 2011 budget until the end of January, despite the shortened 80-day legislative session, spokesperson Troy Price said.
"The fact is that it is a difficult budget year," Price said. "The governor is going to take the time that he has."
Culver's Condition of the State address before a joint session of the legislature is expected to focus on the budget, but isn't expected to include any numbers.
The most recent public hearing on the budget was sparsely attended and only lasted for about 15 minutes. One person asked about whether Culver was moving up the date he'd submit his budget; another asked what happened to budget-cutting recommendations made by state-agency directors. Price said those were taken into consideration.
Others continued to criticize how the previous week's budget hearing, which is required by state law, was only publicized with a notice on a bulletin board at the Capitol.
But Price pointed out how the governor's office followed the same procedure as in past years. He said the early, pre-session hearings are usually not well attended.
Two Gubernatorial Candidates Name Campaign Managers
One Republican and one Democrat named campaign managers for their gubernatorial campaigns this week.
Eric Woolson, who has been the spokesperson for Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Vander Plaats of Sioux City, is now the candidate's campaign manager.
Woolson previously managed the Iowa presidential campaign for former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, who won the 2008 Iowa caucuses.
Before that, Woolson was Governor Terry Branstad's communications director and press secretary during his final term in office. He served as Iowa communications director to George W. Bush during the 2000 presidential campaign and was the communications director for Doug Gross' gubernatorial campaign in 2002.
On the Democratic side, Culver named Abby Curran as campaign manager. She replaces Andrew Roos, who quit for personal reasons in early December .
Curran worked as deputy Iowa field director for John Edwards' 2008 caucus campaign and worked in Dubuque in 2003 and 2004 as a field organizer for Dick Gephardt's caucus campaign.
She also managed congressional campaigns in New Jersey and Indiana.
Groups on Both Sides of Marriage Issue Gear Up for Session
As a range of fiscal issues seems likely to dominate the 2010 legislative session, at least two Iowa groups are gearing up for a battle in the social realm.
One Iowa, the state's largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender advocacy group, will hold a kick-off rally for its "Equality: Red Blue Purple" campaign Sunday afternoon at the Des Moines Social Club.
Then on Tuesday, the Let Us Vote Iowa campaign will launch its "Two Days for Marriage" initiative at the state Capitol. That night, One Iowa will host a legislative reception and fundraiser featuring House Speaker Pat Murphy and Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal.
Iowa Family Policy Center spokesperson Bryan English said the "Let Us Vote Iowa" campaign is focused on convincing a short list of legislators to vote to amend the Iowa Constitution to define marriage as only between one man and one woman.
English said Senate President Jack Kibbie (D-Emmetsburg) is one of the key legislators the group will target, although he declined to outline the rest of the list.
"There are some Democrats who are friendly but are not as public about that yet as we would like to see them and for obvious reasons," English said. "They're going to have to stand up and oppose their leadership. So we'll see how that goes."
One Iowa is taking a different tack by labeling the discussion a nonpartisan issue and encouraging legislators to focus on jobs, the economy, and the state budget.
"Our main message is that equality should not be a partisan issue, and we think our legislators have a lot to work on this legislative session, and they shouldn't focus on this one divisive issue," spokespeson Justin Uebelhor said.
One Iowa has announced a coalition of nearly 150,000 Iowans opposed to a constitutional amendment, including former Republican Lieutenant Governor Joy Corning, Des Moines City Council member Christine Hensley, former First Lady Christie Vilsack, and former Lieutenant Governor Sally Pederson.
Jenison said One Iowa has focused on encouraging its supporters to call or send a letter, postcard, or e-mail to their legislators, or write a letter to the editor of their local newspaper. She said more than 15,000 notes have been sent to legislators, sharing personal stories or some pictures.
"From the opposition standpoint, I don't think they have a lot of personal stories that can say that their lives have been adversely affected," Jenison said. "So I think that's one of the most effective tools in our arsenal, really."
This weekly summary comes from IowaPolitics.com, an online government and politics news service. Reporter Andrew Duffelmeyer and other correspondents contributed to this report.
