Steamrolling workers' rights

Union supporters Tuesday protested proposals by Gov. Terry Branstad and Republicans in the Legislature to limit public employees' collective bargaining rights. An Iowa House subcommittee was discussing the issue that day. Branstad had earlier laid out his own plans to reform the state's labor laws. Among his priorities are eliminating automatic step raises for another year of work and having workers pay more for health insurance. Another recommendation is allowing the governor or Legislature to set aside an arbitrator's ruling, which is made after a union and government employer come to an impasse. He's also using tough talk when it comes to unions, tellling a Lee Enterprises reporter earlier this month that they have "totally" had it their way. "They rolled over the previous governor, and that is going to change," he said. Former Gov. Chet Culver gave him cover for such a statement by essentially declining to negotiate contracts with state employee unions so they could settle before his term ended. Branstad had requested that his admininstration be included  in the negotiations. While Branstad makes a valid point, I think he owes his revived political career to a different steamroller that he's still driving (and that flatten Culver). Essentially, that's the tea party-fueled backlash against government, which is disgusted with business-as-usual and freaked out about spending levels. In that vein, Branstad is challenging union power in at least one other way. He issued an executive order after taking office last month prohibiting state funds from being spent on public works projects that use project labor agreements. The agreements give preference to contractors who spell out workers' pay and benefits. Branstad has threatened Cedar Rapids with the loss of state I-JOBS funds awarded earlier for remodeling its convention complex, which uses a project labor agreement. The Cedar Rapids City Council Tuesday approved contracts for the project despite the threats.

Gun advocates gone wild

Gun owners are asserting their rights in Iowa this year with a spate of legislation that would allow them to own and carry weapons with the least amount of restriction possible. On Jan. 1, a law went into effect that took away county sheriffs' discretion to deny an applicant's permit to carry a concealed gun. Essentially, it creates a uniform standard across the state. It also means law enforcement no longer has a say in what type of gun training is an acceptable prerequisite to receiving a permit. Among the acceptable, apparently, are  online "gun training" courses. The bill was passed by the Legislature last session and signed by former Gov. Chet Culver. For gun rights advocates, that victory seems to have set the tone for the current legislative session. Most prominently, the stand-your-ground bill is going through the Iowa House. Some opponents have dubbed this "House File 007, license to kill." It expands peoples' ability to defend themselves with a gun anywhere they have the legal right to be. Currently, that applies only to a person's home and workplace. Critics have pointed out this changes the expectation that someone should try to descalate a situation --- or just run away --- before turning to deadly force. Practically, what that means is prosecutors have less ability to charge those who shoot someone. Not surprisingly, in at least one state where a similar law has been passed, "justifiable homicides" have risen from a small number to more than 40 each year. The Des Moines Register reports that has been the case in Florida since its law went into effect in 2005. Sounds more lawless than lawful to me. That fact highlights an important point: Gun advocates' legislative push is really more about their rights than anybody's safety.

Branstad the Butcher

Gov.-elect Terry Branstad has made it clear he doesn't like all the extravagant programs Gov. Chet Culver has sunk state money into during his term in office. There's preschool offered free to anybody who wants it, without regard to their financial need. There's the taxpayer expense of bonding to pay for the I-JOBS flood recovery and infrastructure initiative. It'd be better to reduce those high corporate income taxes if you want to attract jobs to Iowa.
But don't go so far as to offer tax credits to bring jobs related to the movie industry to Iowa. After all, that was at the center of a scandal during the Culver administration.
Then there's Culver's questionable decision to quickly approve state employee contracts without allowing the incoming administration any input. Branstad's really mad about that.
So, the new governor is promising to take a meat cleaver to the current budget as soon as he is sworn into office. Waaay too much fat on the bone in an economically troubled time.
Hopefully, any changes Branstad can push through won't have a negative effect on Iowa's economy. After all, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce ranks it the eighth-fastest-growing in the nation. And a 24/7 Wall St. study ranked Iowa the third-best-run state.
Watch for future appearances of Branstad the Butcher in this blog space. I'm sure he'll be back.

Running in Terry's shadow

Ever since Terry Branstad mentioned the possibility of running for governor again, it seemed inevitable that he would get into the race and most of the other Republicans would subsequently drop out. Even in his exploratory phase, the focus seemed to be solely on Chet Culver, not his Republican competitors. After all, he was the only one with any experience as governor --- and has much more than Culver. News that he would consider running caused a lot of excitement and got more attention than any of the candidates who had already been campaigning for a while. To read more about the GOP field of candidates, follow this link to the Sioux City Journal: http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/news/state-and-regional/iowa/article_22e28b2c-cc6e-11de-86c5-001cc4c002e0.html