2008 Woodie Awards
Iowa lawmakers at odds
Shawn Gude - The Daily Iowan
Issue date: 3/24/08 Section: Metro
Students may have been relaxing over spring break, but it was a busy week for Iowa lawmakers looking to pass new legislation.
A collective-bargaining bill for public employees, HF 2645, was at the center of much of the legislative controversy.
When the bill passed 52-47 in the House on party lines on March 19, Senate Republicans locked themselves in a room, looking to halt further action on the measure.
The proposed law would expand the power of unions at the bargaining table and increase the number of subjects the two sides are able to discuss in negotiations. Class sizes for teachers, preparation time, and work uniforms, for example, would all be fair game for discussion if the bill passes and is signed by Gov. Chet Culver.
Opponents claim labor authority during collective bargaining would increase too much, though, and some said passage of the bill could result in a tax increase.
But Sen. Joe Bolkcom, D-Iowa City, called the bill a "modest" set of changes. The reason GOP lawmakers don't favor the bill, he asserted, is because of ideological objections to unions.
"[Republicans are] simply opposed to labor unions - private or public," he said.
The Senate Labor and Business Relations Committee approved the bill by an 8-3 vote March 21, and Democrats and Republicans compromised in order to bring the bill to the floor today. Senators are expected to debate the measure beginning at noon today, with the vote around 6 p.m., Bolkcom said.
Democrats have a 10-seat advantage in the Senate, which bodes well for the bill's advocates.
There was little action on the controversial Smokefree Air Act last week. The Senate version of the bill would ban smoking in virtually all public places, including bars and restaurants; the House version is a little less strict, with exemptions for bars and restaurants that allow smoking strictly when only individuals 21 or older are permitted.
After the Senate refused to concur with the House on March 13 and the House insisted on its exemptions, the bill went to conference last week. The 10-member conference - five from each chamber - includes Bolkcom.
The Iowa City Democrat said there's a good chance the two sides will be able to find common ground and pass a new version of the bill. An exemption for smoking on the gambling floor or allowing it in a certain percentage of a casino are two possible compromises, he said.
But keeping the House's exemption for bars or restaurants would most likely kill the bill, Bolkcom said.
Finally, Sen. Dick Dearden, D-Des Moines, further amended a bill that would require businesses to notify employees of an upcoming plant closing or layoff. The amendment would cut the time period employers must notify workers from 60 to 30 days - a move Iowa Association of Business and Industry lobbyist John Gilliland suggested early this month when The Daily Iowan spoke with him.
"We want to give as much warning as possible when the situations occur but not be so punitive on small employers," he said at the time.
E-mail DI reporter Shawn Gude at:
shawn-gude@uiowa.edu
A collective-bargaining bill for public employees, HF 2645, was at the center of much of the legislative controversy.
When the bill passed 52-47 in the House on party lines on March 19, Senate Republicans locked themselves in a room, looking to halt further action on the measure.
The proposed law would expand the power of unions at the bargaining table and increase the number of subjects the two sides are able to discuss in negotiations. Class sizes for teachers, preparation time, and work uniforms, for example, would all be fair game for discussion if the bill passes and is signed by Gov. Chet Culver.
Opponents claim labor authority during collective bargaining would increase too much, though, and some said passage of the bill could result in a tax increase.
But Sen. Joe Bolkcom, D-Iowa City, called the bill a "modest" set of changes. The reason GOP lawmakers don't favor the bill, he asserted, is because of ideological objections to unions.
"[Republicans are] simply opposed to labor unions - private or public," he said.
The Senate Labor and Business Relations Committee approved the bill by an 8-3 vote March 21, and Democrats and Republicans compromised in order to bring the bill to the floor today. Senators are expected to debate the measure beginning at noon today, with the vote around 6 p.m., Bolkcom said.
Democrats have a 10-seat advantage in the Senate, which bodes well for the bill's advocates.
There was little action on the controversial Smokefree Air Act last week. The Senate version of the bill would ban smoking in virtually all public places, including bars and restaurants; the House version is a little less strict, with exemptions for bars and restaurants that allow smoking strictly when only individuals 21 or older are permitted.
After the Senate refused to concur with the House on March 13 and the House insisted on its exemptions, the bill went to conference last week. The 10-member conference - five from each chamber - includes Bolkcom.
The Iowa City Democrat said there's a good chance the two sides will be able to find common ground and pass a new version of the bill. An exemption for smoking on the gambling floor or allowing it in a certain percentage of a casino are two possible compromises, he said.
But keeping the House's exemption for bars or restaurants would most likely kill the bill, Bolkcom said.
Finally, Sen. Dick Dearden, D-Des Moines, further amended a bill that would require businesses to notify employees of an upcoming plant closing or layoff. The amendment would cut the time period employers must notify workers from 60 to 30 days - a move Iowa Association of Business and Industry lobbyist John Gilliland suggested early this month when The Daily Iowan spoke with him.
"We want to give as much warning as possible when the situations occur but not be so punitive on small employers," he said at the time.
E-mail DI reporter Shawn Gude at:
shawn-gude@uiowa.edu
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