Legislative Session Nothing to Boast About
by John Drury
Iowa Senate Democratic leader and potential gubernatorial candidate Mike Gronstal was in Mason City the other day. He apparently is on a tour of the state looking for press and support of his possible run for the governor’s office.
He is calling the recent legislative session “historic”, pointing out that the divided senate forced both parties to listen to the other side. He boasted about some of the accomplishments of the session such as more money for schools and the legislation to reduce the number of meth labs in the state.
First off, it’s a sad day in Iowa when simply listening to the other party is considered historic. And if you talk to school boards and superintendents, they will tell you that giving them 4% allowable growth after years of under-funding doesn’t come close to enough money to properly fund public education. And if your school’s enrollment is on the decline as a lot of them are, there is no new money. The meth lab legislation is something I would have voted for but since 85% of the meth problem comes from out of state, I would realize that we probably haven’t even scratched the surface of the problem.
What he can’t boast about is how the state legislature has failed to address the “brain drain” problem. Sure, the senate Republicans got a lot of press when they announced their no tax under 30 plan; but after being mocked in the Op-Ed page of the New York Times they more or less admitted it was nothing more than a gimmick and dropped the idea.
What he can’t boast about is how the state has failed to help thousands of working Iowans by raising the minimum wage. We even heard the senate Republican leader say that he didn’t see that it was an issue because he doesn’t know anyone working for minimum wage, almost at the same time one legislator called the state’s workers “bottom feeders.” Not only did we not raise it, we sat idly by while Minnesota did the responsible thing and raised it by a dollar to $6.15. Quite frankly, it’s almost embarrassing to sit here and argue for a $6.15 minimum wage. Even that falls piteously shy of a living wage.
What he can’t boast about is that according to a recent Des Moines Register article, the state has dropped to 49th in the nation when it comes to public land for recreation. And even though recreation is essential to keeping residents in the state and attracting tourists, just 2 percent of Iowa is public recreation land. According to the article, years ago state lawmakers set a goal to have ten percent of Iowa in publicly controlled lands. I think we have a ways to go. Only the state of Kansas has less land for public recreation than we do. On a lighter note, we may now have a new state slogan ... “Thank God for Kansas!”
What he can’t boast about is how the legislature failed to listen to the concerns of organic growers in the state before they passed the infamous seed de-regulation bill. The legislature enacted pre-emptive legislation that prevents local governments from regulating the types of seeds grown in their communities or counties. Essentially, they are now regulating de-regulation. So in retrospect, I guess that is kind of “historic.”
What he can’t boast about is that even though we are in a difficult budget crisis, we somehow found money for a pay increase for state legislators.
What he can’t boast about is how the state has failed to make it easier for Iowans to get affordable prescription drugs from Canada. Currently, there are only four U.S. states that openly encourage their citizens to buy prescription drugs from Canada: Kansas, Illinois, Missouri, and Wisconsin. Maybe the senate Republican leader doesn’t know anyone that can’t afford to buy their prescription drugs.
If this session was truly historic, then let’s hope history doesn’t repeat itself.
