Essential Estrogen

Gov. Chet Culver said he knows he'll be criticized for deciding to veto pay increases for statewide elected officials and House File 2645, which dealt with public employee collective bargaining, but chalks it up to just doing his job.

"There will be those who criticize my actions. That is to be expected," Culver said at a 4 p.m. press conference today. "That is a part of my job. As Harry Truman said, 'the buck stops here.'"

Culver cited input from "thousands of Iowans who have written, emailed and called me during this constitutionally mandated review period."

"While I have always been a strong supporter of workers rights and collective bargaining, a close examination of House File 2645 shows that it is not in the best interests of the taxpayers of Iowa to let this legislation become law. It is vaguely written with the potential for far reaching, unintended consequences that could obligate the citizens of Iowa to substantial new public expenditures."

It's an action that has left Rep. Todd Taylor, D-Cedar Rapids, shaking his head in disappointment.

"I'm incredibly disappointed with the action that Gov. Culver has taken today," Taylor, who floor managed the legislation in the Iowa House, said in a telephone interview Wednesday evening. "This was a bill that would benefit Iowa's police officers, teachers, fire fighters, corrections workers, the Department of Transportation road crew members and many others. It was a modest change that placed Iowa in line with 27 other states and the private sector.

"In his statement, Gov. Culver said that the language was vague, but at no time did he or anyone from his office contact the legislature so that we could work through those concerns. When we attempted to work with his office while the bill was under debate, there was simply no response. It just brings me back to the fact that I'm disappointed."

Sen. Dick Dearden, D-Des Moines, who floor managed the legislation in the Senate, also summed up his reaction as disappointment.

"I'm just very disappointed that public employees will not have the same bargaining opportunities as private sector workers," he said by phone Wednesday.

In a joint statement released by House Speaker Pat Murphy, Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, the legislators expressed their confusion in relation to Culver's statement that the legislation was "vague" and the lack of input from the Culver administration during the debate process.

"We repeatedly offered to consider changes to the bill and not a single suggestion was offered by Governor Culver or his administration. We continue to believe that employees with a strong voice in the workplace will lead to greater productivity and we will continue to work on behalf of teachers, firefighters, police officers, correctional workers, and other public employees.

When the legislature debated the bill, Culver was vacationing with his family in Florida.

Senate Minority Leader Ron Wieck, R-Sioux City, used the veto to bash both the collective bargaining bill and Democrats in the state legislature.

“Governor Culver’s veto demonstrates how out of touch Sen. [Mike] Gronstal and Senate Democrats are with the people of Iowa and even a Governor from their own party,"said Wieck. "Gov. Culver recognized how extremely harmful this legislation was to all Iowans, but Sen. Gronstal and the Senate Democrats cared only about rewarding their number one campaign contributor, the union special interest groups, at the expense of Iowa’s taxpayers. Shame on them.”

A similar sentiment was expressed by House Minority Leader Chris Rants, R-Sioux City.

“I am pleased that Gov. Culver did the right thing and vetoed the bill that guts Iowa’s collective bargaining law,” said Rants. “Culver took the time to have an open discussion about the bill, unlike his Democrat counterparts in the House and Senate. Culver standing up to his own party illustrates how truly awful this legislation was and how out of touch the House Democrats were with Iowans.”

Iowa's current law, which has been in effect since 1974, dictates that Iowa public sector employees give up the right to strike in exchange for contract dispute settlement by binding arbitration. Only specific issues can be addressed at the bargaining table. The proposed law change would have allowed additional items to be addressed at the bargaining table -- such as class size for teachers.

"Economic uncertainty" was Culver's reason for refusing the pay raises.

"I am vetoing the legislation that would give me and my fellow statewide elected officeholders a pay raise," he said. "In this time of economic uncertainty, I believe it is wrong to raise elected officials salaries. I believe it is wrong to say to the people of Iowa that you have to tighten your belts, but elected officials don't."

While Iowa law allows for the legislature to over-ride a gubernatorial veto, it is unlikely the necessary votes -- 66 in the house and 35 in the senate -- could be achieved on this legislation.

Update

Just noticed that Linda Nelson, president of the Iowa State Education Association, put the following statement on her blog:

"We are deeply disappointed by Gov. Culver's veto of HF 2645. This legislation would have leveled the playing field for educators and other public employees at the bargaining table. It would have allowed us to negotiate over issues that impact student achievement like class size, preparation time, in-service, and a whole host of other topics that under the current law are deemed 'permissive' and off-limits for discussion. While we appreciate the Governor's support for funding public schools and for making teacher salaries competitive, he missed a great opportunity to recognize educators as true professionals and full partners in educational decision making. We are committed to working with Gov. Culver Culver to craft a bill which accomplishes that objective."