Iowa lawmakers see little progress on key issues

Iowa?s top legislative leaders said Thursday that the end of this year?s session could be delayed because Democrats who control the Senate and Republicans who control the House haven?t been able to agree on state spending plans.

Senate Majority Leader Michael Gronstal, D-Council Bluffs, called the budget the ?one absolutely critical thing a Legislature must do every year.?

?There?s a whole lot of other things we?d really like to get done, but the one mission that?s demanded of the Legislature is to pass a budget,? Gronstal said.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, D-Des Moines, said the Legislature isn?t ready to send a single budget bill to the governor. He said despite talks, there has been no progress on big items such as property tax reform and overhauling Iowa?s education system, much less on the issue of overall state spending.

?I am very pessimistic we will be able to get out of here in a timely fashion,? McCarthy said.

McCarthy noted there?s been pressure to overhaul the state?s mental health system, restructure schools and overhaul property taxes, none of which has much chance of approval.

?We?ve wasted a lot of time on bills that are not really legitimate,? McCarthy said.

House Speaker Kraig Paulsen, R-Hiawatha, said Republicans who hold a majority in the House already have acted on those key issues and are waiting for a Senate response.

?We recognize that the Democrats want to spend more money than we do,? Paulsen said. ?We get that.?

Paulsen said Republicans have pushed for overall state spending next year of just more than $6 billion, a 1 percent increase over this year, and that?s as far as they are willing to go.

?There?s a whole lot of Iowa families who didn?t get a 1 percent increase this year,? Paulsen said. ?When we get up in the morning we have the hard-working taxpayers of Iowa on our mind.?

Gronstal said the Republican plans aren?t acceptable, particularly on property taxes where he said the GOP simply is seeking to shift the burden from businesses to homeowners.

?We don?t think a tax shift is the solution,? Gronstal said. ?I?d really like to get something done, but if it involves raising someone?s taxes so I can lower those, I?m not a big fan of that.?

McCarthy blamed partisan politics for part of the gridlock. Republicans control the House on a 60-40 margin, and more than 40 of those Republican lawmakers are running for another term. More than one-fourth of them face GOP primary opposition, McCarthy noted.

?I do believe it?s a political strain on about a quarter of their returning members,? McCarthy said.

Paulsen rejected that argument and predicted lawmakers would end the session within two weeks.

All winter, lawmakers have been targeting April 17 as the day they hope to end this year?s session. That?s the day legislative expense payments end.