February 9, 2012

You are here: Home / 2009 / February / Archives for 20th

Democrats fail to produce 51 votes for union-backed bill

February 20, 2009 By

In a stunning defeat, Democrats failed to produce the 51 votes necessary to pass the "prevailing wage" bill this evening in the Iowa House. After five hours, debate on the bill was cut off at 5:20 p.m. and a series of votes were held on a string of amendments. When it came time to vote on the bill itself, only 50 "yes" votes were cast.

Representative Doris Kelley of Waterloo was one of five Democrats who voted no. "I’ve never supported this bill. I think it’s wrong," she said at about six o’clock on Friday night. "I think it’s wrong when the economy is in the shape it’s in and I think it’s wrong when we are focusing on labor bills right now when we should be focusing on how we’re going to turn this economy around and how we’re going to take care of all Iowans."

According to Kelley, Democratic leaders in the House knew she was a no vote all along and she’s not shy about taking a verbal swing at the labor lobby. "This was no game-playing on my part. I was upfront with them from the very beginning. I will be a no today. I will be a no tomorrow and I will be a no next year. Whether I’m reelected or not, I will still be a no," Kelley said. "I’m here to represent Iowans. I’m not here to represent any special interest group. I’m here to represent those that really count."

House Republican Leader Kraig Paulsen of Hiawatha was, predictably, pleased with the turn of events. "What it says is that gratefully, there was a handful of Democrats who recognized it’s more important to represent their House district and join the Republicans in voting down what is a very, very bad bill," Paulsen said.

Rather than declare the bill defeated, House Speaker Pat Murphy — a Democrat from Dubuqe — plans to keep the House voting machine open until one o’clock on Monday. At about 6:15 p.m., House GOP Leader Paulsen tried a parliamentary move to try to lock the voting machine to try to set in stone the 50 "no" votes, but he was rebuffed by Murphy. "Check the rules as much as you want, you’re wrong," an adamant Murphy told Paulsen.

Representative McKinley Bailey, a Democrat from Webster City, was expected to be a yes vote on the bill, but an amendment he sought was not included in the legislation, he packed up his laptop, voted no and left the statehouse. House Democratic Leader Kevin McCarthy of Des Moines blamed Republicans for keeping Bailey’s amendment out of the bill. "I’ve never seen any vote like this ’cause it was a pretty interesting chess game, for those that like to play chess," McCarthy told reporters Friday night.

In addition to the five Democrats who voted no, a sixth Democrat — Representative Jeri Huser of Altoona was traveling out of state this weekend, but she is an expected no vote as well. But one of those five Democrats will have to vote yes if the bill is to pass the House. Kelley, the Waterloo Democrat, apparently won’t be the Democrat who changes their vote from no to yes.

"I’m not one that they can bully. They know when I say no. I don’t have to ask them, ‘What is it that you don’t understand about no?’" Kelley said. "This dog does not hunt and I’m not going there."

Governor Chet Culver had been coy about this labor bill and three others which are pending in the legislature, but shortly after his fellow Democrats failed to pass the bill, Culver issued a statement making it clear he would sign the bill into law — if it gets to his desk. "A broad coalition of labor and business came together to support prevailing wage, because we owe it to hardworking Iowans to guarantee they earn good wages at good jobs. This is one of many steps we need to take in order to boost our economy," Culver said in the statement. "Our efforts on behalf of Iowa’s working families are not over, and I will continue to work with House and Senate leaders to see that this important bill arrives at my desk."

Speaker Murphy, the Democratic leader who intends to spend the weekend at the statehouse holding the voting machine open, issued a prepared statement shortly after seven o’clock Friday night. "I want to be sure that taxpayer money is going to responsible Iowa employers who pay a decent wage, not employers who take advantage of people like we’ve seen in Postville and Atalissa," Murphy said. "As the presiding officer of the House, I will stay in the Speaker’s chair and the voting machine will remain open until Monday. My goal is to get 51 votes and make sure we have good-paying jobs for middle class families."

 

 

Filed Under: Politics & Government Tagged With: , ,

Weather conditions expected to get worse

February 20, 2009 By

Travel conditions across parts of Iowa will deteriorate tonight thanks to several inches of snow and winds of up to 35 miles per hour. National Weather Service Meteorologist Rich Kinney says Winter Weather Advisories and Winter Storm Warnings are posted across much of northeast Iowa.

He says snowfall amounts over the northeast third of the state will range from 3 to 7 inches. The winds will cause considerable blowing and drifting of the snow. "In general, this will be kind of a lighter nature snow and as this strong low pressure system passes by to the east tonight, winds on the back side of that will increase substantially," Kinney said.

"So, we can expect rapidly deteriorating conditions overnight into Saturday morning." The southwest half of Iowa, meanwhile, can expect less wind and an inch or less of snow. Portions of northeast Iowa may experience periods of spotty blizzard-like conditions.

Kinney says visabilities may drop down to near zero – especially in open areas. Low temperatures across the state tonight will be in the teens to low 20s. 

Filed Under: Weather

Class 3A hits semifinals in wrestling

February 20, 2009 By

In the class 3A semifinals at the state high school wrestling tournament Des Moines Roosevelt’s John Nicholson won the battle of returning champs. Last year’s 152 pound champion scored all three takedowns in the match to beat Derek St. John of Iowa City West, handing last year’s 145 pound champ his first loss of the season.

Nicholson says takes pride in his offensive power and offense beat the defense in this match. Nicholson says he sensed St. John was getting tired as the match progressed. He says he knew he was going to get tired, and he saw it when he got ahead. Nicholson says doubt sets in when you get behind and that makes it hard to win.

Clinton sophomore Dom Chase will wrestle for his first state title on Saturday night. Chase edged Demetrious Taylor of Waterloo East 4-2 in the 125 pound semis. Chase finished fifth in 2008 at 112 pounds. Chase says it’s great being a sophomore and being the title match and says hopefully he can be a three-time champion.

Chase says he is thrilled to have a chance to wrestle in the finals. 

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With:

UNI, Drake look to build resume in bracket buster games

February 20, 2009 By

UNI and Drake step out of Missouri Valley Conference play to take part in the BrackBusters, a series of games designed to get teams from so-called Mid-Major conferences national exposure as the NCAA Tournament approaches. UNI visits Siena.The Panthers are 18-9 overall after being upended at home by Drake on Wednesday night. Coach Ben Jacobsen says his team will be able to put that loss behind them and focus on Siena.

Jacobsen says that’s been easy with this group as all they talk about is getting ready for the next game and they have been able to do that and be successful. Siena has won 11 of 12 and has already locked up the Metro Atlantic Conference regular season title. Jacobsen says the BracketBusters has been a good thing for college basketball.

Jacobsen says the league has been fortunate to get a game with a high-quality opponent most years, and he says those games help the league. Jacobsen says the series provides teams with much needed exposure. He says this year they are in a position where the game means a lot, and he says it’s great to be playing on national TV on a Saturday.

It will be a tough test for the Panthers against a Siena team that is 13-0 at home. Drake is at home against Austin Peay. The Bulldogs had lost eight of ten prior to the win in Cedar Falls and coach Mark Phelps says the tough times have made the Bulldogs battle tested. Phelps says that experience will hopefully allow them to avoid the troubles and buckle down and execute.

Drake is 16-12 overall. Austin Peay is 15-11. 

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: , ,

Atlantic hosts billiards tourney

February 20, 2009 By

It’s a battle of the billiards in southwest Iowa this weekend. Hundreds of pool sharks are circling for the 25th annual Amateur Pool Tournament in Atlantic. Nearly 50 five-person teams are assembling for the competition. Organizer Donna Synder says the tourney is always a boost for the local economy.

She says on average, the contest brings 500-to-600 people to town. The three-day tournament starts this (Friday) evening and wraps up on Sunday afternoon. She says it’s a standard ball-in-hand eight-ball tournament that now takes place at several bars around town because the tournament has grown so large over the 25 years.

The double-elimination tournament concludes with the top team in the winner’s bracket playing against the top team in the loser’s bracket. The top prize is typically two-thousand dollars. Snyder says the tournament brings in people from all over the Midwest.

Players are in Atlantic from Missouri, Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska and all over Iowa. Snyder says many of the contestants have been returning to the tournament year after year. The public is invited to watch the players compete during the weekend, at the various locations around town.  

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Task force begins looking at laws regarding mentally retarded workers

February 20, 2009 By

The task force appointed by the governor to recommend changes to Iowa’s laws regarding the employment of people with mental retardation held its first meeting today. Governor Culver established the task force following revelations that 21 mentally retarded workers lived in a susbstandard century-old building while working at an eastern Iowa turkey processing plant.

Members of the group are from seven state agencies, including John Hale the policy director for the Iowa Caregivers Association. Hale says he also hopes Iowans come away with a better understanding of people with disabilities by the end of the group’s work.

"If I take off my eyeglasses, for example, I suddenly become a person with a disability. I think that even though we have a horrendous issue here, a specific issue that needs to be addressed, the larger issue is how we think about and treat and interact with people with disabilities," Hale says.

Des Moines lawyer Mary McGee, who is legally blind, wonders how the state allowed such a case to occur. McGee says, "I would like to know where the Department of Inspections and Appeals was, I would like to know where the Department of Administrative Services was. I would like to know where the Attorney General’s office was. I want to know who dropped the ball."

The task force will meet once a week through March to listen to public comments and develop recommendations for how to improve Iowa laws to better protect disabled workers. Those recommendations are due on the Governor’s desk April 1st. 

Filed Under: Politics & Government Tagged With:

Experts say Iowa in the "fog" of recession

February 20, 2009 By

Two financial experts warn the state’s economy has entered a "fog" and the recession will "last a while." Iowa State University economist David Swenson says Iowa’s economy didn’t soar as high as other states, so our drop won’t be as great, but Swenson isn’t projecting a quick economic comback here either. 

"The economy is going down and I expect it to continue going down," Swenson says. "..The kinds of pressures that are pointing down are widepsread. It’s not just unemployment or employment, it’s what’s going on in particular industries as well."

David Underwood of Mason City is one of the members of a panel which estimates state tax revenues. "It appears that finally the recession has started to catch up with Iowa’s economy, so we’re starting to see the impact," Underwood says.

Some say unfounded pessimism among consumers is weighing the economy down, but Underwood says that’s not what’s driving the economy downward. "I don’t think very much of it is driven by the emotions," Underwood says. "It’s driven by reality."

Underwood says it’s too soon to say what official prediction he and the other two members of the panel which estimates state tax revenues will make in a few weeks. According to Underwood, some of the federal stimulus package may help stem the tide of unemployment. "Maybe our employment level isn’t going to drop as quickly as it could have," Underwood says. "And that’s what really drives (tax collections) in Iowa is the number of people working and the hours they’re working in Iowa."

Underwood’s not prepared to guess about what Iowa’s economy may look like in March when the Revenue Estimating Conference is scheduled to meet. "I’m not sure yet, because there still is a lot of fog out there," Underwood says.

According to Underwood, there are just too many unknowns. Few Iowans have filed their income taxes, so there’s no good indication there about what’s going on on that front, and Underwood says it’s hard to divine what’s happening in many businesses.

"Public companies quite often give quarterly forecasts as to what they think their company is doing and it was just kind of interesting that John Deere when they announced their earnings for the last year also announced they were suspending their quarterly forecast, just because of the uncertainty and they feel, I guess, their inability to even look a quarter ahead," Underwood says. "Every time I sit down with business people and I say, ‘OK, what do you feel about next month?’ they say, ‘I’m just worried about next week.’"

Underwood and Swenson are guests on this evening’s IPTV program, "Iowa Press," which airs at 7:30.

Filed Under: Politics & Government Tagged With: , , ,
« Older Posts