The Iowa Legislature’s back in “special” session, but to say they’re “in action” would be an overstatement. The gavels fell at nine o’clock in the House and Senate, but lawmakers immediately went into private party meetings. Republicans, who hold a majority of seats in the legislature, say their game plan today is to come out of those meetings and adjourn without passing a single bill. Democrat Governor Tom Vilsack called lawmakers back to Des Moines, asking them to spend more money on education, prisons, and a few other programs, and he pressed his case privately with a group of lawmakers this morning. Vilsack says he thinks there’s a willingness on the part of some legislators to look for some common ground. He says he knows he’s no going to get everything he wants, but believes they can compromise.G-O-P legislators are angry, though, and say the budget plan they adopted earlier this month is adequate. Vilsack is unwilling to give up. He says it’s not a matter of anger, it’s a matter of trying to reach common ground.Vilsack won’t say what he’ll do once legislators walk away today. He says he believes “reasonable people at the end of the day are gonna reach a consensus.”
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