Legislators have some key issues to resolve in the next few weeks. Call it the good cop/bad cop approach or maybe yin and yang, but the Republican leaders in the House and Senate are approaching the next couple of weeks — what should be the end game of the 2003 Iowa Legislative session — with different game plans. Senate Republican Leader Stewart Iverson of Dows say he’s not drawing any lines in the sand, but he is insisting on tax reform and regulatory reform before any Senate votes on a bill that’d create a huge new economic development fund. Iverson says if he doesn’t get it all, he’ll settle for nothing. Iverson says if no deal comes together, the legislature should put the finishing touches on the state budget and go home. Iverson says next week must be decision time, or else lawmakers would wind up sitting around the statehouse all summer. House Speaker Christopher Rants, a republican from Sioux City, says he’s not going to issue any ultimatums. Rants says he’s not willing to just say no to anything and is willing to stay as long as it takes. He says the House is willing to meet with anybody anytime to hammer out differences. As for progress on the key issues, Iverson offered reporters a Yogi Bera-like statement: “I think things are coming along pretty well or not coming along pretty well, however way you want to describe it.”
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