A judge has thrown out two attempts to block the Republican lawsuit challenging Democrat Governor Tom Vilsack’s item veto authority. The G-O-P objects to Vilsack’s decision to use his item veto power to erase tax cuts and regulatory reform from a bill that created the new state economic development fund. The Iowa Trial Lawyers Association and a State Representative had hoped to intervene in the lawsuit, arguing the bill covered too many subjects, but the judge rejected their arguments. House Speaker Christopher Rants, a Republican from Sioux City, is hailing the judge’s decision. Rants says this has been considered the biggest hurdle they had to overcome, so he says this removes the obstacles to a speedy hearing and he expects to have a ruling by the end of this year. A spokesman for the Trial Lawyers and State Representative Robert Hogg, a Democrat from Cedar Rapids who’s an attorney, said they wanted to read the judge’s ruling before commenting.