Vilsack touts economic deal, mends fences with Democrats

Governor Tom Vilsack’s traveling the state today, touting the economic development deal passed in yesterday’s “special” legislative session. But Vilsack beyond the battlecry for business expansion in Iowa, must mend some fences within his own political party. Democrats in the legislature were upset with their democratic governor for at least two reasons. One: democrats in the legislature opposed the changes in workers comp rules for twice-injured workers that were part of the package approved yesterday. “I understand the disappointment, but in our situation we’ve got to weigh the pluses and minuses,” Vilsack said last night during a statehouse news conference. “On balance, it was action I think that was in the best interest, that is not to say that there may be a few Iowans (who) may not see it that way, and I respect that,” Vilsack said. Another reason democrats were upset by yesterday’s special session: republicans can now argue, and did yesterday, that divided government with a democrat governor and republican-led legislature does work in Iowa. Vilsack, though, is trying to make the case for a democratic legislature to finish the job of making the “Iowa Values Fund” a long-term, permanent fixture of state government, something republicans refused to do yesterday. Vilsack said he needs a “new pit crew” in the legislature to “come back at this.”And Vilsack himself is lobbying criticism at the republican-crafted policy bill. He said it covered so many subjects — from economic development programs to banking regulations to tax changes — it is just like the bill the Iowa Supreme Court knocked down in June. Vilsack said the republicans “sent out a gold-letter invitation” to some individual or group to challenge the constitutionality of the policy bill that was passed yesterday. But House Speaker Christopher Rants, a republican from Sioux City, rejects the idea the bill is flawed because it’s so wide-ranging. “Trial lawyers aren’t very happy with this. They want to stop it any way possible,” Rants said. “We’ve seen Supreme Court decisions that give the Legislature wide latitude in how we put bills together and I believe that what we’re doing will be constitutional and will stand the test of time.”