(This story was updated at 9:12 a.m.)

Governor Culver temporarily sided with business interests on a controversial tax proposal and his staff announced the decision just before midnight Tuesday.

Culver used his item veto authority to reject the idea of retroactively requiring public disclosure of a list of businesses which this year receive more than half a million dollars in refunds through the state research and development tax credit. In a written statement, the governor said he feared businesses would sue to keep the information secret, and the matter would be tied up in court for years.;

The governor’s item veto, however, did not nix the proposal prospectively, which means companies that receive $500,000 or more in refunds from the state under the research activities credit will be publicly revealed in future years.  

Culver also signed a bill which supporters believe will reduce nursing home fines. It means state regulators will forgive certain violations if a nursing home identifies an error on its own and corrects it before an inspection. The Iowa Department of Elder Affairs lobbied against the move, arguing nursing homes may never pay fines for errors that cause serious harm to nursing home residents.

The governor also used his item veto authority to nix two budget-cutting proposals that had won legislative approval. Culver said he agrees with the goals of keeping expenses in line, but he rejected the idea of keeping state vehicles in service longer. The governor said that might increase costs instead.