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Proposed rules for implementing Iowa’s voter verification law

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Mary Rae Bragg, President of League of Women Voters of Iowa.

Two dozen Iowans testified at a public hearing Monday afternoon, offering both praise and criticism for proposed rules to implement Iowa’s new voter verification law.

Betty Andrews, president of the Iowa/Nebraska NAACP, said she’s worried the rules will make it harder for groups like hers to register new voters.

“I have great concern about that,” Andrews said.

One proposed rule will remove people from voter registration rolls if they’ve been called to jury duty, but notified the court that they couldn’t serve because they are not a citizen. Connie Schmett of Clive, a long-time GOP activist, praised the move.

“We simply can’t allow our laws and our elections to be tainted,” Schmett said.

Kim Hiscox of West Des Moines, an Election Day poll watcher, said she called county officials to report her suspicions that three non-citizens voted in 2016.

“Please do stick with your guns and hold people accountable to prove that they really are citizens of the United States before they are allowed to vote,” Hiscox said.

Others argue becoming a citizen often takes years and a person who declines service on a jury one month may take the oath of citizenship the next. Joe Henry of the League of United Latin American Citizens said the number of registered Latino voters in Iowa has doubled in the past decade.

“Many of our members are lower income. They’re not going to be able to understand these rules,” Henry said. “…Clearly, this seems to be a ploy to restrict the vote within our community.”

Staff from Secretary of State Paul Pate’s office say at least two specific rules to implement the new law are in a state of flux and will be redrafted by this Friday.

“We believe the rules should be as clear as possible to make sure that we are protecting the voting rights of all Iowans,” said Daniel Zeno, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa who was the first to testify at the hearing.

About 100 people gathered outside the small conference room where the hour-long hearing was held, chanting their opposition to the new election law. The law was passed this spring by the Republican-led legislature and approved in May by former Governor Terry Branstad.

‘New Democracy’ group hosts Iowa discussion about Democrats’ message

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Former Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius; former Missouri Secretary of State Jason Kander and U.S. Rep. John Delaney of Maryland.

Democrats gathered in Des Moines today for a discussion about the future of their party.

The event was organized by “New Democracy” — a  group that describes its mission as making an appeal to voters who are Republicans or not aligned with either of the country’s main political parties and “make Democrats.”

Former Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius said Democrats have to start explaining how government can make a positive difference in the lives of Americans.

“You can’t cede territory,” said Sebelius, who won four statewide races in Kansas before joining President Obama’s cabinet in 2009. “You can’t just say: ‘Well, I’ll only campaign in the seven urban counties where 70 percent of the vote comes from,’ so you start there,” Sebelius says. “…People want to know you’re more like them than different from them.”

Maryland Congressman John Delaney has already announced he intends to run for president in 2020. He argued rather than present “a thousand” issues to voters, the party should focus a simple message about “jobs, pay and the dignity of work.”

“Sixty percent of kids in this country live in a county where there’s no demonstrated upward economic mobility,” Delaney said. “That means the American Dream’s really not alive in those places. They care about that stuff and that’s what our message should be focused on.”

Former Missouri Secretary of State Jason Kander ran a close but losing race for the U.S. Senate in 2016. Kander said politicians should stop trying to “crack the code.”

“I tell Democratic politicians all the time…’People can tell if you’ve taken a position and you’re acting,'” Kander said. “Don’t act. Just go out and say what you believe.”

The three Democratic politicians made their comments during taping of a joint appearance on Iowa Public Television’s “Iowa Press” program that will air tonight at 7:30.

New Democracy hosted a day-long event at the State Historical Building. Kander, Delaney and Sebelius were among the roster of speakers, as was former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack. Vilsack told the crowd Democrats “got smoked” in rural areas and the party cannot win by simply focusing on a few urban strongholds.

Turn-out more than 60 percent in first two days of recertification votes

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A state board reports more than 60 percent of eligible government employees have already cast ballots in “recertification” votes for their local bargaining unit.

A new state law requires a vote to recertify union representation for a bargaining unit before contracts talks with public employees may begin. Eighty-seven percent of the educators covered by 13 contracts negotiated by Iowa State Education Association members voted in September — and the recertification votes passed overwhelmingly.

Voting began this past Tuesday for 477 more bargaining units. Those units represent more than 33,000 employees who work for state and local governments. The Iowa Public Employment Relations Board reports more than 20,000 of those workers voted in just the first two days of voting.

The voting is being conducted online or over the phone. Votes may be cast through October 24.

Alec Baldwin the keynoter for Iowa Democrats’ November 27th fundraiser

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Alec Baldwin

An actor who won an Emmy for portraying Donald Trump on “Saturday Night Live” will be the keynote speaker at the Iowa Democratic Party’s fall fundraising banquet.

Alec Baldwin was last month’s winner of the Emmy for best supporting actor in a comedy series. He’s a long-time supporter of Democrats. Troy Price, the chairman of the Iowa Democratic Party, said Baldwin has vowed to help Democrats win across the country in 2018.

“He has commited to helping us rebuild the party here in Iowa and rebuilding the party across the country and so we’re really excited to have him here,” Price told Radio Iowa this afternoon.

The party’s annual fundraiser was renamed “The Fall Gala” a year ago. This year’s edition will be held on Monday evening, November 27. Price said his phone blew up once the news was out that Baldwin was the headliner.

“I’ve gotten a few phone calls and some texts,” Price said, laughing. “The response has been great. People are really excited about this.”

As for how Baldwin got booked, the Iowa Democratic Party’s chairman said he knows “some folks who’ve been working with” Baldwin.

“They reached out to me about even if this would be a possibility and we said: ‘Yes.’ We extended an invitiation and we’ve been going back and forth over the last several weeks,” Price said. “It worked out for him to come out on the 27th of November, so we were able to lock him in.”

The party’s annual fundraiser traditionally features hot meals on china plates, served by waiters to ticketholders. The audience sits in a darkened banquet hall as the speech-makers stand on a brightly lit stage. Price and his staff are “still figuring out” what the night will look like.

“Regardless of what’s served or how the event is structured, people are going to have a great time, I can promise them that,” Price told Radio Iowa.

But do not expect a recreation of a Saturday Night Live skit. Alec Baldwin will appear “as himself,” Price said, with a message about the state of politics in America. Baldwin will arrive on Iowa’s political stage a few weeks after the release of a book he’s co-authored. The satirical book about Trump’s presidency is titled “You Can’t Spell America Without Me.”

The Iowa Democratic Party’s fall fundraiser — formerly known as the Jefferson-Jackson Day Dinner — has served as an organizing test for presidential candidates in the years when it’s held just weeks before Iowa’s Caucuses. Previous speakers include Vice Presidents Al Gore and Joe Biden as well as former President Bill Clinton.

Ex-Iowa DOT chief quizzed about federal highway role

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The former director of the Iowa DOT on Thursday said he is “eager” to help rebuild and repair the nation’s highways.

Paul Trombino III has been nominated to be administrator of the Federal Highway Administration and he was quizzed by members of a U.S. Senate committee yesterday.

“The nation’s highway system has long been the driving force for economic opportunity and success in the United States,” Trombino said, “and I am truly humbled at the opportunity to help advance the quality of life of Americans across the country through transportation.”

If — as expected — Trombino is confirmed by the senate for the job, he will take the lead in an agency that will be a key player in President Trump’s infrastructure goals. Trombino promised to find ways to streamline the permit process for highway and bridge projects that get federal funding.

“The key ingredient, from my perspective, is providing flexibility for states,” Trombino said. “…Every state is a little bit different. Their rural needs and urban needs are different.”

The confirmation hearing was livestreamed and the video is now posted on the committee’s website.

The top Democrat on the committee asked Trombino how he helped steer a 10-cent-per-gallon state gas tax increase through the Iowa legislature in 2015. Republican Joni Ernst, the Iowa Senator who’s a member of the committee, said it “would really be an uphill battle” to get a federal gas tax increase through congress.

“What are other ways that we can fund our roads and bridges?” Ernst asked.

Trombino replied: “Obviously, the gas tax is a funding mechanism…There are a number of alternatives…different types of fees and other things that can be, potentially, on the table — especially as it comes to freight and other types of issues.”

But Trombino did not offer specific recommendations. He said those policy decisions will be made by congress.

Trombino worked for 17 years at the Wisconsin Department of Transportation before he became director of the Iowa DOT in 2011. Trombino left state government last year, at the end of November, to become president of a central Iowa engineering firm.

ITEP analysis: richest one percent in Iowa get half of benefits in GOP tax plan

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A new report estimates 186,000 middle class Iowa households will pay more taxes under plans that are pending in the U.S. Senate. Mike Owen of the Iowa Policy Project said half of the tax cuts would go to the top one percent of wealthy Iowans.

“Under that analysis those tax cuts to the top one percent would average $50,000 in 2018 alone,” Owen said.

That analysis of the Iowa impact comes from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. A senate committee is scheduled to vote soon on a federal spending plan that will lay the groundwork for tax cuts. Seth Hanlon, a tax policy advisor to President Obama, is now a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress. He spoke this morning to Iowa reporters who joined a conference call organized by the Iowa Policy Project.

“I think what we’re seeing is massive tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires,” Hanlon said, “and mystery meat for the middle class.”

ReShonda Young is a small business owner from Waterloo whose “Popcorn Heaven” outlets now operate in five locations. During the conference call, Young said the business tax cuts proposed by Republicans won’t lower her taxes.

“It will not help small businesses,” Young said. “In fact, the budget cuts will hurt small businesses like mine and make us less able to compete with the large corporations that take advantage of unfair loopholes.”

Young is urging Senator Chuck Grassley to vote against the budget plan coming up for a vote in the Senate Budget Committee that sets a framework for the GOP’s tax cuts. Republicans say they’re aiming for tax cuts that will stimulate economic growth. The GOP also argues it’s impossible to determine the full impact of the party’s tax cut package yet because the details are still being worked out.

Governor answers criticism on Senate sexual harassment case (audio)

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Governor Kim Reynolds and Lt. Governor Adam Gregg.

Governor Kim Reynolds pushed back today on statements made by the Democrat State Treasurer Fitzgerald on the settlement of a harassment lawsuit with a former employee of Senate Republicans.

Reynolds was asked about Fitzgerald’s comments that he was disappointed with the way the governor handled the situation and that she did not ask the top Senate Republican leader to resign.

“First of all, let’s stop taking incidents like this and making it a political issue. This is ridiculous. Sexual harassment is not to be tolerated and I have been extremely clear about that. No one, no one, should have to work in an environment that is not safe,”Reynolds says.

A Polk County jury awarded the former Senate staffer Kirsten Anderson $2.2 million in July, and the State of Iowa announced last week it had reached a settlement that would pay her a little more than one million dollars, along with $705,000 in legal fees.

The governor says she has been clear on the issue. “I have said over and over we have a zero tolerance policy,” Reynolds says. “We have procedures and policies in place that if somebody feels that have been impacted in this manner, they have a procedure that they are able to go through and they are able to get answers. That was unacceptable — what happened in that caucus — and it’s not to be tolerated. I have made that clear from the word go.”

She says they need to focus on the issue at hand and says politics shouldn’t even be involved. A reporter asked again is Senate Republican Leader Bill Dix should resign. “I am not going to tell them what to do, I have said that we have a zero tolerance policy,” Reynolds responded.

The reporter then asked Reynolds if the taxpayers should pay the settlement amount in the lawsuit, or if Republicans should pay. “You need to talk to the Attorney General’s Office, they have represented them, that’s a question for the AG’s office. I am not going to get into the middle of that,” Reynolds says. Reynolds made her comments during her weekly meeting with the media.

Audio: Governor’s news conference discussion of lawsuit 2:26

Party renewal the focus of speakers at revived Democrat steak fry

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Sean Bagnirwski

About 1,500 Democrats bought tickets for today’s re-appearance of the “steak fry” tradition former U.S. Senator Tom Harkin hosted each fall.

The afternoon event, held outdoors in a Des Moines park, opened with a lightening-round of brief speeches from 14 Democratic candidates who are running for governor or who are running in Iowa’s third congressional district. It closed with longer remarks from three Democrats from Illinois, Ohio and Massachusetts offering their thoughts on party revival in 2018 and beyond.

Congressman Tim Ryan of Ohio said the party is “at its best” when it focuses “like a laser beam” on “ordinary people.”

“We lost ’em and we lost ’em to Trump,” Ryan said, “and while I’m mad at the Republicans, I’m just as mad at us for letting that happen. There’s no way this guy should be president of the United States, no way at all.”

AUDIO of Ryan’s speech, 22:00

Ryan said Democrats should quit talking so much about a $15-an-hour minimum wage and, instead, stress the “aspiration” of helping Americans land and keep “good, high-wage” jobs.

Cheri Bustos of Illinois won reelection to congress by 20 points last year — in a U.S. House district that Donald Trump carried.

“So I know a thing or two about Donald Trump voters,” Bustos told the crowd earlier this afternoon. “…It’s like a knife to my heart that there are some in the Democratic Party who just want to write off districts like mine and forget about states like Iowa and say that it’s just too darned hard to elect Democrats in rural America.”

AUDIO of Bustos’ speech, 16:35

Bustos advised her party to focus on “results” for the “forgotten places” in America, rather than “resistance” to Trump.

Massachusetts Congressman Seth Moulton said Democrats cannot offer voters “the same old thing” and expect to win again.

“We’ve got to get back in touch with those voters that we have lost,” he said, “because the reality is that a lot of Americans feel left behind not just by Republicans, but by our country.”

AUDIO of Mouton’s speech, 18:00

The three members of congress downplayed the idea their visits to Iowa were a prelude to a 2020 presidential campaign. Democrat Tom Hockensmith, a member of the Polk County Board of Supervisors, said he’s not keeping a 2020 scorecard yet.

“I couldn’t tell you right now who might even be in the wings,” Hockensmith said this afternoon.

Hockensmith said party activists will begin paying closer attention early next year to the Iowa Democrats who are waging campaigns in 2018.

The speechmaking from those candidates began shortly after a long-time party activist experienced a medical emergency and was taken away in an ambulance. A candidate for governor who is a doctor administered CPR until emergency responders arrived. Andy McGuire later got a round of applause from the crowd when the Polk County Democrats’ chairman announced the woman McGuire attended to was breathing and McGuire may have saved the woman’s life.

Democrats to gather for revival of Steak Fry tradition

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Polk County Democrats are hoping the political buzz from the annual fall event hosted by former Senator Tom Harkin can be re-generated from their new event.

The final “Harkin Steak Fry” fundraiser was three years ago. The first annual “Polk County Steak Fry” is this Saturday. Sean Bagniewski, the chairman of Polk County Democrats, says it’s rebranded as just the “steak fry.”

“We had talked to Senator Harkin in June about bringing back at least just the name,” Bagniewski says, “but as long as it was a separate event, he was comfortable with giving us that permission.”

Harkin’s “Steak Fry” was a venue to rev up Democrats for the General Election or, in non-election years, it was a proving ground for presidential candidates of the future. The new “steak fry” this Saturday in Des Moines will feature Democrats from Massachusetts, Ohio and Illinois who are members of the U.S. House. None are household names — and Bagniewski says that’s a positive.

“In some ways for Democrats right now, they are so desperate to see new faces that it’s a draw to not know these national leaders yet,” Bagnewski says.

Democrats who are running for governor and the candidates running for congress in the third district also will speak to the crowd on Saturday. Bagnewski says Polk County Democrats already have sold “steak fry” tickets to Iowans from all corners of the state and a few other states.

“Pottawattamie County, Woodbury County, Union County, Linn County, Johnson County, Dubuque County and then we’ve also sold tickets in Texas, Nebraska, Illinois, Minnesota and Wisconsin,” Bagniewski says. “So even though the name is, you know, obviously ‘The Polk County Steak Fry,’ it’s very much a statewide event and then also a regional event as well.”

The Steak Fry will be held outdoors at Waterworks Park in Des Moines on Saturday afternoon. Tickets are $35 each and must be purchased in advance. No tickets will be sold at the gates.

Electronic and telephonic voting to be used in next round of union recertification votes

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Paper ballots were used this month by nearly 1,300 teachers and faculty in the first round of voting required by Iowa’s new collective bargaining law. Next month, another 34,000 Iowans will vote on union representation in their workplace and they’ll do it by phone or online.

Iowa Public Employment Relations Board administrator Mike Cormack says each eligible voter will get a unique code.

“Just the feasibility of trying to do that many paper ballots in one voting cycle of two weeks and being able to provide proper service to Iowans and get the proper vote tally, it’s just not realistic,” Cormack says. “So that’s why we went to this particular system.”

Last night, Corwack’s agency reported the results of voting in 13 Iowa school districts and community colleges where teachers and faculty voted to re-certify their local unions. Iowa State Education Association president Tammy Wawro says her members understand what’s at stake.

“I anticipated that we would win, but to see some of these numbers come back.”

Only 27 ballots were returned with “no” votes and all of the recertification votes passed by at least 79 percent.

“Those are really good numbers to start setting the pace for what we have, our 213 elections in October,” Wawro says.

Those 213 local bargaining units are represented by the Iowa State Education Association. More than 250 other local bargaining units that represent public sector workers will be voting from October 10th through the 24th as well. Cormack says by opting for electronic voting in this next round, the Public Employment Relations Board will avoid the possibility of paper ballots not being mailed in on time.

“We do by electronic, telephonic means it’s 24/7 voting,” Cormack says, “so every person who votes in that two-week time period will have their vote recorded.”

The new state law that took effect in February requires a vote among members of a bargaining unit right before union representatives start new contract talks with management. It means these “recertification votes” must happen every two or three years. Under the previous law, recertification votes were only held if members of the bargaining unit petitioned for a vote in hopes of dissolving the union.