I was given the opportunity to sit on the floor of the Iowa House (thanks to Erik Helland) during tonight’s public forum on House File 2420, which allows unions to collects fees from employees that work in the Executive Branch of the Iowa government to cover the costs of contract bargaining and grievance assistance. It became clear that the new selling title for this bill is “Reasonable Reimbursement”.

In the Iowa House chamber, there were 58 speakers today, 32 in favor and 28 against House File 2420.

Almost every speaker in favor of the bill had little more to say than “everyone benefits, so everyone should pay”. Not much explanation why someone who does not want to be represented by a union has to pay the union, and why people should be forced to pay to have a job. There was some attempt to explain why unions shouldn’t just drop representing non-members. If I had to sit and listen to just all of the speakers in favor of the bill, I probably would have fallen asleep by the time it was half over due to the redundancy. Mind you, I’m glad that all of those speakers took the time to come and speak, but the argument is pretty simple and not compelling (at least not to me).

Maggie Martin probably stated the supporter’s position best: “Basically we are putting unions in the position of providing services for free This bill rights that wrong.”

One union leader admitted that the ultimate goal is repeal of Right to Work even though such a repeal doesn’t “resonate with Iowans”.

Another supporter (John Neiderbach) said: “Read the bill. This is a very modest bill.” As if partly bad isn’t a problem.

Interesting were the number of people who opposed the bill that one would have expected to be in support of it. At least one democrat who is a business owner, one educator, and a retire union member.

The most compelling [...]

Evidently anticipating a challenging public presence (although as of 5:10 PM there are only about 100 people in the Iowa House galleries), Speaker Murphy provided the following list of rules:

Persons signing up to testify will be permitted on the House floor during a public hearing.
To testify, members of the public will be required to enter [...]

I need to apologize that I have been unable, in recent weeks, to keep this blog current for you. As most of you know, I have discontinued my radio show due to the time commitment, and hope to get more writing done as a result. Your kind patience is appreciated. And now…

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At 5:00 PM this afternoon a public forum is scheduled to hear comments on Democrats attempt to tear apart Iowa’s long history as a Right To Work state (House File 2420, formally HSB 702). It will be held in the Iowa House Chamber (details provided by Shane Vander Hart last week). I will be there and will provide updates via Twitter and an updated post later tonight.

This is potentially one of the last great attempts by power-gorged Democrats to rake Iowans over the coals. True, this year’s bill only drops 18,000 Executive Branch employees into the lions’ den, but at a whopping $5.3 Million theft of personal income. This is another example of how our left-thinking leaders (*sigh*) believe they are empowered to redistribute wealth.

Consider, my friends, the fact that the unions that state employees are members of (voluntarily today) exist under the guise of protecting those employees from the very government that is now handing them (the unions) the keys to the state treasury.

And this is YOUR MONEY that is [...]

From Iowa House Republican Leader Kraig Paulsen’s office:

(DES MOINES)—Today in the House Labor committee, Democrats assigned a bill which would gut Iowa’s right to work law. House Study Bill 702 is an attempt by House Democrats to take away Iowans’ choice to join a union.

Iowa’s right to work law guarantees that no person can be compelled, as a condition of employment, to join, not join or pay any fees to a labor union. Iowa’s right to work law has been in place since 1947. This bill is a direct attack on hard-working Iowans’ liberties.

“It is simply wrong to tell someone they must give their hard-earned dollars to an organization they have chosen not to be a member of,” said House Republican Leader Kraig Paulsen (R-Hiawatha). “A union is not forced to represent non-members. They choose forced monopoly bargaining and now they want to force payment for providing those unwanted services.”

Under the Democrats’ plan, public employees who are non-union would be forced to pay a fee to the union as a condition of their employment, thus completely gutting Iowa’s right to work law.

We’ve been waiting for this. Here’s link to the bill. Democrats tried to do this last year (it was called “Fair Share” then), and the year before, and, oh wait, they’ve been trying to rip out Right To Work for over fifty years! Representative Ralph Watts (R – District 47) wrote this piece a year ago, and is still just as relevant today:

Nothing Fair about Fair Share

Two years ago, after the Democrats took over the Governor’s office, the State Senate and the State House, we started getting more labor bills [...]

Read The Complete Article

Tags: Fair Share, Kraig Paulsen, Ralph Watts, Right To Work

Today Iowa’s Governor Culver walked up to the brink of his career, looked down, and jumped. The lead up to this event were announcements that he would “set the record straight” on the budget, provide “big, bold” ideas for Iowa and a “surprise” for schools. All of these sound like great sound bites to attract viewers, but Chet needed a compelling message and earnest delivery. Instead, he brought the same “rah-rah” cheer that has kept Iowa spending itself into oblivion, with a severe lack of enthusiasm in his voice. And the best word he could use to describe the condition of Iowa: resilient.

Chet’s speech was a big “cheer” for IJOBs, a contentious program at best, and he was heavily defensive of the program bought with our grandchildren’s taxes (if they become gamblers). Rightly so, the Governor promoted the “successes” of the past year, many of which Iowan’s should be proud, such as the late year AFSCME agreement and progress in rebuilding from weather-related disasters. But while proclaiming that the new budget will be balanced, he provided scant information on how that would be accomplished aside from a priority to “reorganize government”.

And for the hundreds of Iowans who showed up today on both side of the Definition of Marriage issue, not a peep.

Of course, he also did not speak to Fair Share, Prevailing Wage, or repealing Federal Deductability. But then, why stir the pot?

It has taken far too long for the Governor to respond [...]

(DES MOINES)—House Republican Leader Kraig Paulsen (R-Hiawatha) commented on the governor’s condition of the state address today.

“The governor needs to be straight with Iowans, he has raised taxes to balance his budget and that is unacceptable. Balancing the budget is not good enough if it’s on the backs of the taxpayer.

“Among others, the governor has signed utility tax increases, raised taxes on Iowa employers, and a $250 million tax levied on property tax payers. The governor has repeatedly [...]

After three years of job losses, unbalanced budgets and property tax increases, Governor’s record does not match his rhetoric.

DES MOINES, IA – Senate Republican Leader Paul McKinley (R-Chariton) issued the following statement today regarding Governor Culver’s Condition of the State Address delivered to a joint session of the 83rd General Assembly:

“I reject the notion that Governor Culver has balanced the budget without raising taxes. Iowans are faced with the reality of higher property taxes and they know better than to believe the governor’s hollow rhetoric.

“Governor Culver cannot continue promoting legislation that creates barriers [...]

Tomorrow is Governor Culver’s big Condition of the State speech (or “State of the State” speach, which some have dubbed an “SOS”). We will be at the Statehouse watching the speech, providing commentary here at The Conservative Reader: Iowa, at The Des Moines Register’s web site and on The Conservative Reader Report (www.desmoineslocallive.com) in the afternoon at 3:00 PM.

On the show I will have Iowa House Member Erik Helland from Polk County, and Senator Shawn Hamerlinck from Senate District 42 (parts of Scott and Clinton Counties), along with Kim Lehman, President of Iowa Right to Life and Iowa’s Committee Woman to the Republican National Committee (RNC).

During the first hour we’ll be talking about the Condition of the State speech, along with thoughts about the session’s agenda with all three of our guests. During the second hour, we’ll be discussing the RNC Resolutions currently under consideration with Kim Lehman.

Your calls are welcome at 515-327-1007 or 888-327-1007.

Plus the current hot political news, and of course, the Smart and Dumb politicians of the week! All of this only on The Conservative Reader Report.

DES MOINES, IA – Senate Republican Leader Paul McKinley (R-Chariton) today delivered his opening day speech of the second session of the 83rd Iowa General Assembly on the floor of the Iowa Senate. His remarks, as prepared for delivery, are as follows:

“Thank you Mr. President.

Friends and colleagues:

There is an ancient Chinese curse that says, “May you live in interesting times.” Is there any doubt that we live in interesting times?

As we start this new legislative session in this new decade, we are faced with a great number of challenges. Before the gavel falls for the final time this year, I know this body will be asked to act on many of these challenges. We are all going to be asked to make choices and take votes that we all wish we could avoid.

As we convene today in these interesting times, our state faces the largest deficit its history as a result of this Legislature passing and this governor signing the largest [...]

(DES MOINES)—House Republican Leader Kraig Paulsen (R-Hiawatha) delivered opening remarks to the Iowa House of Representatives today. The following are his remarks, as prepared for delivery:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, ladies and gentlemen of the House, family and friends:

First I want to start by welcoming Representative Royd Chambers back to the House. Thank you for your service, Royd, we’re very happy to have you home.

Obviously we have a difficult year ahead of us. But rather than look at this as a problem I hope this body will choose to see opportunity. Opportunity for a stronger Iowa, opportunity to create an efficient and open state government. An opportunity to give the state back to the people.

Last year we heard a lot of blame being passed out. House Republicans don’t think this is helpful. Wasn’t it President Truman who said, “the buck stops here?” Instead of [...]