After a day of back-and-forth between the Des Moines Register and Gov. Chet Culver’s office about the precise definition of a “10 percent salary cut,” the issue has been resolved.

The Register reported this morning that Culver planned merely to dock his pay for the remainder of Fiscal Year 2010, which was in line with the policy he set for other state employees taking salary cuts. That is, the cuts would not be retroactive, they would merely affect future salary payments.

That wasn’t acceptable to the Register, which seemed to turn the $6,000 molehill into scandal mountain.

Then, later this afternoon, the governor announced that he would reimburse the state for the full 10 percent of his salary.

Crisis averted, but not before the Republican Party of Iowa sent out some faint praise:

Taxpayers Hold Governor to His Promise

Des Moines, IA – Republican Party of Iowa Chairman Matt Strawn had this to say after Governor Culver’s office told news media that he will repay the state $13,000, or 10 percent of his salary:

“I am happy to see the governor commit to returning 10% of his total salary to the state, even if it took public pressure and media reports to make him fulfill his promise to Iowa taxpayers.”

What’s the political impact of all of this? Probably nothing.

But if the story helps anybody, it is probably Culver himself. The minor scandal was resolved to everyone’s satisfaction, and it extended the conversation about the governor’s (symbolic) move to cut his own salary by 10 percent for another 48 hours.