Wednesday was a difficult day for The American Independent News Network, which is the larger entity that operates The Iowa Independent. Our chief executive and founder announced two of our sister sites would close and their content would be moved to The American Independent.
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Former Republican lawmaker turned lobbyist Laverne Schroeder will no longer represent the Iowa American Legion amid controversy regarding a bill he registered “against” without the American Legion’s authorization.
As the Iowa Independent reported last month, the legislation that sparked the partisan controversy, HF 2110, would ease unemployment restrictions for military spouses who leave their jobs due to military reassignment.
Even though the bill passed along party lines in the House, 56-44, and moved on to the Senate, House Democrats were not pleased when they discovered that Schroeder had registered the American Legion as “against” the bill one minute before the House debate was scheduled to begin. During the debate, some of the Republican representatives, including Jodi Tymeson of Winterset and Lance Horbach of Tama, highlighted the Legion’s opposition to the bill. “They turned that into an argument and said the Democrats were rolling over on veterans and that if the American Legion did not support the bill, how could we support such a bill,” Rep. McKinley Bailey, D-Webster City, a member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee who served in the U.S. Army in Iraq and Afghanistan told the Iowa Independent in a phone interview. “It was unethical at best.”
The American Legion sent a letter to the House of Representatives the day after the vote apologizing for the miscommunication and Adjunct John Derner told the Iowa Independent during a phone interview that they would look into the matter. “We are currently investigating why this happened and what preventive measures we need to take so something like this does not happen again. This issue will be addressed by our legislative commission at our annual mid-winter conference.”
In the meantime Schroeder stated his intention to resign his lobbyist status in a letter sent to the America Legion last Friday, the day before the mid-winter conference was scheduled.
The Des Moines Register reported Schroeder’s response to his decision to step down:
“They (Iowa veterans and American Legion members) made a bunch of calls into the Legion and I said ‘You know, if you think it’s hurting your name, I will just quit representing the Legion right now.’ And that’s what I’ve done,” Schroeder said.
Schroeder noted that he hasn’t severed all ties with the Legion but will no longer work as the group’s lobbyist.
“I just don’t want anybody to be dragged through the water for following the rules,” Schroeder said.
News of Schroeder’s resignation pleased one such veteran and Legion member, Bob Krause, a Democratic candidate running against Republican U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley. “This goes a long way in clearing the good name of the American Legion, which was ‘thrown under the bus’ in this battle,” Krause said in a statement to the Iowa Independent. “Mr. Schroeder’s action did violate his charge by the Legion, and I expect that the Legion will pick a new lobbyist who can work both sides of the aisle and who will focus on the good of the veteran and the soldier.”
“The big question remains is, ‘Why did Mr. Schroeder do it?’” Krause, a former representative in the Iowa House during the 1970s, added. “’Cross-pollination’ among lobbyists in the back room is a common practice.”
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