If you thought there was a rift between Gov. Chet Culver’s office and the Democratic leaders in the state legislature, our reporting indicates you would probably be right.  Ever since the governor vetoed a controversial bill to expand the scope collective bargaining for certain public employees after the close of the 2008 legislative session, tensions have run high.  Theories surrounding why Culver vetoed the bill and when he decided to do so (after some legislators claim that Culver raised no objections to the bill before it passed on essentially party-line votes) abound.

But based on the statements coming out of House Speaker Pat Murphy’s office, you might not think anything was wrong.

In a just-released statement about the governor’s flood recovery efforts, Murphy concluded by saying, “I appreciate the hard work and leadership of Governor Culver and Lt. Governor Judge in rebuilding a stronger Iowa.”

Culver and the legislative leadership are working as cooperatively as they can to determine whether the governor should call a special session to deal with flood recovery.  If the governor framed the session correctly — and if legislative Democrats could avoid non-flood-related issues like gay marriage and labor regulations, which could hurt them no matter how they voted so close to election day — it would likely be a boon to state legislators who are up for reelection.  If he framed it incorrectly, or if legislators were forced to take tough votes on hot-button issues, it would likely hurt them.

Is the newfound goodwill more a product of necessity, or have legislators and the governor used the past few months of downtime to rebuild more than just eastern Iowa’s flood-damaged infrastructure?