Stories

Not only is Gov. Chet Culver and his staff committed to working with legislators, but Lt. Gov. Patty Judge spoke with a Democratic leader the night before concerns were made public that the relationship had soured, the governor’s press secretary told the Iowa Independent.

The sometimes-strained relationship between Gov. Chet Culver and Democratic lawmakers is nothing new, but it may be getting worse. Today legislative leaders said the governor’s refusal to work with them has brought the legislative session to a grinding halt.

A leader in the Iowa legislature tells Des Moines’ resident gossip columnist, Civic Skinny, that House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has been making none-too-subtle moves indicating he isn’t interested in running for re-election in 2010.

On a 49-49 vote, House File 333, which would have required state-funded public works projects to pay a “prevailing wage” to workers, finally failed moments ago.  Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy switched to vote “no” for procedural reasons.
House Speaker Pat Murphy had left the voting machine open all weekend — which required him or a designee [...]

A day after Gov. Chet Culver voiced his opposition to any tax increases to help solve Iowa’s budget problems, Democratic legislative leaders said they have not given up on the idea of increasing the state’s gasoline tax.

Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement (CCI) is demanding Democratic leaders in the Iowa House remove Dolores Mertz as chair of the House Agriculture Committee.
The group points to what it calls Mertz’s ties to the factory farm industry, including the fact that her son owns a 4,000-head hog factory, as motivation for House Speaker Pat Murphy, [...]

After leading Iowa House Democrats to pick up three seats this year, House Speaker Pat Murphy and Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy were retained in their leadership positions by the House Democratic caucus today.
House Speaker Pro Tem Polly Butka will also remain in her position, but there are some new names among this year’s assistant majority [...]

With polls showing Democrat Barack Obama with an ever widening lead in Iowa (and nationally), Des Moines’ resident gossip column, Civic Skinny, takes a look at who in Iowa stands to benefit from their early and fervent support of the man who is increasingly looking like the next President of the United States.
So who are [...]

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy just issued “a stark warning” to Jefferson-Jackson dinner attendees.
Republicans, McCarthy said, are making the Iowa House their top priority.  “The Republicans have made no secret this election that one of their primary focuses 30 days from now is going to be to take back” the Iowa House, he said.
“We’re 53-47, [...]

Apparently we’re done with playing nice about the floods.

The Des Moines Register’s Iowa Ear describes a heated exchange between House Minority Leader Christopher Rants, R-Sioux City, and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, D-Des Moines, over how to best help those affected by this year’s severe weather. If it is any indication of things to come, [...]