In a letter to their Republican counterparts, House Speaker Pat Murphy of Dubuque and Senate President Jack Kibbie of Emmetsburg said with the attorney general and auditor already conducting an investigation, there is no reason for the matter to go before the Legislative Oversight Committee.

“At this time, however, we believe that it would be imprudent for the Oversight Committee to bring officials from the Department of Economic Development/Film Office, state auditor’s office, attorney general’s office or Department of Revenue before the committee because it could impede or interrupt this joint investigation,” the letter said. “We are especially concerned about the effect of such testimony on any potential criminal proceedings in light of Chief Deputy Auditor Warren Jenkins’s statement that criminal charges against some individuals are possible.”

Jenkins told the Iowa Independent that any time the auditor’s office conducts an investigation that criminal charges are possible, although the likelihood of that happening in this investigation is small.

Murphy and Kibbie were responding to a request by Senate Minority Leader Paul McKinley and House Minority Leader Kraig Paulsen requesting the Oversight Committee look into the film credit allegations when the meet on Thursday.

Democratic Sen. Rich Olive of Story City, who chairs the Oversight Committee, said Tuesday that the committee would discuss the issue Thursday, saying the investigation could expand to all the state’s tax credit programs.

Appearing on the show of controversial Christian radio host Steve Deace, Vander Plaats once again said if elected governor in 2010 he would issue an executive order stopping same-sex marriage until the legislature either passes a law legalizing it or passes a constitutional amendment banning it.

“I can’t give the people the right to vote on this, but I think I can mobilize people like [Senate Majority Leader Mike] Gronstal and [House Speaker Pat] Murphy by saying no more same-sex marriages until you step up and vote to make this law,” Vander Plaats said.

After doing so, he said he fully expects Democrats to try to remove him from office for “promoting lawlessness.”

“I would like to have that debate, because then Pat Murphy has to go back to his people in Dubuque and tell them we’re going to impeach Vander Plaats because he wants the legislature to do its job in the constitution and he also wants to give you the right to vote,” he said.  “I don’t think that would play very well.”

Mark Kende, director of Drake University’s Constitutional Law Center, said the governor lacks the authority to issue an executive order freezing a decision by the Iowa Supreme Court. And while they disagree on many things, that is “pretty well accepted constitutional law by scholars who are both conservative and liberal.”

If Vander Plaats were to issue such an order, it could result in a constitutional crisis the likes of which the country hasn’t seen since desegregation cases in the Deep South, Kende said. Local officials, who are responsible for issuing marriage licenses, would be stuck between the governor’s executive order and an earlier order from the Iowa Attorney General’s office explaining to county recorders that they have no authority to ignore the court’s ruling.

Ultimately, desegregation cases were settled in the south by the federal government using troops to support the court, an option that is unlikely in Iowa.

“Courts do depend on the executive branch for enforcement, and regular executive disobedience would result in numerous crises,” Kende said. “This is what has happened in some other countries where the executive ignores the judiciary, such as Zimbabwe to give just one example.”

Vander Plaats said the Iowa Supreme Court overstepped its authority when on April 3 it issued an order striking down the state’s Defense of Marriage Act and legalizing same-sex marriage.

“If the Supreme Court goes out of bounds, who holds them in check?” he said. “I believe that’s where the executive branch comes in, to hold them in check. “

How to oppose same-sex marriage has been a focal point of a debate raging within the Republican Party of Iowa. Last month, Republican U.S. Rep. Steve King of Kiron publicly criticized those calling on elected officials to ignore the court’s ruling, saying the only method available to Iowans to stop same-sex marriage is a constitutional amendment.

King’s opinion, which he shared in a guest column for The Des Moines Register, drew harsh criticism from Deace and conservative activist Bill Salier, who said elected officials must be willing to confront the judicial branch, as well as ignore decisions they disagree with.

More recently, Vander Plaats attacked another GOP gubernatorial hopeful, Christopher Rants, for saying the governor does not have the authority to issue such an order.

Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal speaks as House Speaker Pat Murphy and former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean look on.

“Our goal is, hopefully for a long time, to do nothing on this issue,” Iowa House Speaker Pat Murphy, D-Dubuque, said. “To let people know that on April 3 there was a ruling, and on April 27 there were a lot of people who said the end of the world was coming. Well, it’s a month later, and the sun is still shining, the grass is still green and people are enjoying their lives and living in more dignity because of what’s happened.”

Murphy and Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal, D-Council Bluffs, spoke Thursday night at a reception in their honor hosted by One Iowa, the state’s largest gay rights organization. The day the Iowa Supreme Court overturned the state’s ban on same-sex marriage, Gronstal and Murphy issued a joint statement praising the decision and closed the door on legislative action to overturn it. Over the course of the session’s final weeks, both men repeatedly beat back attempts to push through a constitutional amendment overturning the court’s decision.

Also speaking at the event was former Democratic National Committee chair Howard Dean, who, as governor of Vermont, signed the country’s first civil unions bill into law nearly ten years ago. Dean applauded Gronstal and Murphy for their efforts.

“The reason I am proud of them is that they have done something that is not easy to do,” Dean said. “This is an incredibly emotional issue; I don’t have to tell you what the backlash is. But people in politics who have to face voters, this is the tough thing to stand up for. When people take risks like this on your behalf, you have got to support them.”

Dr. Howard Dean mingles with the crowd at Thursday night's One Iowa event. Also in attendance were U.S. Rep. Leonard Boswell, former Lt. Gov. Sally Pederson, Gov. Chet Culver Press Secretary Troy Price and numerous state legislators.

The summer after the Vermont civil unions bill was signed, Dean said the rhetoric became so heated he wore a bulletproof vest most of the time. Flash forward to last month and Vermont’s legislature was able to overwhelmingly pass a bill legalizing same-sex marriage. That shows how much opinion can change over time.

“Once somebody stands up and says who they are, it’s impossible to discriminate against them,” he said. “Most decent human beings can say terrible things about somebody they don’t know anything about. They can’t say those things about friends and neighbors.”

Despite the praise, Gronstal said he didn’t stand up for same-sex marriage in order to win support.

“We do have to face the voters, but we also have to face ourselves every morning,” he said. “We have to be able to look ourselves in the mirror every day. And by the way, we didn’t do this for the GLBT community. We did this for everybody.”

The goal now, Murphy said, is to make sure the work doesn’t stop and groups like One Iowa continue to fight to elect “open-minded people who are willing to protect the rights of the people of this state.”

Dean agreed, saying if Iowa fails, the entire gay rights movement could fail.

“We have to make sure they get re-elected,” he said. “If they lose, this sets back the movement. People around the country will say: ‘Look what they did in Iowa, and look at the price Democrats had to pay.’ So it makes a big difference.”

Once the activists, organized by the Iowa Family Policy Center, had moved into the gallery, Republican House Minority Leader Kraig Paulsen made two motions.  First, he attempted to invoke Rule 77, which requires House members to remain in the chambers, preventing them from “taking a walk” if a tough vote comes up.

Confusion ensued.  Paulsen then attempted to invoke Rule 60, which allows a majority vote on the floor of the House to pull a bill out of a committee even if the committee has not approved it.

Currently, the House’s resolution to amend the state constitution to ban same-sex marriage, House Joint Resolution 6, is stalled in the State Government Committee.  Paulsen had hoped to bring it up for a vote anyway.

After a tense half hour in the well on the House floor, Democratic House Speaker Pat Murphy ruled both of Paulsen’s motions out of order.  The protesters chanted “Let us vote” before they began to leave.

Find more at Bleeding Heartland, Radio Iowa, and the Des Moines Register.

McCarthy, who was first elected in 2003, has discussed new careers with Gov. Chet Culver and others in the private sector, sources tell Skinny. The Des Moines Democrat serves as the second in command to House Speaker Pat Murphy, D-Dubuque. His district is considered one of the safest Democratic districts in Iowa, encompassing a large swath of Des Moines’ southeast side. So while McCarthy’s departure won’t mean a net loss for the Democrats, it could have impact on the workings of the House caucus.

If he does leave, it probably won’t break the heart of House Speaker Pat Murphy, who, no matter what Iowans for Tax Relief says, is not a jack-booted Nazi. The loafered American and McCarthy aren’t particularly close — Murphy is a voluble guy who wears his heart on his sleeve; McCarthy is a reticent guy who keeps his feelings to himself — and as a team they haven’t been particularly effective even though they have 56 of the 100 House members. They couldn’t round up enough votes to pass a bill desperately wanted by their labor backers, for instance, and labor’s other bills appear to be dead. But if McCarthy does bow out, there’s no obvious successor, which could make Murphy’s job even harder.

McCarthy did not respond to a request for comment from the Iowa Independent.

Skinny also reports that Iowa Farm Bureau President Craig Lang considering a run for governor, despite the fact that it would mean challenging Culver, the very guy who appointed him to the Iowa Board of Regents. Lang is the latest name to be floated as a possible Republican gubernatorial candidate in 2010, along with U.S. Rep. Steve King, state Rep. Christopher Rants, Iowa Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey, state Auditor David Vaudt and Ames businessman Bruce Rastetter. Sioux City businessman Bob Vander Plaats has already formed an exploratory committee to run in 2010.

“It is a tough question to answer because treating everyone fairly is really a matter of Iowa common sense and Iowa common decency,” the Democrats said in a joint statement, alluding to Gov. Chet Culver’s 2006 campaign slogan, “Iowa Common Values, Iowa Common Sense.”

With same-sex marriage opponents demanding the legislature act to nullify the Court’s decision, Gronstal and Murphy’s unconditional praise of the ruling seems to indicate there will be no rush by Democratic leadership to make the decision an issue before the General Assembly. Both Democrats and Republicans said Thursday that they had doubts the legislature would take up the issue this session.

Here is the full text of their joint statement:

“Thanks to today’s decision, Iowa continues to be a leader in guaranteeing all of our citizens’ equal rights.

“The court has ruled today that when two Iowans promise to share their lives together, state law will respect that commitment, regardless of whether the couple is gay or straight.

“When all is said and done, we believe the only lasting question about today’s events will be why it took us so long.  It is a tough question to answer because treating everyone fairly is really a matter of Iowa common sense and Iowa common decency.

“Today, the Iowa Supreme Court has reaffirmed those Iowa values by ruling that gay and lesbian Iowans have all the same rights and responsibilities of citizenship as any other Iowan.

“Iowa has always been a leader in the area of civil rights.

“In 1839, the Iowa Supreme Court rejected slavery in a decision that found that a slave named Ralph became free when he stepped on Iowa soil, 26 years before the end of the Civil War decided the issue.

“In 1868, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled that racially segregated “separate but equal” schools had no place in Iowa, 85 years before the U.S. Supreme Court reached the same decision.

“In 1873, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled against racial discrimination in public accommodations, 91 years before the U.S. Supreme Court reached the same decision.

“In 1869, Iowa became the first state in the union to admit women to the practice of law.

“In the case of recognizing loving relationships between two adults, the Iowa Supreme Court is once again taking a leadership position on civil rights.

“Today, we congratulate the thousands of Iowans who now can express their love for each other and have it recognized by our laws.”

“It was apparent you were speaking with a group of people who didn’t agree with you,” said Pearson, who was there testifying in support of the bill on behalf the Iowa Policy Project, a nonpartisan budget and tax research organization. “I don’t know that it was intimidating to speak, but it was a disappointing way to open the hearing – to be booed immediately after speaking. It did feel disrespectful.”

The boisterous crowd, a large majority of which opposed the proposed changes to Iowa’s tax code, gave each of the speakers who voiced support for the proposal the same treatment – boos and hisses. Those who opposed it, such as Iowans for Tax Relief President Ed Failor Jr., received energetic applause.

“I’m aware that people on both sides of this issue care a lot about it, but that’s not really an excuse for disrespect,” Pearson said. “It felt like there was a lot of ill will being directed towards people who were speaking in support of the bill.”

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Paul Shomshor, D-Council Bluffs, issued several warnings asking the crowd to settle down, as House rules prohibit demonstrations of any type from the gallery.

“I was surprised that people refused to quiet down after being asked,” Pearson said. “I understand that if you haven’t been to a public forum before, it might seem natural to express your feelings by cheering the people you agree with. But when it was expressed to the group that it was out of line, I was surprised it continued.”

Lana Ross, executive director of the Iowa Community Action Association, testified about a portion of the bill that would increase the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child and Dependent Care Credit, initiatives supported by Democrats and Republicans alike.

“At the end of my statement, I said I encourage you to support the bill,” Ross said. “When [the spectators] heard that they all started hissing.”

Ross had heard the boos that followed Pearson’s remarks, so she expected a reaction from the crowd when she was done.

“But I did not expect them to hiss, which I think is an inappropriate response,” she said.

An hour into the meeting, House Speaker Pat Murphy, D-Dubuque, ordered that the public had to leave the hearing unless they were signed up to speak, causing an eruption of boos and jeers. Republicans immediately condemned the move, with Republican Party of Iowa Chairman Matt Strawn calling it a “gross display of arrogance,” and Failor calling Murphy a “a jack-booted Nazi.”

“This is not an athletic event where you cheer for the home team and you jeer and boo against people that you don’t agree with,” Murphy said.

John Gilliland, senior vice president of government relations with the Iowa Association of Business and Industry and an opponent of the bill, said the entire situation could have been managed better. He blamed House leadership for immediately telling the audience that if they didn’t settle down they could be expelled from the hearing.

“When folks were told they could be kicked out of the chamber, it put the crowd on edge,” he said. “It really put them in an adversarial role, and it eventually boiled over. “

The people who attend public hearings like this are passionate about the issue being discussed, Gilliland said.  “So it’s natural to have folks expressing those passions. There has to be a better way to manage and minimize that so everyone has a chance to be heard.”

As someone on the receiving end of the crowd’s ire, Pearson said she felt the Speaker acted properly.

“I think the threats made early on to remove people who were being disruptive weren’t being followed up on, which I think gave the group a license to continue,” she said. “So I think the Speaker did what he had to do.”

Ross said public hearings she’s attended in the past have been much more respectful.

“Usually it embodies the belief that we all have opinions and they should all be shared,” she said. “Part of public hearing is listening as much as talking. It’s an opportunity to hear the other side.”

The bill being debated calls for the end of federal deductibility, a part of Iowa’s tax code that deducts federal taxes paid from a person’s adjusted gross income for state tax purposes. The effect is that income subject to state taxes is much lower, which in turn causes the state to institute a higher tax rate in order to generate enough revenue.

The biggest tragedy of the night, though, is that instead of a discussion of tax reform the hearing became a circus, Pearson said.

“It was a very disrespectful atmosphere, and I don’t think it did any service to the public policy debate that was going on,” she said. “The story has become people being ejected rather than a story about why people do or don’t agree with the proposal. As someone who does public policy, I find that unfortunate.”

A boisterous crowd of more than 500 people, the majority of which was made up of opponents of the tax plan, repeatedly interrupted the proceedings by loudly cheering speakers they agreed with and booing those they opposed.

After several warnings, Murphy cleared the crowd, later saying he should have made the move earlier when several speakers were booed. House rules prohibit demonstrations of any type from the gallery.

Only those scheduled to speak were allowed to remain, and the public hearing was finally resumed.

The hearing officially concluded just before 10 p.m.

Radio Iowa’s O.Kay Hendeson has audio recorded during the uproar. She also has audio of a confrontation between Murphy and Iowans for Tax Relief Presiden Ed Failor Jr., who said the Speaker “acted like a jack-booted Nazi.”

The bill being debated calls for the end of federal deductibility, a part of Iowa’s tax code that deducts federal taxes paid from a person’s adjusted gross income for state tax purposes. The effect is that income subject to state taxes is much lower, which in turn causes the state to institute a higher tax rate in order to generate enough revenue.

The House Ways & Means Committee approved the bill on a party-line vote Monday night.

Democrats plan to use the roughly $600 million that would be generated by ending the deduction to restructure the tax code. Republicans say the change is just a tax increase in disguise.

Iowa Banking Superintendent Tom Gronstal and officials from West Bank, MidWestOne Bank and Heartland Financial have been asked to appear before the panel.

Iowa House Speaker Pat Murphy, D-Dubuque, said last week that the goal of calling the banking executives before the legislature was to ensure the money the banks received is helping keep families in their homes.

“We want to make sure that the money they received, that they’re willing to discuss it with us and if they aren’t I think it’s a good reason for people to even inquire more if they don’t,” he said, adding: “We want to make sure that people are accountable whether it’s local money, state money or federal money.”

West Bancorporation received $36 million on in federal bailout money on Dec. 8, Heartland Financial received $81.7 million on Dec. 10 and MidWestOne received $34.9 million on Dec. 15.

Culver said raising the gas tax during a recession would not be “a prudent thing to do” but stopped short of committing to veto an increase. He said, “If 150 legislators want to keep talking about it, they have that right.”

“[Culver] hasn’t said ‘no’ in my presence,” said Senate President Jack Kibbie, D-Emmetsburg, Thursday morning.  Kibbie argued for a gas tax increase during his opening remarks to the legislature.

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy said legislators think that based on Culver’s public statements there is a willingness to listen to the legislature on this issue.

House Speaker Pat Murphy, D-Dubuque, said it would be closer to the end of the session before legislators tackle the issue.

The gas tax issue seems to be driven by a feeling that the next Revenue Estimating Conference, which will take place in March, bring more bad economic news. Most believe revenues will be down further than expected, which would mean more spending cuts on top of those already proposed by Culver or increased taxes.

Supporters say truckers driving along the state’s interstate system would pay the majority of a gas tax increase.