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David Yepsen was singing the praises of Chet Culver today for undermining efforts to allow teachers and other public employees the same rights as private sector employees. Apparently if this happens, there’s a chance that teachers may negotiate for smaller class sizes as part of collective bargaining and why would any Iowa school want smaller class sizes? Except, of course, that there is a definitive link between class size and academic performance among students. Yepsen also brings up the scary fact that the collective bargaining bill would mean more binding arbitration which Yepsen is sure means higher costs to government. However, Ed Tibbets in an exhaustive piece for the Quad City Times shows that binding arbitration only happens rarely. In fact, it only occurs in 1% of all contract disputes in Iowa. In fact, binding arbitration may work against teachers and other public employees union. While opponents of the bills claim that in arbitration cases involving school districts, teachers prevail against management 57% of the time (although includes a mere 63 cases that occurred over the past 5 years), the Quad City Times’ review of arbitration cases in Scott County shows the contrary and management prevailing over public employees almost 60% of the time.
However, this isn’t stopping the fearmongering. Far-right organizations like Iowans for Tax Relief are claiming (without any data to back up their claims, of course) this could lead to disastrous rises in property taxes, leading Iowa to become more like such states as Maryland, Kansas and Maine and less like such states as Alabama, Arkansas and New Mexico (which incidentally not only have the lowest property taxes in the nation but rank in the bottom for household income, percentage of those living in poverty, employment and just about every other indicator of economic and social health available). So why is Chet going against fairness for teachers and other public employees (along with virtually every Democrat in the legislature) to bathe in the good graces of Iowans for Tax Relief and David Yepsen?
One assumes this is political posturing, designed to strengthen Culver’s hand in his dealings with the legislature. After all, as the Sioux City Journal notes “Culver raised no objections with the substance of the bill, just the process by which it passed. Spokesman Brad Anderson said Culver was ‘not pleased’ that he wasn’t notified earlier, and felt the public should have been included in the debate.” This isn’t politics, it’s personal pique.
As a result, Culver’s annoyance with Mike Gronstal and Pat Murphy, he’s fanned the flames of this issue in a way that has energized Republicans and hurt working people. Iowa Democrats have waited 40 years to pass progressive legislation and for Culver to show such pettiness by standing in the way is disgraceful and sullies an otherwise admirable record as Governor. As Jack Kibbie notes, one imagines that Culver will support the collective bargaining bill “because of his future. He’s running on the Democratic ticket, I presume.” But if Culver continues to stand against guaranteeing public employees the same rights as their private sector counterparts, he’ll be as good a fit on the Republican ticket as on the Democratic one.
March 30th, 2008
Today was a big day in the Iowa House, where Representatives voted 59-37 to pass Senate File 427, which updates Iowa’s civil rights law to outlaw discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation (and perceived sexual orientation).
Until yesterday, few people expected the bill to make it to the floor of the House at all, even though it passed the Iowa Senate last month. Without a guarantee that the bill would pass (or even a guarantee that all of the Democrats would sign on), the leadership was reluctant to force its members to make a vote that could hurt them in their reelection campaigns. Ex-Speaker and current Minority Leader Chris Rants was doing everything he possibly could to prevent any Republican members from supporting the bill (even though some Republicans were definitely interested), and it looked like he might succeed in forcing a stalemate through the end of the legislative session.
In the end, though, the Democratic leadership put civil rights ahead of political concerns, and put the bill up to a vote. The result was a resounding victory. And, although Murphy and McCarthy have been getting a lot of grief about VOICE and a few other issues that have worked up our blogging community, this should earn them back some street cred.
More from Mark’s diary over at BleedingHeartland (partially cross-posted with permission):
Senate File 427 updates Iowa’s Civil Rights Act to prohibit discrimination in employment, public accommodation, housing, education, or credit practices based on age, race, creed, color, sex, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, or disability.
The discussion on various blogs throughout the state over the past few months has focused on what the Iowa Legislature has FAILED to accomplish - rather than the victories. This bill is truly a victory for progressives and for everyone who would like to call Iowa home. Leadership in both chambers made this bill a priority throughout the session - and now we can separate ourselves from the 33 other states where it’s OK to dismiss employees because of their real or perceived sexual orientation.
In particular, it was leadership from Democrats in cooperation with Iowa businesses and civil rights leaders who pushed this bill through to final passage. Corporate America is rapidly realizing that creating a tolerant atmosphere for everyone to work is an important part of growing a business - and a state. According to an article in Fortune Magazine:
So it’s clear where big business is going. What’s interesting is to watch it pull the rest of the country along. It turns out that the most important factor shaping people’s feelings about gay issues is not their age or even their religion - although those do matter - but whether they have relatives, friends or co-workers who are gay.
“The more out and open people are, the more changed the straight people are all around them,” says Joe Solmonese, the Human Rights Campaign president. HRC began organizing workplaces to secure benefits for gay employees. This has inadvertently become a shrewd political strategy as well. “To move the mindset of the American people, we need to find the places where they congregate,” Solmonese says. “Priority one is corporate America.”
April 26th, 2007
I had intended to liveblog this event but got stuck in an overflow room with no option of standing in the back. I’m not sure how many updates I’ll be posting as this event starts in a few minutes…
…that situation has been remedied. Read on for liveblogging. Sorry for typos, etc., but this is all being typed on a Blackberry pseudo-keyboard.
State rep Mark Smith is on now talking about the successes Dems have had in Iowa and about history. He compares Obama to Abraham Lincoln. Then he makes sure to note that he hasn’t endorsed anyone yet and that it’s too early for him to make an endorsement.
Obama is on now. He thanks Mark Smith and volunteers who helped with the event. He says Iowa and Illinois are a lot alike, except Illinois has Chicago.
…He’s going over his bio and tieing that in to the purpose of politics…
Now he’s on to the issues. Goes down list of problems we face; gets applause at the end when he says he was against the war from the beginning. Casts himself as Washington outsider and gets more applause. It sounds like he hasn’t quite memorized his stump speech yet, because it has been a little choppy.
Says we can use ethanol just like Brazil. Says using incentives can make capitalism earth-friendly.
Mentions his senate bill on Iraq withdrawal and gets applause again. Says diplomacy is the answer and alludes to Marshall plan.
He is finishing his speech by talking about the importance of us getting involved and finally mentions briefly that he had a lot of small donors during the last quarter
Now questions…
First questionis on universal health care. Obama talks about preventative health care as part of the solution. He talks about obesity as an example of the problem, but he sounded a little critical of fat people - oops.
This answer is taking too long considering everyone already knows his position as it has been defined. .
Next question is from a peace activist on Israel and Palestine. Obama starts tip toeing…
Religious conflict between shia and sunni predates Israel, he says, dodging the original question.
Obama does believe that Israel-Palestine is serving to perpetuate problems in the reason.
He calls for two-state solution. Palestinians must recognize Israel’s right to exist and stop terrorism. US must be a part of negotiations. My pro-Israel friend just said Obamas answer won his vote.
Sandy shaver from UAW/Maytag asks about outsourcing. It turns out Barack Obama is against it.
Solution one is stop giving tax benefits for outsourcing.
Solution two is improving infrastructure like broadband.
Solution three is spending a lot of money on green technology (on the scale of the Manhattan project, he says).
Finally Obama says he supports both free trade and fair trade. My Econ major friends roll their eyes a but but it sounds good to me
That was all his answer to the outsourcing question.
Next question from a teacher is whether he will consult teachers on his education plans. He says his sister is a teacher (and yes, he will).
Everyone has to work to improve education: parents, students, community, etc.
Obama says he does support some of NCLB’s goals, including higher standards for students. But he thinks it needs to be more sensitive to individual students, and he thinks the funding situation needs reform.
Also he wants to increase teacher pay tied to some accountability measures.
Cute kid asks about year-round school. Obama says he might like the idea of changing the school calendar to avoid one long summer break.
Next question comes from an Iowan with a mental disability on employment possibilities. Obama praises tom harkin forhis work on the issue and promises to get one of his staff to help Him get in touch withthe right people.
Next question is ,what has happened to our democratic party? Dems are too friendly to big business and too soft on immigration.
Obama says you can’t be pro-worker without also being pro-employer. Question-asker isn’t satisfied and asks more specifically about immigration.
Obama supports more secure border and better I’d verification. But he also thinks that those people who are here can’t - and shouldn’t - be sent home.
Last question comes from a student about how expensive college is. He says student loan systemshould be reformed so banks are no longer making money on kids.
Obama is also in favor of expanding national service programs and offering to pay for education for kids who go into certain important professions (like teaching).
He closes by waving a supporter cardsnd asking is to get involved. More thoughts later
April 6th, 2007
The big story in many parts of the country yesterday was that the Department of Homeland Security and Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested 1,200 alleged illegal immigrants in six major meat-processing and packing plants across the country. What you may not have known, since it hasn’t been mentioned much in the Iowa blogosphere, is that one of the big busts happened in Marshalltown. In fact, we learn today, that the impetus for the busts across the country was an identity theft investigation that also started in Marshalltown.
Frankly, although I’m disappointed that we haven’t been talking more about this in the Iowa blogosphere, I also really don’t know what to say. Illegal immigration is on some level bad for pretty much everyone involved (including the immigrants, who are often exploited), but this raid is going to have a really negative effect on Marshalltown according to many. For instance:
Marshalltown Associate Superintendent Patrick Kremer said school staff have been trying to find out the status of students who haven’t showed up to school after the arrests. He said he is concerned some students will drop out after what happened.
That really isn’t good for anybody in the long run. Education isn’t foolproof, but it’s the best way we know of to lift people out of poverty and reduce crime when it works. Emotionally, it seems to have taken a huge toll, too. When you have teenage girls comparing the raid to 9/11, you know things are bad:
“When 9/11 came along, everyone remembered it,” said Isis Diaz, 14, and a freshman. “I think everyone will remember this.”
That report also notes that the day after the raid, there was an increased police presence on campus, and students feared that they could be arrested for going to school if their immigration status was in question. Again, not good for anyone.
Until about two years ago, Marshalltown was the closest city with a real movie theater for Grinnell students to go to. I know we will do our best to follow this story and its long-term impacts on the community, because it could be a pretty big deal. For instance, will this raid actually reduce unemployment in Marshalltown (as anti-immigration groups assert that it will)? Or will such a large-scale crackdown
be too big a blow to a community like Marshalltown for anyone to see much benefit?
UPDATE: One thing I didn’t know before now is that noneed4thneed of the Century of the Common Iowan blog writes from Marshalltown and is a second grade teacher there. If his latest post is any indication, his blog will be a useful place to look for a local perspective on all this.
December 13th, 2006
Today marked the National Day Without Immigrants, the effects of which have been felt all throughout Iowa and the rest of the country. The Register has a few articles detailing the impact of today’s boycott, highlights including some anger over lost wages in Storm Lake, some construction delays, a few protests across the state (including Iowa City), and various other reactions from around the state. I recognize that in a state such as Iowa, where we are having trouble stemming the hemorrhaging of manufacturing jobs, where the agricultural economy has seen better days, and where unemployment is a problem that some still face, immigration can be a particularly thorny issue. However, the immigrants who are coming to Iowa are exactly the type of productive citizens that the state claims to need so badly. These are people who work hard, who raise their children here, who pay taxes (regardless of citizenship, the sales tax is always paid), and who only seek the opportunity to share in and improve the quality of this country. My family came to this country generations ago via immigration, and the idea that we as Americans, or we as Iowans, would deny others the right to the same opportunities our families had when they came to the country is outrageous to me. The sooner Iowa recognizes that immigrants are a boon to our culture, our economy, and our state, the better.
In other news, Chet Culver has articulated the details of his plan to create more affordability among higher education. However, when I heard Culver speak, he seemed to gear his plan more towards offering more AP classes in high school than in restructuring and improving the economics of college. Yes, being able to knock a year off your B.A. or B.S. in high school would be a financial windfall, but an AP class is, in my opinion, a poor substitute for both the knowledge and life experience gained at college. And, yet again, another political candidate outlines a plan for spending without saying where that money is going to come from.
Finally, if anyone missed it, Stephen Colbert absolutely took Bush to task at the White House Correspondent’s Association dinner. He did not reserve his vitriol for Bush alone though, as the press itself took a beating, as well as McCain and Scalia among others. Here’s a Washington Post summary of the sketch and how it went over.
May 1st, 2006
Legislators will begin investigating the Central Iowa Employment and Training Consortium tomorrow after top officers were found to have received “excessive” salaries.
State Auditor David Vaudt told the AP that the state may be responsible for repayment to the federal government of $1.8 million.
The agency’s board members say they didn’t know where the money was going, while Des Moines City Councilman Archie Brooks told the Register that a stroke prevented him from taking care of the matter:
“My memory is not what it was. The government knows that. They pay me for it. I lose thought. I lose mind. I lose names. I can’t use that as an excuse. Did I not keep track of the records? Did I not keep a running total on my desk? No. Was I the only person authorized to sign? Yes.”
I don’t even know what to make of all this. A line from Casablanca springs to mind though. We’ll see.
April 4th, 2006
