Republicans unhappy with collective bargaining attempt

(Photo by Randy M. Cauthron) Republicans Sen. David Johnson and Rep. Mike May talk about the issues with members of the Eggs & Issues audience following Saturday morning's final session in the Spencer City Hall council chambers.

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Without Democrats Sen. Jack Kibbie and Rep. Marcie Frevert present due to other commitments in their district, Republicans Sen. David Johnson and Reps. Mike May and Royd Chambers used the final Eggs & Issues session Saturday to decry the efforts of the majority party to change the state's collective bargaining laws.

Calling the Democratic party's effort "Disingenuous at best and flat out lies at worst," Chambers opened the meeting to take the other side of the aisle to task.

"The last couple of weeks have been pretty trying in Des Moines…The collective bargaining debate came about in the middle of the night."

Chambers called the proposed changes "major" and suggested, "This does have serious implications on local tax payers."

After crediting a bipartisan effort on a constitutional amendment to provide a funding source dedicated to natural resource and outdoor recreation for Iowa, Johnson said that all of that bipartisan work "went right out the window" and on the collective bargaining matter.

"Why were we lied to? Why did this happen? Is that the Iowa way to do things?" Johnson asked rhetorically, answering his own question, ". I don't think so."

Johnson continued, "There are lots of lies going around about this initiative. What's real disturbing is the right to appeal doesn't exist. The reason we have courts is to protect both sides."

May agreed, "This was the issue of the week last week and the week before."

The Spirit Lake representative credited the constituents with stopping the bill from moving ahead. "You folks made the difference these past two weeks. By Monday, the governor had received 1,400 calls with a 10-to-1 ration to veto the bill."

May indicated that the Senate would now hang onto the bill because they don't want to send it to the governor for a veto.

"Some think he's posturing because he wants other things passed. I choose to believe he's serious about this and he would like us to weigh in on this."

The three legislators were asked about the growing controversy surrounding a group of proposed hog operations that are on schedule to be built in Clay County.

It was agreed that "quality" studies need to be done studying the impact of hog lots, but some funding has been pulled from the table.

Johnson pointed out that taxpayer funded institutions such as Iowa State University are involved in this kind of research as a land grant university.

One member of the audience suggested, "You're going to see ethanol and hog confinements everywhere."

Chambers said, "It's a good thing that Iowa has the largest hog population. It's a good thing that the cattle market is growing. We don't want to run our producers out of Iowa, it will hurt our economy."

May added, "We have to figure out how to make it work.

"We don't have good research. We need this research to move forward. We need to be concerned about those that exist as well as those coming in."

May is proposing a three-step certification process to make sure the facility is not going to be a community problem, but neither May nor his two colleagues would agree to a five-year moratorium on any new facilities in the state while additional research is being done.

Additional topics discussed included human services, SILO tax and education, as well as road funding.

Eggs & Issues is hosted each year by the Spencer Chamber of Commerce.