Family Feud
Here's what behind the Iowa Statehouse drama
It’s not as awkward as when we see reruns from the 1970s and 80s of television game show host Richard Dawson kissing every female — regardless of age — on the lips. But the Iowa Statehouse version of “Family Feud” could offer some of its own cringeworthy moments.
What had been largely private has now become a public display of disagreement in two different ways.
Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, a Republican, vs. House Speaker Pat Grassley, another Republican — Reynolds seems to have been closer to Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver for a while even before this latest budget disagreement, especially on financial matters.
But the governor brought this out in the open last Monday by releasing a joint statement with Whitver that they were aligned on a budget target for the upcoming year. I can’t imagine Grassley was too thrilled with this. Nor would he have been with the governor accusing him of wanting to spend too much money (Grassley supported spending $36 million more in the coming year than Reynolds/Whitver).
Grassley points to $14 million of the $36 million difference that it especially troublesome for his caucus. The money would go to public schools to raise pay for paraeducators. He said that it is part of a two-year priority by Statehouse Republicans to help out districts. Reynolds said that if Grassley thinks this is a priority, then he should have included in the school funding bill that Republicans finally passed in April (they should have done it about two months sooner, according to state law).
Grassley then told us that failing to give schools money for paraeducators would be like going back on a promise, which he said would be like when former governor Chet Culver, a Democrat, ordered a 10% across-the-board funding cut in the fall of 2009 to deal with the financial mess caused by the Great Recession.
Republicans have mocked Culver for years after he did that and accused him of taking the lazy way out of tough budget choices. So…Grassley implying that Reynolds would be doing something like Culver would have done? Ouch.
Friday was the final scheduled day of the 2025 legislative session. Lawmakers haven’t agreed on a budget, even though Republicans control the process. Let’s see how long this Reynolds vs. Grassley budget battle affects any chance to get resolution soon.
Senate Republicans vs. Senate Republican leadership — A dozen Republican senators have issued an ultimatum to Senate Majority Whitver: allow a vote on eminent domain restrictions for carbon pipelines or we won’t support a budget.
This issue of eminent domain has been a flashpoint of contention for several years now. Some landowners have protested and demanded legal protection because they don’t think that a private company should be able to legally get access to their property without their permission.
House Republicans have passed restrictions, but senate Republican leadership hasn’t allowed the bill to come up for a vote.
Frustration grew in recent weeks. Several Republican senators stood up on the floor of the chamber and asked for leadership to allow debate. That didn’t work.
Now, 12 senators have gone public with a letter demanding the vote. While Republicans have a huge party advantage in the senate — 34 seats to 16 for Democrats — they do not have enough seats to pass a budget without 12 of their colleagues’ support, unless Democrats help them. And that seems unlikely.
The Reynolds vs. Grassley disagreement already threatened to slow down progress on the budget. Now add in this demand from the dozen GOP senators and that may drag this Statehouse stalemate out for a few more weeks.
I made both of these my focus on the latest “Inside Iowa Politics” digital show for my Iowa television group. It includes my 1-on-1 interview with Governor Reynolds on this budget drama. Check it out here.
How could both of these disagreements end? Paid subscribers can find out below.
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