Reasoner resigns leadership post
By Larry Peterson
Prior to two days of last-minute marathon debating to conclude the 2009 Iowa Legislature, House Assistant Majority Leader Michael Reasoner resigned his leadership position.
Reasoner, D-Creston, said he will continue as state representative for House District 95, but effective Thursday was no longer working in the House leadership role he held for five years.
Reached by the News Advertiser Sunday night, Reasoner declined to offer specifics beyond the letter he submitted Thursday to House Speaker Pat Murphy, D-Dubuque. It reads:
“For the past five years I have had the honor of representing Democrats in the Iowa House of Representatives as an Assistant Leader. It has been an experience I will always remember. To do justice to the position, a balancing of interests must occur — presenting a unified, public agreement with leadership while at the same time reconciling district and personal philosophies.
“My differences of opinion as to the direction of the caucus are at odds with the direction you believe House Democrats should pursue. So as not to send mixed signals to the Caucus that the leadership team is not united and out of respect for you as Speaker and the Caucus as a whole, I hereby resign my position as an Assistant Leader effective immediately.
“Thank you for the opportunity to work with you in leading the House Democratic Caucus.”
If there was a difference between Reasoner and Murphy on specific issues of legislation, neither would address them with reporters over the weekend. Murphy noted that Democrats hold 56 of the 100 seats in the House, and it’s only reasonable to expect differences on some issues.
Divisive issues
Democrats have wrestled with some controversial topics this session ranging from major state income-tax changes to a variety of labor bills that lacked support from moderate and rural House Democrats, as well as Republicans.
Late in the session, the issue of gay marriage was thrust on the Legislature when the Iowa Supreme Court struck down a state ban on same-sex marriages. There was pressure from lawmakers to begin the process of amending the constitution, but Democratic leaders allowed no action on the effort.
The legislative process didn’t always move forward as it was designed, which frustrated Reasoner at times this year.
“In the last few days there was discussion on labor issues and federal deductibility, and there was not enough support in the House to move the bills forward,” Reasoner said. “I told people at my forums that I did not support some of the proposed legislation. There continued to be discussion to keep considering bills. At a certain point, you need to say we’re done. That didn’t always happen.”
Sending message
The 110-day limit to the legislative session wouldn’t expire until May 1, but leaders wanted to adjourn by last weekend to send a message they were also looking to reduce costs, Reasoner said.
That led to marathon sessions that ended at 5:03 a.m. Sunday in the House, and 5:55 a.m. in the Senate. That was after lawmakers adjourned at 3 a.m. Saturday.
Nonetheless, Reasoner said considering lower revenue estimates facing lawmakers while drafting budget bills, he was pleased with the outcome.
“We talked at the beginning of the year that would be a focus on flood recovery, and help areas of the state that experienced a lot of damage,” Reasoner said. “We were able to do that. Overall, we had to estimate downward with some of our appropriations for 2010 for things like schools, but we restored some of the cuts with (federal) stimulus dollars. Those are temporary funds, intended to use to help reduce the amount of layoffs.”
The Iowa Legislature put the final touches on a $715 million plan to pay for flood recovery and repairs to the state’s infrastructure as debate ended Sunday morning. Details of the $6 billion state budget were also approved, including a $7.5 million package to broaden health care coverage for children.
