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IowaPolitics.com: Prevailing wage vote held open through weekend as Dems stuck at 50 votes
2/20/2009

By Lynn Campbell
IowaPolitics.com

After five hours of debate, the Iowa House came to a standstill Friday evening as Democrats called for a vote on the prevailing wage bill and the roll call showed the votes at 50-46 -- one short of passage. The plan now is to keep the vote open over the weekend as Dems push for one of their five members to switch from a "no" to a "yes" vote.

"As the presiding officer of the House, I will stay in the Speaker's chair and the voting machine will remain open until Monday," said House Speaker Pat Murphy, D-Dubuque. "My goal is to get 51 votes and make sure we have good-paying jobs for middle class families."

Rep. Geri Huser, D-Altoona, was the only Democrat missing from the chamber but she would have been a "no" vote, said state Rep. Doris Kelley, D-Waterloo, who also voted against the bill given the state of the economy.

"This is not the time and this is not what we should be focusing on," said Kelley, who said her vote would not change now, tomorrow or next year.

A total of five Democrats voted against the bill that would require contractors to pay workers the same hourly wages and benefits on public projects as they would on private-sector projects in the area.

They included Kelley along with state Reps. Larry Marek, D-Riverside; McKinley Bailey, D-Webster City; Dolores Mertz, D-Ottosen; and Brian Quirk, D-New Hampton. A turning point is believed to have revolved around Bailey, who said during debate of an amendment that would have exempted community colleges from the prevailing wage requirement that he couldn't vote for the bill if it didn't contain that exclusion.

The other three who hadn't voted yet were Republicans: state Reps. Royd Chambers of Sheldon, Scott Raecker of Urbandale and Greg Forristall of Macedonia.

At 11:15 p.m. Friday, Raecker, who had been excused for the day to attend a work commitment, returned to the House chamber and cast the 47th 'no' vote. The voting machine still sits open, now showing a vote of 50-47.

"Tonight I'm standing with Iowa taxpayers and opposing House File 333," Raecker said. "In a budget crisis like we are facing, this is the wrong time to be enacting legislation that will raise taxes and hurt Iowa's economy."

House Republican leader Kraig Paulsen, R-Hiawatha, hailed the result as a "defeat" for the bill.

“My hope is that the majority party will recognize the will of Iowans and let the vote stand," Paulsen said. "It’s time we start focusing on how to put 80,000 Iowans back to work instead of playing political games.”

After the impasse, Murphy and Gov. Chet Culver released statements backing the measure.

"There is a difference between creating jobs and creating good-paying jobs," Murphy said. "Thousands of Iowans work hard everyday but don't get paid a decent wage. Prevailing wage is one step we can take to provide more support for Iowa's middle-class families."

Culver said it was about fairness, calling the measure "one of many steps we need to take in order to boost our economy."

"This legislation is about two things: good jobs and fair pay," Culver said. "A broad coalition of labor and business came together to support prevailing wage, because we owe it to hardworking Iowans to guarantee they earn good wages at good jobs."

Rep. Rick Olson, D-Des Moines, said the plan is to keep the voting board open and man the House speaker's seat over the weekend until Democrats convince one of their members to change their mind.

"There have been promises made and promises forgotten, and we're going to see how good memories are," said Olson, an attorney and the bill's floor manager.

Rep. Christopher Rants, R-Sioux City, commented on the unusual situation using the micro-blogging Web site Twitter.com.

"Speaker Murphy plans to keep the voting machine open until Monday - and sit in the chair all weekend," Rants said. "Beyond bizzarre."

House Republicans have placed a counter on their Web site, http://www.iowahouserepublicans.com, to monitor how long the vote has been open.  
Culver statement
Murphy statement
Paulsen statement
Key Legislator Casts 47th 'No' Vote


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