One of the housekeeping items at the beginning of every new General Assembly, is the adoption of rules. Each standing committee in both chambers adopt rules as their first item of business.
The House and Senate respectively adopt rules that governs how business is conducted and how the code of ethics will be observed. Then, there are also joint rules that establish how the two chambers will work together.
Typically, there is very little, if any, controversy or debate when considering the rules that govern the legislature. But it would seem that we are living in a time when even something as simple as rules are politicized.
Take for instance the rules recently adopted by the Senate chamber (SR 1). Prior to 2011, if a bill was languishing in a given committee because the committee chair opted to block that legislation, a simple majority of 26 senators could band together and vote to bring the bill to the floor of the Senate.
This procedure was rarely used, but it afforded that simple majority of senators an opportunity to override the wishes of just one senator. In 2011, those rules were changed by the current Senate leadership so that a single senator, either a committee chair or the majority leader, could block legislation from coming to the floor. In an extreme example, even if all the other 49 senators wished to advance a bill to the senate floor, a single senator strategically positioned could obstruct that advancement.
In an attempt to revert back to the pre-2011 Senate rules, Senate Republicans offered an amendment to SR 1. Despite pleas to restore open and honest debate in the Iowa Senate, the amendment was rejected on a straight party line vote.
Why should I, a member of the House of Representatives, care so much about the rules governing the chamber across the rotunda? Good question.
During the previous General Assembly, House Republicans worked with House Democrats to garner strong bipartisan support on several key pieces of legislation important to Iowans.
There were dozens of bills that passed the House with more than 75 out of 100 votes (some with more than 90 votes) only to collect dust at the bottom of some drawer in the Senate. No subcommittee hearing. No debate. No vote. Nothing.
Unless the culture of the Senate leadership has drastically changed, I do not have much hope for similar pieces of legislation going forward in the current General Assembly.
As someone who strives to work hard for my constituents and earnestly reaches across party lines to build bipartisan consensus on legislation for the betterment of our state, this is disheartening and discouraging when you know that just one person in the Senate can bring it all to a screeching halt.
Regardless of your political affiliation, the people of Iowa should be outraged and demand more than these childish, bullying tactics from Senate leadership. These rules are a disservice to representative government and are being used to silence your voice. Iowans deserve better from their elected officials!
Representative Greg Heartsill (R-Columbia) represents Iowa House District 28