Two-thirds of proposed state-worker layoffs spurred by a 10-percent, $565-million across-the-board budget cut would be in the Iowa Department of Corrections, but Governor Chet Culver -- who gets the final say on the cuts -- said he wants to mitigate that before the plans become final.

"I disagree with some recommendations that cut services to children and vulnerable adults, as well as in areas of public safety," Culver said. "These cuts have a very disproportionate impact on public safety, an area I vowed to protect. ... I want to find a way to mitigate that situation."

The leader of Iowa's largest union for state workers declined immediate comment on the proposed layoffs, saying that AFSCME Iowa Council 61 is still reviewing the plans released by the governor's office.

"We want to reiterate our expectation that going forward, the state of Iowa should treat this current situation the same as it would a major plant closing, and provide all appropriate support to workers who are being laid off that is available to them," said Danny Homan, president of AFSCME Iowa Council 61.

Governor Chet Culver said Thursday that hundreds of Iowa state workers will be laid off, some government programs may be eliminated, and services to even the most vulnerable of Iowans will be affected as a result of the 10-percent across-the-board cut he ordered a day after state revenue estimates were lowered $414.9 million for the current budget year.

"We are preparing for some of the toughest times this union has ever seen," said Danny Homan, president of AFSCME Iowa Council 61, which represents approximately 20,000 state workers. "A 10-percent across-the-board cut will be devastating to state workers and the people they serve, no matter how necessary that cut is."

The scandal surrounding the Iowa's film-tax-credit program was a hot topic at a meeting this week of the legislature's Government Oversight Committee, with lawmakers and the media eager to get answers but leadership saying committee discussion now could impede the investigation.

"If the leadership was different, we'd be taking it up today," said Representative Ralph Watts (R-Adel).

Representative Vicki Lensing (D-Iowa City), co-chair of the Government Oversight Committee, said this isn't a political issue and agreed that the panel has a responsibility to taxpayers and the legislature to find out what happened.

With passage of two Farm Bills behind him and the nation in the midst of a debate over health-care reform, U.S. Senator Tom Harkin's decision to give up his chairmanship of the Senate Agriculture Committee disappointed but didn't surprise Iowa Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey.

"While there are still issues in front of the ag committee, it's not the same as if there's another Farm Bill just around the corner," Northey said in an interview with IowaPolitics.com. "With all the action on health care right now, I would certainly understand why he'd look to be involved over there."

Harkin this week gave up his ag chairmanship to instead lead the Senate Health, Education, Labor, & Pensions (HELP) Committee.