Saying that "I don't want my voice diminished" as the independent watchdog of state finances, State Auditor David Vaudt announced this week that he will not run for governor in 2010.
"I'm flattered that Iowans would come forward and encourage me to run, and I have seriously considered that over the last several months," the Republican said during a Statehouse press conference about the state budget. "As you are aware, I have been very concerned over Iowa's long-term finances."
Vaudt, a certified public accountant who has been state auditor for six years, said Iowa's budget has "deep, deep problems," and that the state needs to reverse course.
"I know that if I were to run for governor, there would be some that would try to discredit important financial information that I'm providing to Iowans," Vaudt said. "They'd do that by simply questioning the motives. We need a strong voice and an experienced voice to keep Iowans in tune with what's really taking place with our finances. The last thing that we can afford is to have that voice diminished in any way. Therefore, I have chosen not to run for governor."
Vaudt maintained that the support and money was there for him to make a 2010 gubernatorial bid, but he said he can make the biggest difference as state auditor. Vaudt was one of more than a dozen Republicans said to be considering a run against Governor Chet Culver, a Democrat, next year.
Culver Signs Bill to Boost Insurance Levels in Iowa
Culver this week signed a bill that he says will provide insurance to 90 percent of uninsured Iowa children in families that are under 300 percent of the federal poverty limit.
"I believe every Iowan deserves affordable, accessible health care, but ... the high cost of insurance puts this out of reach for families in need," Culver said. "Today we're taking one more step to meeting our administration's goal of making sure that every Iowan is insured."
Culver said 12,380 additional children would be covered through the Medicaid and HAWK-I programs. The bill allocates $5.7 million for that effort. The bill also calls for $510,000 to provide 11,000 children with dental care in the next fiscal year, and approximately $1.45 million to cover nearly 25,000 children in Fiscal Year 2011.
The legislation also establishes a commission to make recommendations on improving health care for Iowans.
"Although I'm proud to sign this bill into law today, I want to be clear this is just one more step of many that we will take to make sure that every Iowan has access to medical care when they need it," Culver said.
Bruce Koeppl, senior state director for AARP Iowa, commended Culver and the Iowa legislature for their work on the bill but said there is more work to be done, particularly for pre-Medicare adults.
"Although AARP is hopeful Congress will enact significant health-care reform this year, it is important for Iowa to continue to commit to [the] state health-care-reform effort," Koeppl said. "This legislation marks a second year of progress towards ensuring all Iowans have affordable health-care coverage. We are especially pleased that despite budget pressures, and varying political priorities, ... Iowa's leaders came together in providing the financial commitment to funding coverage for all Iowa's children."
State Revamps Sex-Offender Regulations
Culver also signed the Adam Walsh Act into law this week, officially changing Iowa's controversial residency rule for sex offenders.
"This was done to fix a loophole in the law," Culver said. "Although limiting where offenders could live, it did not address other dangers to public safety in terms of the day-to-day behaviors of registered sex offenders. But by working together we were able to find common ground, and we were able to put our kids first."
The new law will apply the 2,000-foot residency rule, which limits where sex offenders can live, only to offenders who committed the worst crimes against minors. Offenders will be classified into three tiers based on the severity of their crimes, which will affect how often they must register with the state. Instead of the 2,000-foot rule, the new law will create 300-foot "exclusionary zones" - around areas such as schools, child-care centers, and playgrounds - that sex offenders will not be allowed near. Sex offenders will be prohibited from working in those places frequented by kids as well.
Representative Clel Baudler (R-Greenfield), a former state trooper, said the 2,000-foot rule didn't work.
"While the original legislation seemed tough and aggressive, it only created a mess for the registration process and made Iowans less safe," Baudler said. "We must keep in mind that this law does not guarantee safety from sexual predators. We need to encourage our citizens to be proactive and use the resources that we have available, such as Iowa's offender registry at IowaSexOffender.com, to see where these people live and be vigilant."
Baudler said he has worked on this bill for years along with other legislators, and that the issue of sex offenders "is not an easy one to speak on. ... One must tread carefully between public perception, public safety, and an unenforceable law. I am proud to say that the men and women who worked on, wrote, and passed this legislation acted as public servants, not politicians."
"They took a tough stand," Attorney General Tom Miller said. "The 10 that worked on this during the whole session, we owe a special debt of gratitude. They took this on knowing it would be difficult, troublesome, and might not succeed, but invested time and energy and their credibility in the process to produce a bill that ultimately was passed overwhelmingly by both houses of the legislature."
New GOP Leadership Working to Broaden Party Outreach
A shakeup has been underway since new leadership took over at the Republican Party of Iowa.
It isn't just the new office dress code at the party headquarters downtown, where casual wear has been replaced with shirts and ties. It isn't just that members of the party are communicating with one another better, sending out a more cohesive message and using Facebook and Twitter. Or that they continue to travel the state and reach out to people, even though there's no immediate election in sight.
Republicans are now trying to broaden their appeal, said Republican Party of Iowa Chair Matt Strawn and Executive Director Jeffrey Boeyink, who came on board in January and February, respectively.
"Sometimes as Republicans, you have to get outside of your comfort zone and reach into the communities and try and broaden your appeal," Strawn said. "You don't have to change what you believe, but you can start talking to groups that maybe you haven't been talking to about Republican solutions."
In the recently released "Chairman's 100 Day Report," Strawn points out that Iowa Republicans beat Democrats in fundraising in the first quarter of 2009.
"That was part of my campaign to take over here at the party, ... to turn this building [the Republican Party of Iowa headquarters] into a relevant force again in Iowa politics," Strawn said. "For a host of reasons, it hadn't been. That started with instituting a whole new culture here, a culture that involved bringing Jeff on board, a more professional staff."
Strawn said that since he took over in January, he hasn't seen much evidence of a split in the party between social conservatives and moderates. He said most Republicans are in favor of traditional marriage, are against abortion, and think there should be less interference in private enterprise.
"We can't continue to re-litigate and fight the fights of the past, but let's focus on what we can do working together," Strawn said. "Republicans in this state, we're not going to sacrifice our beliefs to win elections, but we're also not going to be shy about talking about our beliefs. If we're putting up principled candidates that espouse a consistent, conservative vision for the state, that's how we win elections and that's how these factions, different groups within the party, come together."
Dems Preparing for Tough Culver Re-election Battle
Iowa Democrats are expecting Republicans to field strong candidates to challenge Culver next year, with Norm Sterzenbach, executive director of the Iowa Democratic Party, saying his organization is "preparing for the toughest race we've ever been a part of."
Iowa Democratic Party Chair Michael Kiernan agreed that "we'll always run like we're 10 points behind."
"We're preparing for the strongest possible candidate to emerge, and we'll be ready for 'em when they do next year," Sterzenbach said. "Certainly, their party has lately been dominated by Vander Plaats, Rants and King, Roberts, some of the more extreme voices in their party. I think that if that's the direction they decide to go - "
Kiernan interrupted: "We welcome any one of those candidates to get in the race. From our perspective, it doesn't matter who runs; we're working as if it's the toughest possible opponent right now. We're laying the foundation for next year's election. That means rolling up your sleeves and doing hard work."
The potential gubernatorial candidates they're referring to are Bob Vander Plaats of Sioux City, who's already formed an exploratory committee; state Representative Christopher Rants (R-Sioux City), who said he'll decide by June; and state Representative Rod Roberts (R-Carroll), who indicated he plans to decide by Independence Day.
Moving on to other topics, Kiernan said the six Iowa House Democrats who prevented passage of the prevailing-wage bill and legislation that would have eliminated federal deductibility this year are still welcomed as part of the Democratic Party and that the party won't try to challenge them in the June 2010 primary election.
"The party's never had a policy of actively engaging in challenging seated Democrats in our own party," Kiernan said. "We've always been a big tent, and we're not afraid to have the debate and talk about issues and continually try to move our agenda forward. ... At the end of the day, we're still family and we stick together."
As for the race against U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley, two candidates have already emerged: Bob Krause and Sal Mohamed.
"If he [Grassley] chooses to be a leader on health-care reform and work with the administration to have some productive debate, healthy debate, and a productive result, then things may be viewed differently at home," Sterzenbach said. "We're still a year away from a primary. ... It's not tomorrow. We've got a long ways to go. And just as the Republicans are thinking through who wants to challenge Governor Culver, Democrats are having those same conversations about who wants to come forward and challenge Grassley."
This weekly summary comes from IowaPolitics.com, an online government and politics news service. IowaPolitics.com staff contributed to this report.
