January 17, 2008

Culver expects lawmakers will alter his proposals
By Bret Hayworth

SIOUX CITY -- Iowa Gov. Chet Culver said Wednesday he welcomes legislative tinkering with his proposal to expand the 30-year-old bottle bill.

A day after he pitched bottle-bill changes in delivering the annual Condition of the State Address, Democrat Culver told the Journal's editorial board he understands the proposal is already drawing criticism.

Some lawmakers disagree that the deposit amount should be increased from 5 to 10 cents, which Culver said would serve as more incentive for Iowans to redeem cans. And he wants the coverage expanded from soft-drink cans and bottles only to water, sports-drink and energy-drink containers, which didn't exist when the bottle bill was enacted three decades ago. Culver said it was time to modernize the law to be "more in line with consumer choices" in 2008.

Also receiving criticism is Culver's proposal that only 8 cents of the 10-cent deposit would be returned on redemption -- 1 cent would go to retailers who accept the containers and 1 cent would go to state environmental and conservation projects.

Culver said he wants the penny to be used to fund environmental projects in a more sustained way than in recent years. But if various financial issues with his proposal won't fly, Culver said his chief goal is to have the bottle bill broadened to include the additional beverages.

"I'm open to discussion here," he said.

For those who oppose his proposal, the governor said, it's important that they let Iowans know whether they oppose expanding the beverages covered, if the rub is the nickel increase or if it's some other factor.

"The question you have to ask them is, do you want these bottles and cans out of the landfill and out of the ditches? Yes or no? Maybe they don't, maybe that is the difference we have in philosophy," Culver said.

Culver also waded into the political furor that followed his Tuesday suggestion that legislators improve the climate for Iowa workers, including renewing talks on "fair share," which would allow unions to negotiate for the right to charge fees to nonunion members to whom they provide services. After Culver broached that, House Minority Leader Christopher Rants, R-Sioux City, quickly said the governor was raising the most "divisive" issue of the year, one that Republicans will not support.

Culver, who was elected governor in November 2006 after serving as Iowa secretary of state, said he was merely encouraging lawmakers to debate the topic. He answered a charge from Republicans that Democrats never campaigned on fair share in 2006, when they wrested control in both chambers from the GOP. Culver said fair share wasn't on his radar as being among the Top 10 issues he campaigned on and added that he got only one labor union endorsement in the Democratic gubernatorial primary, so he isn't trying to deliver on "promises" to the unions.

"What I said (Tuesday) was that we shouldn't be afraid to discuss tough issues related to labor-management relations," Culver said. "That was taken and twisted and turned, and now some people are saying that I said something different on fair share. I didn't. I simply said we should have the courage to talk about these tough issues, whether it is related to wages, collective bargaining -- like discipline and discharge -- fair share. What are we afraid of? Maybe if we try, we'll discover that there is more common ground than we think. ... The big-picture goal here is to improve the working environment for the people who make this such a great state."

Culver said there are "some good arguments" for passing fair share and predicted that if it comes forward in a bill, it will be limited to dealing with public-sector unions. He said if fair share is enacted, "it would become a negotiable item of discussion, not that everyone has to start writing a check and joining a union."

Sixteen-year legislator Rants also didn't take kindly to what he called Culver's "lecture" that lawmakers act civilly as they approach legislation. Culver noted his proposals have also drawn criticism from fellow Democrats.

"It is almost comical to see the antics, on both sides, again," Culver said. "In fact, in the last 24 hours, it is fair to say the Democrats have been more uncivil to me than the Republicans.

The 2008 legislative session started Monday, and Culver said the opening days' back-and-forth is overreaction by lawmakers.

"People expect us to get to work and get things done and go home -- and get along," he said.

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