The Iowa Senate is unlikely to take up the issue of collective bargaining, so why did the House debate it until 10 PM last Tuesday?
State Rep. Sharon Steckman, a Democrat from Mason City, felt that the bill was a distraction from the bigger issue of school funding.
"They are waiting to know what their funds will be for this upcoming school year and we felt like this entire bill was a distraction and that's why we totally opposed it," Steckman says.
But State Rep. Greg Forristall, a Republican from Macedonia, says that these processes sometimes take years.
"We think it's important to bring ideas forward and work on them," Forristal says. "It does take a number of years for ideas to work their way through the legislature, to be improved, and to finally become law."
In this Legislative Day edition of River to River, hosts Ben Kieffer and Joyce Russell speak with Steckman and Forristall about the legislation and two other divisive bills in the house. Mike Cormack, chair of the Public Employees Relations Board, also joins the conversation.
