If gridlock could describe last year's Iowa Legislature which overran its term nearly until summer, cooperation might describe the tone, mood and hopefully, reality, of the current term.
Dist. 7 Rep. John Wittneben of Estherville Friday contrasted the two sessions after having spent his first full week in Des Moines.
"Anything you listened to, people wanted you to grow the economy," Wittneben said of the 2011 session. However, he said legislation did everything except that.
Fast forward to Monday.
"You could almost feel it in the air. There was a lot more cheeriness and communication than there ever was last year," Wittneben said.
To date, Wittneben has had one subcommittee meeting and all of his policy meetings have met twice. In his address to lawmakers, Gov. Terry Branstad had 10 new items addressing education, one of which was testing at the kindergarten level. Wittneben said he likes Branstad's desire to keep the best teachers in the classroom.
"The gas tax is actually getting some wheels," Wittneben said of a study commission proposal to raise the tax eight to 10 cents - which would just cover the Iowa Department of Transportation's $219 million annual deficit. Wittneben said the Farm Bureau supports a gas tax - if the money's used to fix state roads. Wittneben said the last gas tax increase was in 1989, leaving a 20-cent tax on gas and 19 cents on ethanol.
Interstate 29 upgrades near Sioux City, Highway 20 and Highway 86 west of Spirit Lake are the projects most likely to get funded in 2012-2013, Wittneben said.
And what about Highway 9 between Estherville and Spirit Lake, a project that a couple years ago was slated for upgrade in the "near" future?
"They (IDOT) do pay attention to the complaints they get from the public," said Wittneben.
And as for the likelihood of action this year on a commercial property tax rollback, Wittneben said last year's Senate plan seemed more feasible. That plan would have reduced commercial taxes 5 percent yearly and the state would have kicked in $50 million in tax replacement - but only when the money was available. However, Wittneben said he did not like the open-endedness of the plan.
"I don't care how long it takes. I care how you fund it," said Wittneben, addressing another seven-year plan Gov. Branstad is considering. "To me, it's not a jobs bill. It's to keep the doors open" for businesses.
Wittneben said he and Republican Rep. Jeff Smith of Okoboji are talking about introducing legislation addressing aquatic invasive species. Rather than fines, though, Wittneben would prefer seeing more focus on boater education on Asian carp, zebra mussels and Eurasian milfoil.
Wittneben said Asian carp have been found as close as Lost Island Lake. He said they kill off a lot of other species and stir up bottom sediments. Zebra mussels in Clear Lake are creating algae blooms and they can cut swimmers' feet and clog drinking water intakes.
Wittneben said it wold cost an estimated $700,000 to put an electric barrier at Lower Gar access to try to halt the spread of Asian carp; however, he hopes a temporary barrier could be done for half that.
Wittneben said he would like to see boater education and an effort to stop the spread of mussels from infested lakes. He recommends that boaters certify they have received invasive species education information when registering their boats.
The first legislative town hall meeting of this session will be held Saturday, Feb. 4. Wittneben said the meeting may be held at the City of Estherville council chambers so it may be televised.