William Petroski, and Brianne Pfannenstiel

Des Moines Register

Despite staunch Democratic opposition that fueled three days of contentious debate, the Iowa Legislature on Thursday gave final approval to a bill that will dramatically scale back a four-decades-old collective bargaining law that governs union contract negotiations for the state’s public workers.

House File 291 was approved along mostly party line votes. In both chambers, only Republicans cast votes in favor of the legislation, although in the House six Republicans broke ranks and joined Democrats in voting against the changes.

“This bill, I believe heart and soul, is a win for all Iowans and the delivery of a promise from Republicans that we would reform governments to make it more efficient for the people for Iowa,” said Rep. Steven Holt, R-Denison and the bill’s floor manager in the House. “Smaller, smarter, innovative government is in this bill.”

But Iowa Senate Minority Leader Robert Hogg, D-Cedar Rapids, called passage of the legislation a "travesty of the democratic system" that will reduce the wages of public-sector employees. As it became apparent during a roll-call vote that the Senate would pass the bill, a crowd in the Senate gallery booed loudly and chanted, "Shame, shame, shame."

Danny Homan, president of Council 61 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which represents 40,000 Iowa public employees, told reporters a lawsuit will be filed in Polk County District Court to challenge the constitutionality of the legislation. He was flanked at a news conference by public employees who held signs that read "Unions make Iowa strong."

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Tammy Wawro, president of the 34,000-member Iowa State Education Association, which represents Iowa teachers, said she doesn't believe any Republican legislators campaigned on making major changes in Iowa's collective bargaining laws. “I don’t want to call them liars, and they don’t like the term ‘alternative facts,' " she said. "I don’t know what you call it. But this isn’t want they said they were going to do.”

House and Senate Democrats have fiercely denounced the legislation, which was unveiled by Republicans on Feb. 7 after being developed behind closed doors. Democrats complained the measure was fast-tracked without sufficient study and public comment. They also said it dismantles a state law that has brought labor peace to Iowa since it was signed in 1974 by former Gov. Robert Ray, a Republican. In addition, Democrats have said they suspect wealthy, conservative donors from outside of Iowa influenced the legislation.

However, Republicans hold majorities in both chambers and there was little doubt about whether the legislation would be approved. Gov. Terry Branstad, a Republican who has had repeated battles with public employees' unions, is expected to sign the bill. The legislation takes effect as soon as it is signed.

"This bill changes the way Iowa does business,” said Senate Majority Leader Bill Dix, R-Shell Rock. “For years we have been working for fiscal responsibility and pushing for more local control. This bill does that exactly. ... It empowers local school boards. It empowers local officials. It will increase efficiency and innovation at every level of government, giving the taxpayers better services at a lower cost.”

Under the legislation, most public-sector union contract negotiations will be limited only to base wages. Unions will be banned from negotiating with their employers over issues such as health insurance, evaluation procedures, staff reduction and leaves of absence for political purposes. However, public safety workers such as police and firefighters will have a broader list of issues to be considered in contract talks. All unions will be barred from having union dues deducted from public employees' paychecks and unions would need to be recertified prior to every contract negotiation.

The legislation also changes the arbitration process when contract talks reach an impasse. Currently, the union and management would make their best offers and an independent arbitrator would be required to choose the most reasonable of the two. The legislation requires an arbitrator to consider the employer's ability to finance any wage increase. It also puts a cap on how much an arbitrator can raise wages. The wage increase could not exceed whichever is lower: 3 percent, or a percent equal to the cost of living increase outlined in the consumer price index.

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The bill's approval Thursday followed three consecutive days of floor debates in each chamber. The House supported the bill 53-47, while the Senate gave final passage 29-21. The Senate vote followed a marathon debate session that began about 10 a.m. Wednesday and didn't end until about 3 p.m. Thursday. Senate members remained at the Iowa Capitol throughout the night to vote on a series of Democrat-sponsored amendments that were all rejected by Republican lawmakers.

Passage of the collective bargaining bill was made possible by sweeping Republican victories in November's elections. That meant the GOP began the 2017 legislative session holding majorities in both the Senate and House, as well as the governor's office, for the first time since 1998.

However, not all Republicans towed the party line on the collective bargaining measure.

Rep. Andy McKean, R-Anamosa, was among the six Republicans who voted against the legislation in the House. The Anamosa State Penitentiary, which employs state workers, is near the edge of his district.

“I think there needed to be some reforms to collective bargaining, but I just felt this bill went a little bit too far, too quickly for what I would consider to be good public policy,” McKean said. He could have supported changes to the arbitration and certification processes, but he disagreed with restrictions on mandatory subjects of bargaining.

Rep. Dave Heaton, R-Mount Pleasant, also voted against the bill, saying he felt it was too restrictive in limiting wage increases in negotiations that go to arbitration.

“We come up here to represent our constituency,” Heaton said. “And you know, being in the restaurant business all my life, serving the people in my community, a lot of the people that this bill affected not only were my customers but my friends. So over the last two weeks I’ve given this an awful lot of thought. … I’ve heard from hundreds of people back home, and I just feel really comfortable about the vote that I made. I have no animosity toward those that voted yes. But I just feel that I did my duty as a representative.”

Democratic lawmakers said they were swamped with hundreds of emails, phone calls and letters from rank-and-file public employees opposed to the bill. Hogg and other Democrats vowed after the bill's final passage that the legislation won't stand.

"This bill is morally indefensible," said Sen. Jeff Danielson, D-Cedar Falls, who warned the legislation will divide Iowans. He added, "This isn't the Iowa way. We didn't have to go down this path."

Iowa House Speaker Linda Upmeyer, R-Clear Lake, praised the legislation, calling it one of the most significant policy achievements of her career.

"We all should remember that these are communities, schools, that value their employees,” Upmeyer said. “So working together, collaborating to come to agreements in a more collaborative way – it seems like a good approach and a real opportunity. We’ve got school boards that are elected, county officials, city officials – they’re elected for a reason and we need to give some of those decisions back to them.”

Sen. Jason Schultz, R-Schleswig, the Senate bill's floor manager, told Democrats during the debate that the legislation was not drafted by a secret committee, as they suspected, but it reflected his work with Republican legislators in cooperation with legislative staff, consultations with local school officials, and others.

"It is a bill by Schultz. I take responsibility for any actions," Schultz said.

Upmeyer said she felt the debate in the House gave Democrats plenty of time to make their case, adding, “We worked hard to accommodate the opposing opinions during this debate.”

But Hogg complained of a "garbage process" in the Senate, adding it was wrong for Republicans to force Democrats into an all-night debate so early in the legislative session when few people are watching, either in person or via the Internet. Senate Republican Leader Dix has defended the procedures used in passing the bill, saying they fully comply with Senate rules.

Sen. Joe Bolkcom, D-Iowa City, scolded Senate Republicans in a floor speech shortly before 8 a.m. Thursday. "You cheated Iowans last night. You cheated people out of the opportunity to pay attention to a really big change that you are ramming in here. You disrespected the people of the state."

Many Senate and House Democrats also objected to procedural moves on Thursday by Republican legislative leaders to effectively cut off debate. Several Senate Democrats said limiting debate to force a vote violated a Senate tradition and Rep. Abby Finkenauer, D-Dubuque, said the GOP moves were inappropriate.

“We won’t be silenced after this,” Finkenauer said. “We will continue to fight.”

However, Sen. Mark Chelgren, R-Ottumwa, accused Senate Democrats of using delay tactics in floor debate, suggesting they had lots of time to address the legislation. He also complained that Democrats had been "papering" the bill with dozens of amendments, a common strategy used by opponents of a bill.

“There has been an incredible amount of patience. But all that patience has gotten has been stalling," Chelgren said.

The bill includes an amendment that would make several changes to the original bill. The amendment removes language making most state workers “at-will” employees who could be fired without cause. It reinstates language saying employees must be fired “for cause.” It also allows certain items — such as grievance procedures, seniority procedures and seniority-related benefits — to be eligible for negotiation if both unions and employers agree to discuss them.

In addition, the amendment declares that motor vehicle enforcement officers are public safety employees. It also clarifies that workers have the right to appeal a civil service commission’s decision in district court.

Some of the most emotional pleas made during debates on the bill involved unsuccessful efforts by Democrats to add correctional officers, state university police officers and other public employees to the public safety category, which would have granted them extra rights for contract negotiations.

Sen. Rich Taylor, D-Mount Pleasant, a retired maintenance employee of the Iowa State Penitentiary at Fort Madison, recounted stories of prison employees who suffered serious and life-threatening injuries at the hands of dangerous inmates. He said it was insulting that correctional officers are not considered public safety employees under the bill. Similarly, Sen. Kevin Kinney, D-Oxford, a retired Johnson County sheriff's officer, spoke emotionally of working at crime scenes with University of Iowa police officers who are also not considered public safety employees by the legislation.

A major impetus for the bill has been the high cost of health insurance for state employees, many of whom pay as little as $20 a month for their share of premiums. A new analysis by the nonpartisan Iowa Legislative Services Agency examined health insurance costs for certain executive branch agencies, judicial branch offices and legislative branch offices between 2005 and 2015. It found that health insurance costs for those employees soared from $143.2 million to $235.7 million, an increase of $92.5 million. But some unions representing local government employees said their share of costs for health insurance are significantly higher than what state employees pay, while state union leaders said they receive good health insurance by making concessions on wages.