METH BILL ACHIEVES BIPARTISAN CONSENSUS

DES MOINES - There will be smiles and compromise Tuesday at the Statehouse,
but it isn't expected to last through the week as the celebration of an
anti-methamphetamine bill fades into tension over the Iowa Values Fund.

Also this week, a special legislative panel will complete a plan to
encourage local governments to share services.

At noon Tuesday, Gov. Tom Vilsack will sign a bill that severely limits
sale of the meth ingredient pseudoephedrine, a measure that was passed
unanimously by the House and Senate last week.

But after lawmakers smile for the cameras, they will wade into tense
negotiations over the Iowa Values Fund.

A House committee has approved a plan to reauthorize the economic
development program for about $70 million per year, which is much less than
Democrats want. The committee likely will revise the bill this week.

Democrats are steamed that the House bill has provisions inserted at the
request of Senate Republicans. Those include $20 million per year in loan
guarantees and tax credits for employers that add jobs.

"We'd be giving tax credits to jobs that would have been created whether or
not there was an Iowa Values Fund," House Minority Leader Pat Murphy,
D-Dubuque, said.

Senate Democratic Leader Mike Gronstal of Council Bluffs said he is willing
to negotiate tax credits as long as they apply only to jobs that would
increase the state's average hourly wage.

"The approach in the 21st century has got to be one that's about high-wage,
high-skill jobs, the kinds of jobs that our children and grandchildren
would want to stay in Iowa for," he said.

Across the aisle, Senate Republican Leader Stewart Iverson of Dows said
compromise is possible on the Values Fund as long as the plan includes tax
credits and a price tag small enough that no tax hike is needed.

"There's a lot of great ideas out there, but ... where does the money come
from?" he said.

The Values Fund talks are expected to continue until the end of the session.

While controversial topics such as the Values Fund get most of the
attention, a potentially huge issue percolates. A special legislative panel
headed by Vilsack will complete on Monday a plan intended to push local
governments into sharing services.

From there, the plan will head to the House and Senate, where lawmakers
are expected to give it a serious look even though some local officials
have concerns.

"Change is a difficult thing to embrace," Vilsack told other members of the
panel last week.

If fully implemented, the plan would separate the state into 15 regions.
Local governments within the regions would meet to determine what services
to share, including anything from law enforcement to libraries. Voters
would need to approve the sharing plans.

Regions that do not share services within six years would face penalties
such as an inability to raise property taxes.