For the past two days, Democrats have been staging a sort of filibuster on the bill Republicans in the state legislature have crafted that would scale back union bargaining rights for teachers and government workers in Iowa. Republicans began offering some rebuttals late Wednesday afternoon. Representative Dawn Pettingill, a Republican from Mount Auburn, says there’s nothing “nefarious” in the bill and she read email from supporters of the bill.

“It’s time to revert the progressive agenda in our state. I pray for you, your families and your colleagues in this difficult time. Stand your ground and keep the faith and persevere,” Pettingill said. Representative Rick Olson, a Democrat from Des Moines, says the bill will kill the bargaining rights of teachers and government workers in Iowa.

“If it was necessary to reform Chapter 20, it could have been tweaked, not twisted. It could have been modified, not mutilated,” Olson said. “House File 291 burns hard working public employees to the ground.” Olson compared the bill to “Sherman’s March to the Sea,” a reference to a Union general’s pivotal and destructive march through Georgia during the Civil War.

Tempers began to fray as the debate wore on into nighttime hours for the second straight day. Democratic Representative Mary Mascher of Iowa City and Representative Steven Holt, the Republican from Denison who is the bill’s floor manager, had this testy exchange: “It’s really unfortunate that you aren’t being clear and honest,” Mascher said and, as Mascher continued to speak, Holt talked over her: “I’m being quite clear, I’m just not willing to play gotcha questions.” The House suspended debate on the bill shortly after 10 p.m.

The SENATE debated into the early morning hours and Senate Minority Leader Rob Hogg of Cedar Rapids hinted he and his fellow Democrats are ready to debate for days. “I’m prepared,” Hogg says. “We can spend the next 240 hours here at the senate, doing this.” Senator Joe Bolkcom, a Democrat from Iowa City, accused Republicans of “railroading” the bill through the legislature.

“Can you hear the train?…It’s on the track. It’s coming. This is a very complicated piece of legislation. It appears you’ve made up your minds. We’re going to get run over by the train. This commotion that you’re going to create with this is not going to go away by Saturday or Sunday or the next week,” Bolkcom said. “…It’s going to be around for quite a while.” Senator Bill Dotzler, a Democrat from Waterloo, predicted that the G-O-P’s plan will “backfire.”

“Sleep drunk. Don’t know what you’re doing,” Dotzler says. “You can make that excuse down the road when your constituents turn on you. ‘Well, I was there at three o’clock in the morning and if I’d had some sleep, maybe I’d have thought through that.'”

(Radio Iowa)