Friends on the court
Iowa Supreme Court rulings force policymakers to do their duty
Maybe it’s just a coincidence, but the Iowa Supreme Court lately has been a bulwark against policymakers shirking their obligations when it comes to big utilities in the state.
In March, the court dealt a rebuke to a protectionist law the Legislature passed in 2020 giving in-state utilities a competitive edge over rivals in the construction and maintenance of Iowa’s electric infrastructure.
Then, last week, the court ruled the Iowa Utilities Board must consider claims environmental groups are making that the most cost-effective way for MidAmerican Energy to comply with its environmental obligations is to retire some of its coal-fired generating plants.
The utilities board had said in 2021 the environmentalists’ arguments were outside the scope of the decision whether or not to approve MidAmerican’s biennial emissions plan and budget, which is required under state law. The utility plan asked IUB approval for operations and maintenance spending related to emissions controls at four coal-fired plants, which could be recovered through rate increases. (The board did open separate proceedings to deal with the environmentalists’ arguments.)
The court didn’t side with the environmentalists’ claims, but it did say the IUB should have considered them in this case. The environmental groups include the Environmental Law & Policy Center, the Iowa Environmental Council and the Sierra Club.
“An agency is entitled to reconcile relevant evidence, not ignore relevant evidence,” the court said in a unanimous ruling in which one justice did not take part.
The justices ordered a lower court to send the matter back to the IUB.
In the previous case, the court said in March that the Legislature flouted the state constitution’s prohibition against “logrolling” so it could pass a bill protecting in-state utilities. That law, which the court labeled “crony capitalism,” probably would have meant higher costs for Iowans.
Again, it’s likely a coincidence of timing, and the court’s decisions are based on the law and constitution, not policy. Still, it’s good to see the high court is rejecting decisions by Iowa policymakers to sidestep their obligations — or in the case of the Legislature, to simply bow down to the big utilities.
Iowa Democratic Party opens the door wider
The Iowa Democratic Party’s new draft 2024 delegate selection plan is most notable because it makes it likely that more Iowans will be able to take part in voting for president. This comes despite pressure on the party in the state Legislature to move away from this idea.
The plan, which lays out how the party wants to select delegates to the Democratic National Convention, was released earlier this week. It proposes to hold the 2024 precinct caucuses before the New Hampshire primary and other early states — but with the proviso that “no expression of presidential preference will be tabulated at the precinct caucuses.”
In other words, this event will be to select delegates to county conventions and precinct committee persons and to draft platform resolutions, not to vote for president.
This, of course, would be a huge departure from the past. The draft says the presidential vote will be done with mail-in ballots and at a time to be announced later.
Wider participation is something the Democratic National Committee – and most Iowa Democrats – want. So, this is a step in the right direction.
It also would seem to keep the party in compliance with a state law that requires the precinct caucuses to be held ahead of any other state’s presidential nominating process. (Not that this probably matters much. The law, which legislative Republicans are seeking to amend this session, likely isn’t constitutional in the first place).
What matters more is that the plan appears to be in accord with the DNC’s decision several weeks ago to put South Carolina, New Hampshire, Nevada, Michigan and Georgia in its early voting window and eject Iowa. As painful as that is, Iowa Democrats can console themselves with the notion that for 50 years they’ve held a privileged spot in the nominating calendar. (Iowa Republicans are still going first on the GOP calendar.)
Iowa Democratic leaders are still hopeful of drawing to an inside straight to occupy a spot in the early window should one of the other states fail to meet the DNC’s requirements and fall out. Even if that happens, it seems unlikely Iowa would be allowed to move back into the early window, but I understand the desire to keep all options open for now.
Bottom line: The plan, which still awaits final approval, is important because it points the way forward for Iowa Democrats to hold a more participatory process in picking a presidential candidate in the future, and at the same time, seems to reject calls to try to force the presidential caucuses to the start of the line in defiance of their national party’s clear wishes.
Mississippi River flood waters are receding
As of mid-morning Thursday, the flood stage at Lock and Dam 15 in Davenport was below 21 feet, down from a crest of 21.5 feet on Monday. Flood stage is 15 feet.
So far, the barriers holding the river at bay are staying in place.
On its web site and Facebook page, the City of Davenport said the river will probably take two to three weeks to go back within its banks, enabling roads to slowly reopen, but that “we are on our way back to normal routines.”
Let’s hope so.
Meanwhile, the outlook for summer flooding is positive.
The National Weather Service Advance Hydrologic Prediction Service projects a relatively small (10-25%) chance of minor flooding at Lock and Dam 15 in mid-July. That’s based on a simulation run on April 24, which accounted for snowmelt up north.
The next model isn’t due until late May, and it may show those chances shrinking even further. The April simulation was run with the expectation precipitation would be normal. But late April and early May has been relatively dry.
Matt Wilson, senior service hydrologist with the National Weather Service in the Quad-Cities, told me: “We’ve already underperformed some of that precipitation expectation, and if that trend does continue a little bit through May and into the summer, we will underperform that again and hopefully the models should recognize that on their next run.”
Never too old
If 80 too old to run for president, what would you think of a 90-year-old alderman?
Voters in Davenport’s 2nd Ward will be asked that question this year. George T. Nickolas, who served on the city council from 1994 to 2003, just announced he is going to run for that job again.
Nickolas will turn 90 this July, according to the Quad-City Times, which also reported that the current 2nd Ward alderman, Maria Dickmann, has decided not to run for re-election.
Nickolas, meanwhile, says that he’ll focus on public safety, flood prevention in northwest Davenport and housing.
An interesting side note, Nickolas once ran for Davenport mayor – in 1959.
A word before you go
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Suzanna de Baca: Dispatches from the Heartland, Huxley
Debra Engle: A Whole New World, Madison County
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Fern Kupfer and Joe Geha: Fern and Joe, Ames
Robert Leonard: Deep Midwest: Politics and Culture, Bussey
Tar Macias, Hola Iowa, Iowa
Kurt Meyer, Showing Up
Pat Kinney, View from Cedar Valley, Waterloo
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Barry Piatt: Behind the Curtain, Washington, D.C.
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How do they protect the artwork in the museum when the floodwaters are so high?