Jason Noble

The Iowa House rejected Gov Terry Branstad’s broadband Internet expansion package in dramatic fashion, with a floor vote in which Democrats and Republicans joined together to deny the bill a majority.

The failure of a bill in a vote on the floor is extremely rare, as the majority party generally does not bring up bills for which leaders aren’t certain they have the votes to pass. In this case, the House’s Republican leaders clearly were counting on votes from the Democratic minority that didn’t materialize. When the voting board was closed, 42 Republicans and two Democrats -- a total of 44 out of the chamber’s 100 members -- voted yes, while 42 Democrats and nine Republicans formed a 51-vote majority to kill the measure. Immediately afterward, House Speaker Kraig Paulsen (R-Hiawatha), cast blame on the Democrats.

“I have absolutely no idea why the House Democrats would be opposed to expanding broadband access in the state of Iowa,” he said. “I think that’s a shame.”

Those arguments overlook the fact, however, that nine Republicans also voted against the bill, and if seven had voted yes the bill would’ve passed. Minority parties in legislative bodies frequently cast votes en masse against bills sponsored and pursued by the majority, and majorities rarely depend on votes from the other side to pass legislation.

Democratic leader Mark Smith (D-Marshalltown) said his members voted against the bill because they felt it didn’t go far enough in incentivizing and stimulating the expansion of high-speed Internet service.