Grassley leads Iowa politicians in bipartisanship
James Q. Lynch, The Gazette – MAY 22, 2015
DES MOINES — U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley and former Rep. Tom Latham scored well in a new index measuring bipartisanship, while Rep. Steve King and former Sen. Tom Harkin trended the other way.
The rankings of the Iowa politicians come from the Bipartisan Index, created by the Lugar Center and Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy to show how often members of Congress work across party lines.
It’s not wrong for Congress members to have partisan bills in their portfolios, former Indiana Sen. Richard Lugar wrote in Roll Call. Nor does he think all bipartisan bills are wisely written.
“However, a consistently low score on this index will be a very strong indication that a legislator is viewing his or her duties through a partisan lens,” Lugar said. A high score indicates “a legislator is prioritizing problem-solving and open to working with the other party when possible.”
Grassley topped the Iowa congressional delegation with his 16th overall ranking among all senators and score of 0.533345.
A conservative Republican, the six-term Grassley often collaborated with former Montana Democratic Sen. Max Baucus on tax relief bills when they served on the Finance Committee. He has co-sponsored trade legislation with Democrats and a Medicare prescription drug bill with the late Sen. Ted Kennedy. He believes cross-aisle cooperation was envisioned by framers of the Constitution.
“As a result, bipartisan cooperation is baked into the cake if you want to get anything done,” Grassley said.
Any score on the index, which looked at the 2013-14 members of Congress, that was above zero was considered good by the researchers, and any member of Congress exceeding that benchmark was designated a “bipartisan legislator.”
Harkin, a Democrat who did not seek re-election in 2014, came in 61st with a score of -0.55068.
Among senators who are or may be candidates for president, Ohio Republican Rob Portman recorded a score of 0.589716, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina was 21st at 0.434604, Marco Rubio of Florida as 52nd at -0.29286 and Ted Cruz of Texas was 97th at -1.74259.
Among Iowa elected officials in the House, retired Republican Rep. Latham scored 0.79689 and ranked 31 out of 422 representatives included in the study.
Former Democratic Rep. Bruce Braley was 110th with a score of 0.14832, followed by 2nd District Democratic Rep. Dave Loebsack at 204th with a -0.29095 score. Fourth District Republican Rep. Steve King ranked 405th with a -1.27816 score.
Without specifically addressing his negative score, Loebsack, who has served in both the majority and minority, said he’s often cooperated with Republicans in his eight years in the House.
“There is no shortage of issues that I have worked on a bipartisan basis to advance, including strengthening the Rock Island Arsenal, ensuring the National Guard has the equipment and training it needs, making improvements to our education system, keeping the PTC for wind energy robust, and leading the fight to keep the Renewable Fuel Standard strong,” he said.
The index leans heavily on bill sponsorship and cosponsorship. That allowed the Lugar Center and Georgetown to construct a measure of bipartisan behavior.
However, Cary Covington and Tim Hagle, who teach political science at the University of Iowa, say cosponsorship is not the only measure of bipartisanship.
“Of equal importance is ideology.” Covington said “If there are some real conservative Democrats co-sponsoring bills with the Republican majority, is that bipartisanship or is that a Democrat defecting from his or her party for political reasons?”
Said Hagle: “If you’re a Republican in a district Obama carried, you probably have to be more bipartisan than a Republican in a district Romney carried.”
He cited Loebsack and King, who represent the 2nd and 4th districts, respectively, as examples of congressmen from “politically tilted” districts “who probably have less desire or need to be bipartisan.”
On the other hand, Braley and Latham represented districts that were more balanced.
“So there’s no surprise there,” Hagle said.
