DES MOINES, Iowa — In a display of Iowa's Republican majority, a Republican lawmaker refused to answer a Democrat's question about a bill while on the Senate floor.
Debate on SF 542 started late Monday evening and went into the early morning hours Tuesday. The youth employment bill, known as the child labor bill by its opponents, lowers the age limit for performing certain jobs. The bill passed, 32-17, shortly before 5 a.m.
During debate, Senator Bill Dotzler (D-Waterloo) asked the bill's floor manager, Senator Adrian Dickey (R-Packwood) if Dickey could clarify wording in an amendment to the bill.
The senate's presiding officer asked if Dickey would yield to a question from Dotzler. Dickey replied "No."
That answer threw Democrats off-guard, and it seems Dotzler was at a loss for words, as he had no response. Instead, he simply stared down Dickey.
Moments later, Democratic Senate Leader Zach Wahls (D-Coralville) called for the Democrats to caucus.
Wahls told Local 5 he can't remember another time when a bill's floor manager denied answering a question.
"We have senators that have been here for over 20 years and they can't recall any time a sitting senator who was managing a bill refused to answer questions about it," Wahls said. "It's a shocking change from how the Senate has operated from its very beginning."
Republican Senate leadership said Dickey refused to answer Monday night's question due to a recent Iowa Supreme Court case.
In a statement to Local 5, Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver (R-Ankeny) said the Court "indicated it wanted to use floor debate to determine the ambiguous definition of legislative intent. I believe legislative intent is the content of the law passed by a majority of the Iowa Legislature."
Whitver continued, "In light of that decision, Senate Republicans do not expect to engage in spontaneous and speculative discussion of legislative intent during floor debate until that question is resolved."
Wahls said if Republicans are worried about that, all they have to do is "tell the truth and admit when you don't have the answer." He said not answering questions during debate is "unacceptable".
"Iowans need to understand that open debate and discussion is a hallmark of how the Iowa Senate has operated from the beginning, and Senate Republicans are refusing to answer basic questions about the laws that are going to affect every single one of us," Wahls said. "That's wrong, and it has no place in an open and democratic society."
Whitver claims not answering questions doesn't impact lawmaking, instead "the legislative process remains."
"It will continue to evaluate proposed policy, collect feedback from Iowans, and develop law to move the state forward," Whitver said in his statement.