Branstad Monday Morning News Conference

Monday Morning: Iowa Governor Terry Branstad holds a briefing with reporters on Mondays at 9am, unlike his predecessor, Chet Culver. Branstad covers a bunch of things. Here are some quick highlights before I head off to the nuclear power subcommittee in the senate this morning: The governor didn't answer the question whether he will be dove hunting now that leaders have legalized it. He did say his son, Marcus, was "excited" about the possibility. He added he worked on a committee pushing for dove hunting back in 1973. He expects the house to pass his remake of the Iowa Department of Economic Development to the new private-public partnership called the Iowa Partnership for Economic Progress. He said his staff also helped to redo 19 pages of amendments into 4 lines. The governor said he heard Caterpillar is looking at leaving Illinois because of high taxes there. He said he already sent the company a letter (along with about 700 other Illinois-based companies) talking up Iowa's lower tax structure to try to lure companies here. Lieutenant Governor Kim Reynolds also came over to me after the news conference to say she talked with a pharmaceutical company from Illinois that told her about receiving another one of the governor's letters to move to Iowa. She didn't identify the company. Reynolds also declined with a little laughter to say which possible 2012 presidential candidate she thought was the best at Iowa Congressman Steve King's Conservative Principles Conference in Des Moines (Barbour, Gingrich, Bolton, Cain and Bachmann). Reynolds spoke at the conference. Branstad say he was out of state at a wedding. Off to my nuclear meeting. (Not sure why...but I can't seem to put in spaces between each different subject. Technical issue. Sorry about the eye strain:)