CEDAR RAPIDS – Representative Dave Loebsack (D-2nd District) flew out to Washington D.C. for a Tuesday vote, getting back to his Mount Vernon home late Tuesday night and talking on Wednesday about his vote to approve a $26.1 billion bill for state aid.

“Keep in mind had we not passed this, there would be 1,800 teachers getting laid off in Iowa,” Loebsack said before a meeting with teachers and administrators at the Iowa State Education Association offices in southwest Cedar Rapids.

The bill, H.R. 1586 (House Vote 518) is also known as the Education Jobs & Medicaid Assistance Act, with $26.1 billion earmarked for states and schools. Of that amount, about $10 billion is planned for public schools across the nation. The rest is intended for Medicaid programs.

Iowa’s share? About $96 million for public schools and $128 million for Medicaid. Tammy Wawro, Vice President with the ISEA and a Cedar Rapids Community School District educator, said Wednesday they “haven’t been told from the state how the money is going to filter down” to the district at this point.

Tuesday’s House vote broke nearly along party lines:

‘YES’ VOTES: 247 total (245 Democrats, 2 Republicans)
‘NAY’ VOTES: 161 total (158 Republicans, 3 Democrats)
25 members did not vote.

Iowa Votes:
‘Yes’: Braley (D-1), Loebsack (D-2), Boswell (D-3)
‘Nay’: Latham (R-4), King (R-5)

Loebsack on the financial aspect of H.R. 1586:

“This is fully paid for. It is going to save $1.4 billion dollars over the course of the next ten years. It’s paid for by closing tax loopholes for overseas businesses that want to take jobs away. That’s a positive. It’s also paid for by taking stimulus money that was additional money for food stamps. But that money wouldn’t go into effect until 2014.” Loebsack said later he was not in favor of taking funding away from food stamps but he felt four years, from now until 2014, was enough time to replace that money.

Loebsack, running for his third term in office, also stressed the bill includes funding for more firefighters and other public officers.

“I don’t know if there is a political risk or not,” Loebsack said when asked about any political risk in this vote, twelve weeks before the November election. “My job is to do the right thing for the children of Iowa in the district and that’s what I did here.”

Dr. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, Republican from Ottumwa, is again challenging Loebsack this November. She said late Wednesday, during a visit in Marion, that she would have joined the 98% of the House Republicans in voting against the bill.

“I certainly wouldn’t take $12 billion out of food stamps in order to pay for a stimulus that didn’t work the first time to which we have added on an almost $10 billion tax to businesses and we say we are closing a tax loophole. We need those same businesses to pull us out of a fragile economy.”

Miller-Meeks said this bill also has sharp political elements as well:

“If you read the blogs, on both sides, they will say this was a payoff to unions and those people who support the Democrat agenda and want to see it pushed forward and to get those people out to vote in the fall.”

Two years ago, Loebsack defeated Miller-Meeks in the general election, 57% to 38%.

Even though this was a bill passed at the federal level, both Governor Chet Culver and Republican challenger Terry Branstad weighed in with sharp and opposing views.

A statement on Tuesday from Governor Culver’s office:

“This important additional funding for education and health care will allow more Iowa teachers to stay on the job. Thanks to members of Iowa’s congressional delegation who voted for the measure, especially Sen. Tom Harkin for introducing the Keep Our Educators Working Act in April. Working with our partners in the Legislature, last session we were able to fully fund two percent allowable growth, plus $100 million dollars for Iowa schools. This bill expands upon that commitment with an additional $96 million for our schools.”

“This legislation will also provide approximately $128 million for the state’s Medicaid program. The nearly 400,000 Iowans who rely on the program will have the assurance that health care will be available if they need it.”

From Branstad’s campaign office, sent via e-mail late Wednesday:

“Governor Culver’s reckless and irresponsible management of the state’s finances led to a 10 percent cut in education funding last October. Had Governor Culver properly managed Iowa’s state budget, he would not need to rely on yet another federal bailout to correct his actions.”