Unruly crowd evicted from tax plan hearing

By JASON CLAYWORTH • jclayworth@dmreg.com • April 1, 2009

Hundreds of Iowans were removed from the Iowa House chamber Tuesday night after a rowdy crowd consistently applauded and booed speakers.

House Speaker Pat Murphy, D-Dubuque, cleared the crowd about 8:30 p.m. His directive came halfway into a two-hour hearing about a plan to end Iowans' ability to subtract what they pay in federal income taxes from their income when figuring their state taxes.

The crowd was largely against the proposal.

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The decision to clear the chamber brought about loud protests from the crowd as people were escorted out by Iowa State Patrol troopers.

Some people shouted obscenities as they left. At least one piece of chewed gum was thrown toward lawmakers from the balcony amid chants such as, "This is the people's House" and "We paid for this House."

No one was arrested.

Ed Failor Jr. of Muscatine, president of Iowans for Tax Relief, a conservative taxpayers' rights group, said:"This is the most atrocious thing I've seen in the history of the 15 years I've been a lobbyist. Pat Murphy has acted like a jack-booted Nazi."

Failor was escorted from the chamber after Murphy overheard him speaking with reporters.

Several lawmakers, including Murphy, said they had never witnessed such a ruckus during a public hearing. The clash indicates the passion of advocates and opponents of the bill, House File 807.

Legislative rules say that no protesting or advocating can be done in the House while the Legislature is in session.

House Republican Leader Kraig Paulsen of Hiawatha contended that the hearing did not constitute an actual session and that the removal of the crowd reflected the desire of Murphy, not a strict adherence to the rules. Furthermore, he noted that most of the reactions came after speakers left the microphone and were not interruptions.

Murphy declared that it is a matter of respect for all speakers. He said he should have ordered the chambers cleared much sooner than he did because several of the speakers were booed.

"The idea behind the public hearing is to give people public input and allow people the ability to speak for and against the bill. This is not an athletic event," Murphy said.

After the majority of the people were removed, the scheduled speakers were allowed to continue. The hearing continued until about 9:45 p.m.

"It was not disruptive," said Senate Republican Leader Paul McKinley, R-Chariton. "They were clapping spontaneously, and it appears the Democratic leadership wanted to shut this down. I thought people were respectful. I'm extremely disappointed that Iowans were not made to feel at home in the Iowa Capitol. This is unprecedented."

State Patrol Lt. Mark Logsdon, who oversees security at the Capitol, said "there's a lot of passion" at any public hearing.

"And it's so important that there is a decorum so people feel they have an opportunity to speak and be heard," Logsdon said.