Gubernatorial candidate Ed Fallon spoke at an Ames cafe Tuesday evening about the influence of political interest groups in Iowa’s lawmaking process.

Fallon, a Democratic state representative from Des Moines, stopped at Cafe Diem, 323 Main St., to talk to a crowd of around 20 people about his intention to implement a “clean election law” that would limit the influence of political action groups if he is elected as Iowa governor in November 2006.

“The first thing I’d do is push for a clean elections law, because that will influence everything else we do as politicians,” he said.

Fallon, who has refused all donations from political action committees and lobby groups for his campaign, said political interest groups hold too much sway with politicians because of the money they donate to campaign funds.

“The money in politics has become scary,” he said. “It’s costing Iowans tax dollars and it’s cutting basic government services.”

Fallon said business and industry political action committees donated almost $160,000 to Iowa political leaders’ campaign chests between August and October 2002 and August and October 2004.

“In return, big business in Iowa received $6.8 billion in tax breaks between 1995 and 2004,” he said.

Special interests, Fallon said, are gaining the attention of politicians at the expense of rank-and-file Iowans.

“The biggest casualty is public education,” he said. “Schools aren’t able to offer the quality we expect because we’re underfunding them.”

Fallon said he would propose a plan as governor that would take money from the Grow Iowa Values Fund, a legislative package intended to spur economic development in the state and invest that money in public education.

He criticized the values fund as a program that benefits only a small percentage of Iowa businesses.

“Only about a half of a percentage point of all Iowa businesses receive grants from the values fund,” he said. “This is the trickle-down economics we all criticized under Reagan.”

Paul Nelson, an Ames resident who attended Fallon’s talk, said he agreed with the candidate’s views on the values fund.

“I like his ideas about using values fund money for education,” said Nelson, who has a daughter in fourth grade. “You can see the lack of money in schools. The money going toward corporate interests should go toward education.”

Cafe Diem owner Bill Malone said he thinks special interests have too much of a hold on politicians.

“This is the first time I’d heard Mr. Fallon speak,” Malone said. “He’s right about big money. It’s a huge problem in politics.”