DES MOINES — During his 2005 Condition of the State address Monday, Gov. Tom Vilsack delivered a strong plea for bipartisanship to help push the state forward on key issues such as economic and social development.

Among the top things Vilsack pushed for was support for a five-year, $800 million commitment to the Iowa Values Fund.

“We know the value fund works,” Vilsack said. “Our job now is to make sure it works for years to come.”

Vilsack warned that some people “suggest and predict not much will be accomplished” because of the nearly even split between Democrat and Republican seats in the Legislature and then stressed the need to work in a bipartisan manner. With the House of Representatives at only a two-seat margin in favor of Republicans, 51-49, and the Senate evenly divided at 25 apiece, the fund proves to be a sensitive issue.

Rep. Clarence Hoffman, R-Red Oak, said Monday the two bills that make up the values fund would be introduced into both houses by the end of the week. The previous versions of the bills were overturned by the Iowa Supreme Court in 2004 after top Republican leaders brought a suit against Vilsack for an illegal use of his line-item veto powers.

Vilsack asked for cooperation on the bills.

“I think he really tried to resonate that he wants everyone to work together,” said Rep. Lisa Heddens, D-Ames. “He doesn’t want it to be a Republican agenda or a Democratic agenda; he wants an Iowa agenda.”

“We can create an Iowa that lives up to our values,” Vilsack said. “That is our challenge — it is our call, it is our duty.”

Vilsack received many standing ovations as he discussed other issues such as education, health care, property taxes and the war on drugs. However, Vilsack did not mention the Board of Regents $40 million proposal to help fund higher education.

“I guess he didn’t talk about higher education funding, but that certainly is on my agenda,” said Rep. Beth Wessel-Kroeschell, D-Ames. “I’ll be pushing for that.”

Sen. Herman Quirmbach, D-Ames, said university funding is an issue he has been supportive of in the past.

“I don’t think the regents’ proposal goes far enough in helping out students and their parents,” Quirmbach said. “I think we’re going to have to come to a different understanding of the sharing of the cost between the taxpayer and the students.”

Proponents of the regents’ proposal have said the plan will give the board more flexibility in planning next year’s budgets.

Vilsack also stressed the importance of early education to success in later life. Every child in the state, he said, is entitled to a “world class education to prepare them for global competition.”

“The centerpiece [of the address] was the welfare of children, and that’s my key topic,” Quirmbach said. “The more research that goes on, the more we learn how important the early years are to brain development, cognitive development and setting the stage for a successful life. We need to act on that knowledge.”

Concerning the war on drugs, Vilsack said more restrictions need to be placed on certain cold medicines to alleviate the methamphetamine problem Iowa faces. A bill proposed by the Iowa Attorney General would make some of these medicines a schedule 5 controlled substance, which would give the state more power to limit their sale.

“Please work with me to drive the makers of this poison out of this state,” Vilsack said.