Concessions were made in the Iowa Legislature on Tuesday as a clear Republican majority was whittled down to a one-seat lead in the House and an even split in the Senate.

With the Senate split 25-25, Iowa legislators said the new balance will lead to a mandatory bipartisan approach to bills, which each require 26 votes to pass.

House majority leader Chuck Gipp, R-Decorah, said he’s seen similar situations during his 12 years in the Legislature, but never one where there is a co-majority.

Gipp said he didn’t think the situation is much different than when he entered the House in 1992, when the House was controlled by Republicans and the Senate was controlled by Democrats.

“It hasn’t changed at all,” Gipp said. “Whether it’s 54 or 51 seats, it doesn’t make a difference.”

He said the reason nothing has changed is because the majority leadership has always worked to make sure there was a fair amount of bipartisanship in both houses.

What has changed, he said, is that the House will have to be conscious of the fact that any bill it passes will also have to go through the Senate. This could mean the rejection of any bills, no matter how bipartisan or important they are.

“That’s just going to be the dynamics of it,” he said. “We’ve been there, they haven’t.”

Sen. Herman Quirmbach, D-Ames, said his biggest hope is that, with the Legislature as close as it is, legislators won’t be afraid to push things through.

“I’m just hoping this won’t be a caretaker legislature,” Quirmbach said. “We need to be able to move forward.”

A number of important issues have been carried over from the previous session, including the controversial Iowa Values Fund legislation. Currently, the Legislature is still looking for ways to effectively apply and fund the program.

“We have to find a stable, long-term funding source,” Quirmbach said. “The special session was only an election-year Band-Aid.”

Both Gipp and Quirmbach said the current incarnation of the Values Fund needed some sort of overhaul to provide for oversight mechanisms.

Gipp said the main problem is the bill doesn’t provide for a stable funding stream without imposing new taxes on Iowans. He said the old plan intended to pay for economic incentives for businesses by raising taxes.

“In order to become competitive, the way is not to dump more taxes and fees on the population,” he said.

Quirmbach said the plan needed to make sure there is some way to track the progress of the businesses that receive funding. That way, he said, the program will not be a system of corporate welfare like many Iowans believe it to be.

Another major issue is going to be how higher education is funded. Currently, regent and private institutions receive funding through three different bills. A plan by the Board of Regents will consolidate funding streams into one $40 million package given directly to the board’s office.

Regent Jenny Rokes said she thinks the split Legislature will find a compromise and pass the bill.

“I think we have a great chance,” Rokes said. “The plan is not pitting universities against each other.”

Legislators, however, thought differently. Gipp said he felt the bill didn’t give enough oversight from the Legislature on how the regent institutions were ran.

Quirmbach said he thought the plan didn’t provide enough protection for students from tuition hikes. The plan still relies on the Higher Education Index to determine tuition, which is the reason there has been a spike in tuition costs, he said.

“This is telling students that tuition is likely to increase much faster than their ability to pay for it,” he said.