Gov. Terry Branstad has asked the state Board of Regents to delay its decision on a proposed center named for Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, according to the Associated Press.

On April 23, Sen. Sandra Greiner, R-Keota, sent a letter questioning whether the Harkin Institute for Public Policy at Iowa State University would give Harkin an unfair political advantage while he’s still in office, the AP reported.

However, Regent Robert Downer told the Des Moines Register Monday he supports a center named after Harkin.

"If I see that this is done in such a way that there will be appropriate academic quality to the work that they do, and it is an unbiased approach to the particular issues in question, then I would anticipate supporting it," Downer told The Register.

The regents were scheduled to discuss the institute at its meeting Thursday in Ames.

— by Sam Lane