The first six weeks of this session of the Iowa Legislature have been quiet on the business front.

Republicans took over the House of Representatives and promised good news for the business community. They vowed to get directly to the work of creating jobs. Then they started voting on gay rights and the definition of when life begins.

We hope the next few weeks produce the kind of serious effort we expected.

In the Senate, there might be a chance for bipartisan cooperation on a bill that would allow businesses to deduct immediately the entire cost of machinery and other big-ticket items purchased in Iowa. That would be a welcome step for any number of business owners.

The House passed a measure to cut personal income tax rates for everyone, saying it would help many small business owners. Maybe so, but it’s an indirect way to go about it. If the goal really is to improve the business climate, let’s be specific in every effort to do that.

As it stands, it resembles pure tax-cutting, and that doesn’t seem to match up with our concerns about the state budget.

Gov. Terry Branstad promised to focus on the subject of business and employment, and continues to push for a lower corporate income tax rate. The debate needs to include more discussion of what most Iowa businesses actually pay, but he deserves credit for sticking to his voter-approved platform.

Nobody expects the governor to come up with 200,000 new jobs in the next few years, even though he also promised that on the campaign trail.

But he was willing to set an ambitious goal, so serious moves toward it should be under way.

Whatever else happens, we do expect the Legislature to spend much more time on the economy.

The candidates last year talked a lot about the thousands of unemployed Iowans. Endless debates about moral issues won’t put anybody back to work.