Three questions on the initial review of Governor Culver’s FY 2010 Budget
Does the Governor’s Budget Spend Less than the State Takes in?
No. In addition to general fund appropriations of $5.32 billion, the Governor uses $387 million in one-time money to increase spending:
- $207.5 million from the Cash Reserve Fund
- $37.7 million from the Senior Living Trust Fund for Medicaid
- $48 million in stimulus money for education and general purpose
- $94.2 million in stimulus for Medicaid expenditures
Total spending on general fund items is $5.707 billion
Does the Governor’s Budget Raise Taxes?
Yes. The Governor claims to fund 2 percent allowable growth for K-12 education at $333 million. This is $233 million from the general fund and $100 million from the Cash Reserve Fund. LSA estimates that 2 percent will cost $514 million in FY 2011. Therefore, he underfunds the 2 percent by $170 million. Since the spending authority remains, the $170 million can be made up within property tax increases. The Governor also proposes other property tax increases by funding the property tax credits below last year’s level and funding the State Patrol out of the Road Use Tax Fund. Both will increase property taxes. Federal deductibility may also be on the line to make the budget numbers balance for the majority party.
How much is the reorganization savings and is it real?
Unclear. The Governor plugs in $341 million in reorganization savings. Some of the things (IT consolidation, reducing the fleet, eliminating phantom employees) were House Republican ideas from last year, but the Government Reorg bill comes nowhere near the projected $300+ million in savings. Some of the ideas like increasing unclaimed property and federal grants appear to be dubious at best. Also, $50 million of the savings is for shifting the State Patrol into the RUTF and that is unlikely to happen.
From Rep. Dwyane Alons newsletter dated January 20, 2010
1-12-10 State of the State
January 12th, 2010
Governor Culver gave his State of the State address today. He sent most of his speech defending the past policies and reassuring Iowa that these past policies worked. He seemed like a man that was trying to keep his job. I applaud him for the effort, it was very passionate. However, in politics, it’s always good to tell the truth. Below are a few his comments in bold and my remarks challenging his comments.
“I didn’t raise taxes last year and will not raise taxes again this year.”
I reject this political rhetoric. Governor Culver and the majority party raised taxes last year and will do it again this year by; creating higher property taxes by reduced funding to schools and local governments, eliminating tax credits, and raising government fees on many items. These are tax increases.
“Let’s end the confusion! Here are the facts. Today, the budget is balanced. And it has been balanced every single day since I’ve been Governor.” “I’m proud of the fact that on my watch we’ve earned the highest possible bond rating for good fiscal management. I’m proud of the fact that we’ve balanced the budget three years in a row, without raising taxes!”
Well, a balance budget is a mandated law. We will always have a balance budget. However, you can bond all the money want, the $180 million bond from last year will be paid for over 25-years. This is not balancing the budget when you spend more than you take in.
“Additionally, because of our cost savings initiatives, the budget today is “smaller” than it was on the day I took office. But this didn’t happen by accident. It happened because we made tough choices. We managed the budget responsibly and effectively.”
This current budget is the second largest budget ever in the history of Iowa. Even after the Governor’s across the board reduction this is the 2nd largest budget ever. FY 09 was the only one larger.
-SFY08 is 5.856 billion
-FY09 was 6.1 billion
-FY10 after 10% ATB is 5.867 billion
“In the short term, I-JOBS is creating jobs.”
Governor Culver claims that a yes vote for his I-Jobs program was a vote for rebuilding Iowa’s economy. It was actually a vote to double the state’s debt that has temporarily employed less than 5,000 people. Frankly, if you ask any local or county governments, you will find that they used the money on projects that were already planned to be completed. (no long-term full-time jobs were created)
Government gets a bad name when a politician uses rhetoric to make themselves look good. If I ever do this, call me out on it. You are the judge!
Royd Chambers
STATE REPRESENTATIVE
Fifth District
As the 2010 legislative session opens, I send greetings from Des Moines. It is very good to be back in this seat of service after missing last session while on military deployment. Thanks to all my constituents who allow me the privilege of serving you in the Iowa House. This session I will be serving on the Economic Growth, Education, Labor, Veteran’s Affairs and Education Appropriations committees.
As you know, the state’s budget situation will be the major issue this year. It was absurd to hear the governor call for more spending in his State of the State speech on Tuesday. Despite the spin from the governor, the state budget is more than one billion dollars in deficit. The budget is not balanced as claimed. The legislature needs to create a budget that does not spend more than the state receives in revenue. It is law that the state is not to spend more than 99 percent of yearly revenues, yet the majority party last year authorized nearly 70 loopholes to allow continued spending. Unfortunately, as with Congress, we have members of the Iowa legislature who have forgotten that they are handling the people’s money. In my view, they are doing a mighty poor job of it. My goal is to bring some sanity back to this process.
There was disappointing process in committee already this week with bills being brought up for votes with such short notice that the public had no chance for public comment. For a while I thought I was in Washington not Des Moines. I hope that practice is not a sign of how the session will proceed. Iowans have a right to transparent government and to be able to participate in the legislative process.
OK, so what is my approach? If legislation is offered by the majority party that truly helps to streamline government and allows Iowans to keep more of their hard earned money, I will be supportive. If legislation is offered that truly creates long term private sector jobs, I will be supportive. If proposals are offered that truly offers methods to improve education, I will be supportive. If legislation is offered that allows Iowans to vote on a constitutional amendment to define marriage as between a man and a woman, I will definitely be supportive. But legislation that offers the opposite, I will stand strongly against.
In other news, Veterans Day at the capitol is January 21. Many of Iowa’s honorable veterans will be in attendance and I look forward to veterans from Northwest Iowa being in attendance. In addition, some Northwest Iowa FFA Chapters will be at the capitol next week, which is always a treat.
Track what is going on at the legislature by going to http://www.legis.state.ia.us/
Contact me any time in the Iowa House by calling 515-281-3221 to leave a message, or by e-mail at royd.chambers@legis.state.ia.us Royd Chambers of Sheldon represents House District 5, which consists of O’Brien, Osceola, the rural parts of Clay, and 4 townships in Sioux County.
Dwayne Alons
STATE REPRESENTATIVE
Fourth District
“Off we go” to the Capitol for the 2nd session of the 83rd Iowa General Assembly. That sentence started like the “Air Force song,” but I don’t believe we will be putting that one to music. The 2010 Legislative session will be challenging, memorable, and hopefully short. We are scheduled to meet for 80 days instead of 100 due to the legislature contributing its part with the budget cuts. That means the per diem payments to legislators will end on March 30 and any additional days will not be reimbursed for costs incurred in Des Moines. It will be interesting to see if the majority party can get the budget finalized and all of the other policy bills to the governor’s desk in that time. I have a bill to extend those cuts to legislators in future years until we have a fully balanced budget and our cash reserve and economic emergency funds are fully restored.
I would like to spell out for you some of the things that, I believe, we should be working on while at the Capitol.
Iowa Family Budget Initiatives:
• Constitutional Limit on State Spending
We currently have a 99% spending limitation in the Iowa Code, but it is too easy to ease around that limitation. Putting it in the Constitution makes it a hard limitation that protects the taxpayers of Iowa.
• Super-majority Vote to Approve New State Debt
Last year the majority party approved over $800 million of new state debt, which will cost future generations $1.7 billion to pay off that debt. We need a super-majority of a two-thirds vote in the legislature to authorize that kind of commitment on our taxpayers.
• Sunset Authorizations of Every State Program
Many programs begin with an idea that such a plan could be short term, but it seems without a mandate to sunset every “good idea” they just go on and on forever. Iowa families make adjustments as conditions change and state government should be able to do the same.
The Liberty Agenda: Putting People First
• Allow Iowans the right to vote on marriage
We have a decision by the Iowa Supreme Court that changes the definition of marriage in the Iowa Code. Since the Iowa Constitution states that “political power is inherent in the people,” this difference can be corrected by a vote of the people. I am opposed to a few leaders standing in the way of your right to vote on this important matter.
• Return to the fundamentals of government
Government cannot be everything to everyone, so we must go back to the basics of what government should do with the available funds.
• The Iowa Good Neighbor Act
We had an instance of a person helping out a neighboring family with children needing to be supervised after school. The helpful neighbor was charged with not having a daycare license. We must do more to keep government from intruding on good neighbors helping families with some basic needs in this fast-paced life.
Iowa Health Care Initiatives
Low Cost Catastrophic Coverage for those under 30
Medical Malpractice Reform
Expand health insurance tax deductibility to individuals and small businesses
Prevention Credits: Putting a Premium on Wellness
No pre-existing exclusions when changing plans with the same provider
I, also, believe we should be reducing the mandates on our local schools, allowing for more local control and empowerment of local teaching professionals. We should reduce the role of the Department of Education and allow for the schools with the best results to become models and mentors for lower performing schools.
Please let me know your thoughts or any ideas about streamlining government to help you keep more of your hard earned dollars. Contact information: dwayne.alons@legis.state.ia.us or 515-242-6415.