Governor Chet Culver said Thursday he's "very confident" the state can balance its budget for Fiscal Year 2009 with no special session but warned that it's "very possible" he'll have to order an across-the-board cut in state government as early as next month for Fiscal Year 2010, which started July 1.
Culver said he'll likely ask the Revenue Estimating Conference to meet early - in August instead of September - so he can make any necessary cuts as early as possible.
"Based on what they tell us about the first quarter of fiscal year 2010, we will have nine months to react," Culver said. "It is very possible that I'll have to do additional cuts, and we're going to take that step as quickly as we know the facts."
When asked if an across-the-board cut was his preferred approach to a budget shortfall, Culver said: "I think that's fair to say. That is certainly a tool that we have. ... The more that we can do early in Fiscal Year 2010, the better. The less pain, if you will, that we'll have to implement in '11."
Culver held a mid-afternoon news conference Thursday, as rhetoric grew stronger from Republicans about Democrats' spending and the need for a special session.
Democrats on Thursday pointed to Standard & Poor's reaffirming Iowa's AAA bond rating as proof of the state's sound fiscal condition; they said Iowa is one of only 11 states to have that rating. In addition, they said Iowa's upcoming sale of I-JOBS bonds received a AA rating, which will translate into a lower interest rate.
Two Iowans Work to Protect Caucus Position
For now, Iowa's status of having the first presidential caucuses appears safe for both Democrats and Republicans, according to the two men representing Iowa on the committees studying the issue.
"We all hope in Iowa that we retain our first-in-the-nation status. That doesn't technically seem to be in play," Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller told IowaPolitics.com after attending the first meeting of a commission established by the Democratic National Committee to review the 2012 presidential-nominating process.
"My sense is that it will be primarily focused on what happens after Iowa and New Hampshire," agreed former Republican Party of Iowa Chair Brian Kennedy of Bettendorf, who is on the Republican National Committee's Temporary Committee on Delegate Selection.
Commissions of both the Democratic and Republican national committees are starting to look ahead to the next presidential nominating process just six months after President Barack Obama, the winner of the 2008 Iowa caucuses, took office.
Miller is the only Iowan on the 37-member Democratic commission, which is scheduled to meet again August 28 and 29 and October 24 before taking a final vote at its December 4 and 5 meeting. Kennedy is the only Iowan on the 15-member Republican committee, which will meet three or four times before making its recommendations by July 2010.
Implementation of New Sex-Offender Law Called an "Educational Process"
More than 130 new state laws approved by the 2009 legislature took effect July 1, and now comes the real test: finding out whether they work.
"A lot of it's going to have to be an educational process for the citizens across the state. That's a big factor," said Appanoose County Sheriff Gary Anderson, president of the Iowa State Association of Counties (ISAC). "We've been proactive trying to educate constituents."
One of the laws that will have the most sweeping impact across the state is Senate File 340, intended to improve Iowa's controversial law that prevented sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of schools and day-care centers. The change has been a top priority at ISAC for about four years.
The new law classifies sex offenders into three tiers and prohibits sex offenders from working, loitering, or being present within 300 feet of "exclusionary zones," or areas where children frequent such as schools, child-care centers, playgrounds, arcades, pools, and fairs. The 2,000-foot law now applies only to sex offenders who have committed the worst offenses against children.
"We're going to be able to keep people away from schools and other places where kids are, which is more important than keeping them from living within a certain distance," said Iowa Attorney General Miller.
"This law has a little bit more impact on where these people can be, and we have better control of where they can be employed," Anderson said. "They're not going to be able to go to the swimming beaches to loiter around there. Before, they just couldn't find anywhere to live, and we didn't know where they were ... . These people will start now registering."
That's the hope, at least. Ross Loder, legislative liason with the Iowa Department of Public Safety, said the state is still working to categorize the 5,000 people on the Iowa Sex Offender Registry into the three tiers so it can notify offenders as soon as possible.
Road Builders, Counties Push Gas Tax Despite Record Spending
Iowa is expected to set an all-time record for highway and bridge spending this year, but a key lobbyist for road builders said the state will be in trouble in future years if it doesn't raise the gas tax.
"People will say you're still spending about the same, and we say, 'Yes, that's true, but it's just buying less,'" said Scott Newhard of Associated General Contractors of Iowa. "And the buying power has declined so dramatically over the years. They haven't had a gas-tax increase for 20 years."
Local roads are hurting as well, said Bill Peterson, executive director of the Iowa State Association of Counties. His group has been trying to get a 5- or 10-cent increase in the gasoline tax for the road-use fund for county and city roads.
"We keep getting disappointed that the governor keeps taking the fuel tax off the table," Peterson said. "The ... dollars just don't go as far as they used to."
The state let $1.03 billion of projects through June 30, while over the past 10 years the state has usually spent between $500 million and $640 million by this point, said Dena Gray-Fisher with the Iowa Department of Transportation. The skyrocketing figures are due to an extra $115 million from Culver's I-JOBS bonding plan for infrastructure and roughly $358 million for road, bridge, and trail projects from the American Reinvestment & Recovery Act.
Culver recently boasted that Iowa beat 47 other states in obligating at least 50 percent of its federal-stimulus highway funds by June 29. The Department of Transportation let 86 percent of the money designated for state roads and 55 percent meant for local projects.
Republican Primary for Governor Shaping Up
The Republican primary for governor is still 11 months away, but the race heated up recently.
In what state Representative Rod Roberts of Carroll called his "debut," four potential GOP candidates for governor made their first joint appearance the last weekend in June, giving fellow Republicans a sample of their style and message on issues including the budget, education, economic development, and marriage.
Roberts joined state Senator Jerry Behn of Boone, Sioux City businessman Bob Vander Plaats, and former House Speaker Christopher Rants of Sioux City in taking the stage at the Sac County Republican fundraiser breakfast. Roberts said he plans to form his exploratory committee this month.
Behn criticized Culver for taking a $5.4-billion state budget up to more than $6.1 billion. "It's not your fault," Behn told the audience. "You are paying enough money in taxes. ... The problem is not revenue. The problem [is that] we have a governor and legislative body right now that are spending money like drunken sailors."
Vander Plaats emphasized familiar themes, saying Republicans need to raise their bold conservative issues high and not heed those who say they must be more like Democrats. He said the state needs to be opened up for business with a competitive tax and regulatory structure.
Rants said Iowa needs a governor who puts economic development at the top of the agenda and runs a campaign about creating jobs. He proposed making Iowa one of the top 10 states to run a business. Right now, he said, Iowa ranks 49th. "We ought to set our goal to be in the top 10," he said.
Roberts said Republicans must be truthful, up-front, and real about the issues Iowa is facing. He contended that Culver is biding his time for an improved economy.
"We're in the midst of a significant economic recession, and its effects are being felt right here at home, and people are concerned. So let's be real and admit to that ... ," Roberts said. "We do have a problem, and we need to address it now and prepare for the future."
Meanwhile, Cedar Rapids businessman Christian Fong became the latest Republican to announce his candidacy for governor.
Fong, the son of Chinese immigrants, works at AEGON in Cedar Rapids and grew up in southwestern Iowa. He's been a leader in flood recovery but has never held public office. He's been chair of the Next Generation Commission in Cedar Rapids and serves as leader of the Generation Iowa Commission, a statewide group created in 2007. He also works as CEO of Corridor Recovery and chair of its small-business task force.
Delegation Splits Along Party Lines on Climate-Change Bill
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack said U.S. House approval of the bill that would establish a "cap and trade" system to limit the nation's greenhouse-gas emissions might have been "one of the most important votes in the last 100 years."
U.S. Representative Leonard Boswell (D-Des Moines) was deemed a key vote in the 219-212 passage of the bill.
He voted for the bill but still voiced opposition to it, saying that consumers in coal-reliant states such as Iowa will see greater rate increases than consumers in other parts of the country. "This is neither fair nor equitable because it creates winners and losers," he said. "I'm not giving up. This bill is worth supporting, but it is my hope that when the House addresses this legislation again, the allocation formula will be more equitable for Iowans and Midwesterners alike."
The Republicans in Iowa's delegation opposed the legislation, and U.S. Representative Steve King said passing it "could be the most colossal mistake in history of Congress."
U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley (D-Waterloo) voted for the bill and is one of 13 House Democrats being targeted by the National Republican Congressional Committee with radio ads and robo-calls for his vote in support of the legislation.
Iowa farmers are outraged at the bill, U.S. Senator Charles Grassley told reporters while holding constituent meetings in 12 Iowa counties.
"There's a few farmers who came to my town meetings yesterday, and you're only three days away from passing the House. And there's complete outrage about how detrimental it's going to be to farming," Grassley said. "It hasn't been sold to agriculture as being a good thing."
Grassley said such an initiative should be done by worldwide, international agreement so China and India are involved. "Otherwise, our industry -- whether it's agriculture or whether it's our manufacturing, and particularly manufacturing -- is going to be very uncompetitive," he said. "We're going to see more manufacturing move overseas, and nobody should want to do that."
This weekly summary comes from IowaPolitics.com, an online government and politics news service. IowaPolitics.com staff contributed to this report.
