State public-employee pension systems are grossly underfunded in general and are financial time bombs for most states. According to the 2010 paper "Are State Public Pensions Sustainable?", 31 state pension systems will run out of money by 2030 at current benefit and funding levels. (Illinois topped the list, going broke in 2018; Iowa is in better shape than most states, with an estimated expiration date of 2035.)

What's happening in cities across Iowa with police and firefighter pensions, though, shows the flip side - the short-term budget pain that accompanies a well-funded system when investments perform poorly.

In Davenport, the cost of police and firefighter pensions will increase from roughly $3.3 million in Fiscal Year 2010 to $5.5 million next fiscal year and an estimated $6.6 million in Fiscal Year 2014, according to city Budget Director Alan Guard. Over the four-year period ending in 2014, Guard said, the cumulative additional cost is $7.75 million.

In Bettendorf, the cost of police and fire pensions increased from roughly $747,000 in Fiscal Year 2010 to $1.22 million next fiscal year and an expected $1.36 million in Fiscal Year 2014, according to City Administrator Decker Ploehn. Over the four-year period ending in 2014, the cumulative additional cost is $1.62 million.

City and county officials expressed frustration and a sense of helplessness January 24 over the lack of money to repair crumbling roads and bridges.

The local-government leaders argued strenuously at a Transportation Day 2012 event at the Wallace State Office Building that it's time for the state to increase the gas tax to upgrade infrastructure. But Republican Governor Terry Branstad insisted the state must first show taxpayers it's being efficient with money it already has.

Keokuk County Supervisor Mike Hadley said his county will have to close five bridges this year - including bridges that connect rural and agricultural areas to market towns - because they're in such disrepair. He said rural America can't grow if it doesn't maintain its infrastructure.

"We can't cut any more pencils and paper clips," Hadley told the governor. "This has gone on too long. We have to act. Nobody wants to do this, but we have to ... . We can't continue to just close down our infrastructure, because it never reopens."

As momentum builds for a measure to increase Iowa's gas tax to pay for the state's roads and bridges, a taxpayer-advocate group is one of the lone voices opposing the plan.

Lindsay McQuarry, policy director for Iowans for Tax Relief - a Muscatine-based not-for-profit that supports reduced state-government spending and lower taxes - said her group won't be alone for long.

"It is an uphill battle, but it's something that Iowans are going to be outraged by once this picks up steam," McQuarry said. "I don't think this is something that has the support that the special-interest groups would like to lead people to believe."

A proposal before the legislature would have the Iowa Department of Transportation find $50 million in savings for the fiscal year that begins July 1. The plan would then increase the gas tax by 8 cents a gallon over the next two years, starting in 2013. It would also increase registration fees for new vehicles from 5 percent to 6 percent of the purchase price. The increase would generate about $180 million a year when fully implemented, lawmakers said.

Back when the reformers demanded that state campaign contributions be capped, they said it would limit the dollars flowing into Illinois political funds.

But, overall, contributions have only barely decreased from four years ago, according to a search of the State Board of Elections' database. That may have as much to do with the economy these days compared to what it was back then, when Illinois' unemployment rate was half what it is now. According to the search, about $55.6 million was contributed to campaigns during the last six months of 2011, while about $57.3 million went to campaigns during the same period four years earlier.

Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan raised a total of $2.6 million for the three campaign funds he controls in just the last three months. Madigan now has a total of $4 million in cash, which puts him far ahead of anybody else in politics. Four years ago at this time (the same point in our national and state election cycles), Madigan had $1.3 million in cash reserves. There were no contribution caps four years ago.

And a whole bunch of money is avoiding the new contribution limits by being spread around to newly formed political action committees and to some little local committees that have never before seen much, if any, activity.