31
Oct
2000
What are the three most pressing issues likely to face your government body during your term, and what specifically would you support to address them?
Millage: Raising teacher salaries to be competitive with other states and other occupations. Provide opportunities for professional development for teachers.
Eliminate taxes on pension and retirement income.
Examine our business and tax environment to be competitive in attracting new jobs to our state.
Differentiate yourself from your opponent on three issues you think are important that you also expect your govern-mental body to consider during your term.
Millage: I support the right-to-work law and will fight to retain this law. I believe in results and accountability and do not believe a problem can be solved by simply providing more money. I am a conservative on fiscal matters and will always follow the Iowa budget-limitation law.
List three specific programs or projects for which you would support increasing funding, even if it required reducing funding to other programs or projects.
Millage: Education and teacher salaries and programs to attract new teachers and retain the good teachers we have. A program to keep and retain Iowa graduates in all high-skill fields. Programs to provide assisted living.
List three specific programs or projects for which you would support decreasing funding, regardless of whether the budget required it.
Millage: We need to look at streamlining administration. We have invested millions of dollars in new technology that has increased productivity, but the savings in full-time employees have not been realized. We need to eliminate the millions of dollars spent on consultants that was recently uncovered in the Department of Human Services.
If it were clear that a large majority of people in your district opposed a proposal that you strongly favored, what decision would you make and how would you justify it to your constituents?
Millage: If the issue were one of conscience, I would explain that to the people of the district. If the issue were not one of conscience, I would vote to reflect the views of the people.
What specific proposals would you support to bring genuine economic growth - new jobs that pay well, companies committed to the community - to the Quad Cities?
Millage: I have supported job-training and re-training for new and existing businesses. A quality workforce supported by a strong education system, a competitive tax structure, and a common-sense regulatory environment will bring good jobs to the community.
List specific proposals that would improve cooperation and reduce competition among government bodies in the Quad City area.
Millage: The members of government bodies need to have a forum to discuss what is best for the area. Currently, no such forum exists.
List any specific proposals you would support to improve the integrity of your legislative body, including in the areas of campaign-finance reform, lobbying reform, sunshine laws, and ethics legislation.
Millage: Make sure there is full, timely disclosure of all campaign contributions, whether cash or in-kind.
List and justify your top five legislative priorities.
Millage: Raising teacher salaries. Elimination of taxes on pensions and retirement income. Providing the state`s buying power to lower the cost of prescription drugs. Reduce waste in government such as thousand-dollar-per-hour consulting contracts. Retain our graduates and provide a business and living environment that will bring former Iowans back home.
In the wake of welfare reform, what specific initiatives would you support to address poverty, including in the areas of affordable housing; transportation; education and job-training; and access to health and child care?
Millage: We have programs in place to address those issues. We need to make sure these programs remain available to those in need.
List and justify your top three priorities for the Iowa budget surplus.
Millage: The budget surplus should be returned to Iowa taxpayers to the largest extent possible through eliminating taxes on retirement and pension income, providing property-tax relief, and across-the-board income-tax cuts.
Differentiate yourself from your opponent on three issues you think are important that you also expect your govern-mental body to consider during your term.
Millage: I support the right-to-work law and will fight to retain this law. I believe in results and accountability and do not believe a problem can be solved by simply providing more money. I am a conservative on fiscal matters and will always follow the Iowa budget-limitation law.
List three specific programs or projects for which you would support increasing funding, even if it required reducing funding to other programs or projects.
Millage: Education and teacher salaries and programs to attract new teachers and retain the good teachers we have. A program to keep and retain Iowa graduates in all high-skill fields. Programs to provide assisted living.
List three specific programs or projects for which you would support decreasing funding, regardless of whether the budget required it.
Millage: We need to look at streamlining administration. We have invested millions of dollars in new technology that has increased productivity, but the savings in full-time employees have not been realized. We need to eliminate the millions of dollars spent on consultants that was recently uncovered in the Department of Human Services.
If it were clear that a large majority of people in your district opposed a proposal that you strongly favored, what decision would you make and how would you justify it to your constituents?
Millage: If the issue were one of conscience, I would explain that to the people of the district. If the issue were not one of conscience, I would vote to reflect the views of the people.
What specific proposals would you support to bring genuine economic growth - new jobs that pay well, companies committed to the community - to the Quad Cities?
Millage: I have supported job-training and re-training for new and existing businesses. A quality workforce supported by a strong education system, a competitive tax structure, and a common-sense regulatory environment will bring good jobs to the community.
List specific proposals that would improve cooperation and reduce competition among government bodies in the Quad City area.
Millage: The members of government bodies need to have a forum to discuss what is best for the area. Currently, no such forum exists.
List any specific proposals you would support to improve the integrity of your legislative body, including in the areas of campaign-finance reform, lobbying reform, sunshine laws, and ethics legislation.
Millage: Make sure there is full, timely disclosure of all campaign contributions, whether cash or in-kind.
List and justify your top five legislative priorities.
Millage: Raising teacher salaries. Elimination of taxes on pensions and retirement income. Providing the state`s buying power to lower the cost of prescription drugs. Reduce waste in government such as thousand-dollar-per-hour consulting contracts. Retain our graduates and provide a business and living environment that will bring former Iowans back home.
In the wake of welfare reform, what specific initiatives would you support to address poverty, including in the areas of affordable housing; transportation; education and job-training; and access to health and child care?
Millage: We have programs in place to address those issues. We need to make sure these programs remain available to those in need.
List and justify your top three priorities for the Iowa budget surplus.
Millage: The budget surplus should be returned to Iowa taxpayers to the largest extent possible through eliminating taxes on retirement and pension income, providing property-tax relief, and across-the-board income-tax cuts.
