Budget battle begins

Area Republicans wary of Culver’s proposal; Dems more receptive of plan

By MATT MILNER, Courier staff writer

DES MOINES — Two distinct views emerged Thursday on Gov. Chet Culver’s proposed budget, but both agree on one thing: The proposal will be very different from the final product.

Area Republican legislators are generally wary of Culver’s proposals. They see too much spending and too many efforts to shift income burdens from the state to local governments. Their Democrat counterparts have their own questions but are generally more receptive to the governor’s plan.

Differences between a governor’s proposed budget and the finished product are old news. Governors are required to propose a budget, legislators to pass one. But nothing in any state’s constitution says the two packages have to be anything like one another. The only rule is they must be balanced.

Sen. Minority Leader Paul McKinley, R-Chariton, doesn’t think Culver’s budget as written can get there.

“We’re still trying to analyze the budget. On the first run things don’t add up, so we hope this is a first draft,” he said.

Sen. Tom Rielly, D-Oskaloosa, admits he has yet to finish going through Culver’s proposal. But where Republicans see the governor shuffling state revenues and spending, Rielly sees something closer to a finished product.

“I don’t think the governor and the Senate are all that far apart,” he said. “I think his priorities are very similar to ours.”

Republicans are generally focused on how much money the state is spending as compared to its income. Culver’s budget does dip into the state’s rainy day funds for some of its goals. Republicans criticize Culver for proposing $5.707 billion in spending when the state isn’t bringing in that much.

Some Democrats agree there need to be cuts to Culver’s budget. But Rielly said he sees a baseline of $5.4 billion in the budget, a figure Republicans say is still too high.

Culver’s proposal shifts much of the Iowa State Patrol budget into the road use tax fund. That raises eyebrows on both sides of the aisle. It does free up money from the public safety funds that currently cover the patrol’s payroll, but it means less available for road and bridge repairs.

Rep. Betty DeBoef, R-What Cheer, sees a clear difference in Culver’s rhetoric over the past several years about road and bridge safety and his actions in spending from that fund to cover payroll in another area. She points to the talk about bridge safety in the wake of the Minnesota bridge collapse several years ago as evidence Culver won’t follow through on his talk if he sees a more attractive way to spend.

“All of these things affect every one of our little communities,” she said. “That’s their bridges, their roads.”

Sen. Keith Kreiman, D-Bloomfield, has the same concern. He’s open to the shift if the governor can answer questions about how big the impact would be for counties and cities that need state help to repair roads, as well as the impact on the roads the state must maintain. But while he is less ready to condemn the proposal than DeBoef, it is far from his ideal solution.

“Its been done before,” Kreiman said. “I don’t think it’s the best thing to be doing.”

Rep. Curt Hanson, D-Fairfield, would like the state to do more to create jobs, particularly in southeast Iowa. Green energy could do it, he thinks. Focus on biofuels and wind energy could start bringing in jobs and jump-start an economic recovery in a part of the state that badly needs it.

Jobs are a point where Hanson and McKinley have some common ground. They have different approaches, but both say the need for jobs is being overlooked amid the focus on Iowa’s budget. McKinley said Senate democrats have agreed to bring in some small business owners to testify about what they need to expand their businesses. There’s still skepticism, though.

“I hope it’s not window dressing,” he said.

Kreiman sees property taxes as an issue in job creation, particularly for small businesses. He calls Iowa’s current system “fairly illogical.” But tasks like comprehensive property tax reform usually depend on the state having less financial pressure and being able to keep focus. Iowa doesn’t have the funds right now and Kreiman doubts the political will exists to take on the task.

He hopes legislators will have the will when the economy recovers. But then it depends on staying focused.

“If you have an increase in the amount of money, the first thing people want to do is spend it,” he warned.

Matt Milner can be reached at (641) 683-5359 or via e-mail at mmilner@ottumwacourier.com