RESILIENT

“The condition of the state is resilient because the people of Iowa are resilient,” Governor Chet Culver said Tuesday morning at the Iowa State Capitol.

The State Capitol was filled with Iowans this morning to listen to Governor Culver’s Condition of the State Address. Included in the large crowd were hundreds of Iowans with the “Let Us Vote” campaign advocating giving Iowans the right to vote on a definition of marriage. Overall, the speech was a markedly better presentation than last year’s Condition of the State speech.

The Governor began by noting the short session and that there was “much to do, and no time to waste.” The Governor said that as Iowa continues to recover from natural disasters, and all Iowans, especially businesses, are affected by the national recession, we will overcome with resilience, optimism, determination, and good old hard work.

In speaking about Iowa values, the Governor acknowledged that with God’s help, all things are possible, and with perseverance there is nothing Iowans cannot endure and together cannot overcome.

In the next year, 3,500 Iowa National Guard members will be sent to Afghanistan. It is the largest single overseas deployment since WWII. The Governor asked that the legislature give them all the tools they need to complete their mission and come home safely. To do so, he asked the legislature to pass a supplemental appropriations bill to support costs to the Dept of Defense.

The Governor claimed that the budget has been balanced three years in a row without raising taxes, but did not explain how he met that constitutional requirement despite record spending. He also did not mention that taxes on cigarettes have in fact been raised. “Some appear confused about the budget situation,” he said, “the budget is balanced and has been balanced every single day I have been governor.” There was no mention of the use of stimulus funds and monies borrowed from the Rainy Day and other funds that have been used to balance the budgets. Next year’s budget will be submitted by the end of January, he claimed, but a shell bill is all that is actually expected.

The Governor’s top priorities for the session that he laid out in his speech are as follows:

1. Jobs:
• “Adequately” fund the Department of Work Force Development
• Fully fund Iowa Power Fund to create more “green jobs”
• Allocate remaining I-JOBS funds

2. Enact remaining recommendations in report:
• Streamline state government operations
• Provide for early retirements, 4-day work weeks
• Strategic purchasing
• Reduce state’s vehicle fleet
• Eliminate redundant information technology services

3. Major reorganization of state government.
Finding the inefficiencies in government was the first step, the Governor claimed, and major reorganization is the next. He advocated “real reform for the 21st century,” to create a smarter more efficient government.

4. Recovery assistance for immediate and long term help for flood victims:
• Fund the Flood Recovery Office
• Fully fund Rebuild Iowa Office, which helped to secure $3.6 billion to rebuild Iowa
• Work to commit a significant portion of I-JOBS funding to flood recovery

5. Explore options to transfer road fund money to adequately fund the Iowa Department of Public Safety.

6. Review tax credits and make sure they work as the legislature intended.

7. Children.
Despite challenges, health insurance was extended to 52,000 kids in Iowa, the Governor noted, and he wants that funding to continue. He also wants to expand access to early childhood education in Iowa

8. Quickly pass legislation required for Federal Race to the Top funds:
• $175 million will go to enable more innovation in the classroom
• Build infrastructure
• Allow more parental choice
• Remain on cutting edge

9. Ask school districts to spend down cash reserves to avoid shifting the burden to property tax payers.
The Governor made a promise to fund allowable growth at 2 %. He proposed to dedicate at least $100 million from the reserves to restore some of the recent cuts to K-12 schools, as a short-term shot in the arm. What “reserves” is the obvious question. He also pledged to support all institutions of higher learning “as much as we can.”

A good portion of the Governor’s speech was spent touting I-JOBS, a three year, $830 million plan intended to help the state recover from natural disasters and create jobs. With I-JOBS funding, he said, every county will receive funds to use on infrastructure of county’s choice. “In Iowa we don’t use public funds to build bridges to nowhere,” the Governor said. A board is appointed to review the applications to fund projects. I-JOBS bonds will be paid back at low interest rates with gambling revenue and without raising taxes, the Governor claimed.

So far, the bonds have been used to expand and renovate the Iowa Veteran’s Home in Marshalltown to make it one of the nicest in the country. The bonds have also been used to help the University of Iowa recovery from floods and secure federal money as well. In Linn and Louisa counties, which were also devastated by the floods, 54 I-JOBS projects are have been approved, with a total of 1,400 projects and an investment of $530 million statewide.

Iowa has the eighth fastest growing economy in the United States, it is the fourth best place to do business, and number one in the nation in terms of low cost of business. Further, Des Moines was named by Market Watch as the number one city in America to do business.

The Governor pointed out three notable companies that have come to the state in the last couple of years: Aviva in West Des Moines, IBM in Dubuque, and Google in Sioux City. Green collar jobs were also on the rise with $200 million attracted in private venture funding of “green projects.”

The Governor said he and Lieutenant Governor Patty Judge would embark on an Iowa Jobs Tour to highlight the good things that are happening in the state, and to talk to business leaders to find out what can be done to keep Iowa moving forward.

Governor Culver finished by stressing the work done at the Capitol is for and “about real people who are counting on us for help.”