Iowa Budget

June 6th: It looks like Monday should be a big news day in a whole bunch of ways.

Iowa Lt. Governor Kim Reynolds heads off on a trade mission trip to Asia. Governor Terry Branstad was supposed to lead that trip but since he and Democrats can't seem to agree on a budget, he will have to stay behind. And, yes, we are still talking about the fiscal year 2012 budget for the year that begins July 1st. When people first speculated about a government shutdown in April, it seemed very unlikely, didn't it? We are now less than 4 weeks away and it's difficult to envision an agreement this week. Why?

At 10am Monday, the Governor begins a 43-city tour of the state his office calls "Working Together for a Better Future". The first stop is scheduled for Ankeny. The governor is supposed to talk about his budget plans. We assume it's essentially the same budget plans he released in January.

Also, at 10am, Senate Democrats begin what they say will be budget hearings. They'll spend their first day talking about education during the hearing at the statehouse. They'll work their way onto other issues as the week progresses.

So if the governor is traveling the state this week and Democrats are busy with budget hearings, how will they ever reach an agreement on this? Am I missing something?

Branstad's budget

Da Budget: Listening this week to Iowa Governor Terry Branstad, I thought of those word-a-day calendars. You know, the ones you get to teach you fancy, 25 cent words you can use to impress people at parties? The governor was saying how he would describe the budget. He kept using the word, austere. Dictionary.com gives us our definition:

aus·tere   
[aw-steer]
–adjective
1.
severe in manner or appearance; uncompromising; strict; forbidding: an austere teacher.
2.
rigorously self-disciplined and severely moral; ascetic; abstinent: the austere quality of life in the convent.
3.
grave; sober; solemn; serious: an austere manner.
4.
without excess, luxury, or ease; simple; limited; severe: an austere life.
5.
severely simple; without ornament: austere writing.
6.
lacking softness; hard: an austere bed of straw.
7.
rough to the taste; sour or harsh in flavor.

Today, we learned what the gov means by austere. He is cutting more than $300 million. He is also shifting more than $700 million of state spending into the general fund budget. This is the one-time money (federal stimulus dollars, borrowed money from other reserve funds, etc.). He says instead of keeping it separate like previous Governor Chet Culver did, Branstad includes it into the actual budget. Branstad feels it gives a more accurate portrayal of the state's finances. Branstad did make cuts, like he said he would. Undoubtedly this will be where the debate begins on which programs get cut and whether the cuts are too much. For one thing, he wants to give no funding increases for public schools the next two years. And he would basically cut in half the amount of money who gives to what is now the universal pre-school for 4-year-olds (Branstad only wants to give vouchers to needy families, although he hasn't released what "needy" is).

And the gov also wants to raise taxes. He wants to increase taxes on casinos from 24% to 36% (for most of the casinos). That helps raise the money to make up for the revenue the state could lose from his call to cut corporate income tax cuts in half. What do Republican anti-taxers think of this? Are you against ALL tax increases? Or is this o.k. because it raises them on casinos and cuts for other companies? You don't hear Republicans talk about raising taxes much these days. In fact, no one else really comes to mind as I write this. How will Branstad's idea go over?

1 on 1 with Terry Branstad

Thursday, former Iowa Governor Terry Branstad starting making the media rounds as he tries to find his fifth way back into Terrace Hill. We've all been waiting for some time with him. My conversation with him coincided with the day of his first statewide of the state as a candidate, or almost official candidate. O.K., maybe it wasn't much of a coincidence. We met at his campaign headquarters in Urbandale. It looked familiar for several reasons. Tim Albrecht was there. He is Branstad's communications guy. He was also former presidential candidate Mitt Romney's guy, too. Romney also used the same Urbandale location for his efforts. He finished second in Iowa. Branstad won't be happy with a second place finish. Obviously.

A nice woman greeted us as we walked in. The office is pretty sparse, so far. There were signs up on the walls. But other than Jeff Boeyink, Branstad's campaign manager, and Tom Beaumont, the political reporter for the Des Moines Register, I think the office was empty.

We met in a back office with Branstad while Albrecht watched and kept track of the time. Branstad had a busy morning of meetings and interviews. It was two days after Branstad turned 63. He mentioned he got Sarah Palin's new book, "Going Rogue", and loaned it to his uncle. So I couldn't get the gov's literary reviews of her work. He also showed me a prized collection of autographed baseballs. Branstad told me when he was younger, he visited St. Louis to watch former Cardinal great, Stan Musial, play ball for my beloved Cardinals. Musial's autograph is one of the highlights of his collection. Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig, I would say is one of the lowlights. Those were my thoughts, though, not his:) Branstad said he was a Cubs, Cards and Twins fan, but mostly a Cubs' fan. So much for his judgement:)

He also proudly pointed to a baseball he threw out during an Iowa-Iowa State baseball game (ISU got rid of its baseball program after the 2001 season.) He seemed to take great pride in mentioning he threw a strike that day.

O.K., now the interview. Thanks to my photographer, (and the pride of Wellsburg) Travis Jungling, for putting together the full interview. Carroll's pride and joy, Dave Olson, our other photographer, ran the second camera.

Here are the highlights:

He admits that his coming out speech fell flat.
He comes out against same-sex marriage.
He doubts the legality of the plan of rival, Bob Vander Plaats.
He doesn't have much good to say about Governor Chet Culver.
He praises fellow Republican Christian Fong, for trying to one-up one of Branstad's ideas.

Here's our conversation. Your thoughts, as always, are welcome. And encouraged!

10pm story, including response from Gov. Chet Culver:



Raw Interview: