“If you haven’t noticed, a movement was created over the last 15 months,” Paulsen said. “Massive federal intervention in the form of bailouts and takeovers has many Iowans feeling frustrated, powerless, helpless. Frustration and exasperation with their government has made them pay attention. It is time to give Iowan’s their state back.”

You can read the full article at the Sioux City Journal online

Iowa Republican to Tea Party: We hear you

By James Q. Lynch Lee Des Moines Bureau | Posted: Wednesday, April 7, 2010 6:00 pm

CEDAR RAPIDS – Iowa House Minority Leader Kraig Paulsen is reaching out to Tea Party activists, telling them Republicans feel their frustration, powerlessness and helplessness.

In comments to the Iowa House moments before adjournment, Paulsen, a Hiawatha Republican, took notice of the so-called Tea Party movement that has come to life in response, mostly, to federal bailouts of financial institutions and car makers, and passage of a health care overhaul.

“If you haven’t noticed, a movement was created over the last 15 months,” Paulsen said. “Massive federal intervention in the form of bailouts and takeovers has many Iowans feeling frustrated, powerless, helpless. Frustration and exasperation with their government has made them pay attention. It is time to give Iowan’s their state back.”

Paulsen wants those Tea Partiers to understand that Republicans share those same concerns. He’d like them to join the GOP in this fall’s elections and help the minority party taking control of the Legislature.

“From a philosophical standpoint, the House Republican caucus reflects a whole lot of those same concerns,” Paulsen said Wednesday.

In fact, the newer House Republicans may have been Tea Partiers before there was a Tea Party, freshman GOP Reps. Renee Schulte of Cedar Rapids and Nick Wagner of Marion said.

“I’m a Republican and I’m tired of government intrusion, I’m tired of higher taxes, I’m tired of the way the budget has been handled,” Wagner aid. “It’s not just the Tea Partiers.”

Schulte believes that many of the concerns motivating Tea Party are the same reason she and Wagner ran for office two years ago.

“We’re tired of the spending and I think that’s why Nick and I ran,” Schulte said. “So maybe we’re a little ahead of the Tea Party curve.”

Paulsen, who has been involved in recruiting candidates over the past three election cycles, said people run for a variety of reasons. Often, he said, it’s to self-actualize.

“That’s absolutely not why people are running on the Republican ticket in 2010,” he said.

This year, he said. There’s a “much different level of motivation” among GOP candidates.

That’s also why Republicans have candidates for 87 of 100 House seats covered while Democrats have covered only 73, Paulsen said.

The 2010 campaign will be about jobs and the economy, which Paulsen believes work to the GOP’s advantage and are the source of many Tea Partiers’ frustrations.

“In the Democratic talking points they claim, the governor in particular, that I-JOBS is a big thing,” Paulsen said. “But basically its government work jobs that will go away. It’s not anywhere near the number Culver proposed.

You can watch live on the Des Moines Register’s site.

THIS WEEK: Cellphones

IDEA: Eliminate state-issued cellular telephones/BlackBerry-like mobile devices.

WHO SUGGESTED: An anonymous citizen via a House Republican Web site.

CURRENT COSTS: Iowa’s state employees have been issued 1,177 Blackberries, according to a report released in September by the Iowa Department of Administrative Services. Iowa’s total cell phone/BlackBerry monthly bills during 2008 were $2.1 million, according to the department.

FACT: The state obtains a reduced rate through Verizon Wireless for many of its BlackBerry devices for as little as $30 a month. Standalone plans often cost $80 or more a month.

OF INTEREST: State-issued cells phones are to be used only for business, according to the state’s employee handbook. Personal calls must be kept to a minimum, the handbook states.

An example of how personal costs can add up: Gov. Chet Culver in May 2007 had a $310.55 cell phone bill, including $254.61 for roaming charges, according to phone records reviewed by the Register after a public information request. The phone was kept in a leased vehicle driven by the Executive Protection Unit. Phone numbers to Culver’s family were redacted, which accounted for $122.13 of the costs, according to the records. The typical monthly bill for the phone that year was $43 to $44, records showed.

The Register asked for 2007 cell records of Culver, then-Department of Management Director Charlie Krogmeier, transportation director Nancy Richardson and education director Judy Jeffrey. Lt. Gov. Patty Judge did not have a state-issued cell phone during that time, state officials said. The majority of the bills were under $100 a month. Jeffrey and Richardson had monthly charges of more than $200 on at least one occasion, but those were due largely to equipment purchases or upgrades.

PROPOSAL: Rep. Jodi Tymeson, R-Winterset, proposed an amendment to a budget bill in the 2009 session that would have prohibited cell phones for state employees who normally perform their job at a fixed position for 70 percent or more of their time. The law would have allowed exceptions on a case-by-case basis.

Tymeson said recently that her intention was to exclude emergency workers or law enforcement officials. House Republicans estimated the law would have saved $500,000 a year. Democrats ultimately rejected the proposal, some of them expressing concern that limiting cell phone use could disrupt government functions and create added costs rather than efficiencies.

QUOTE: “I’m not convinced it would be the most practical suggestion, other than mandating continued vigilance with respect to securing the best contracts/pricing,” said Robert Bailey, a spokesman for the Iowa Department of Administrative Services.

BOTTOM LINE: The GOP plan to limit cell phones would cut costs by $500,000, according to its estimates.

(Source: The Des Moines Register)

Figures showing Iowa’s state employees ranked in the top 10 in average salaries in 2007 are raising concerns from some Republicans and business interests, but other state officials are questioning their accuracy.

Numbers compiled by the Legislative Services Agency showed Iowa ranked ninth in the country for average monthly salary of state employees. The ranking was based on U.S. Census Bureau data compiled by the LSA.

Those numbers found the average monthly salary of state workers or “full-time equivalents” was $4,479 in 2007.
Those numbers were quoted on the Iowa House Republicans’ Web site last month and have been circulated recently.

House Minority Leader Kraig Paulsen, R-Hiawatha, said any data he’s seen has shown state employees make “significantly more” than the average Iowan

“I think that state government should reflect, you know, what’s going on with real, everyday Iowans, and I’m not sure in this case that it does,” Paulsen said.

Troy Price, spokesman for Gov. Chet Culver, said the figures by the state’s Department of Administrative Services, or DAS, show the state would not be ranked in the top ten for employee salaries.

Continue reading “Iowa state salary levels questioned, defended”

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A story today brings one example of this issue to light. ABC News Senior White House Correspondent Jake Tapper followed the money being spent as part of the federal stimulus plan. The White House issued a report called “100 Days, 100 Projects” which details how the stimulus money is being spent on 100 different projects.

Tapper’s article today focuses on Project #55, which just happens to be in Davenport. The article states:

Project #55 in the report states that: “With the help of Recovery Act funding, Zeglin’s Home TV & Appliance, a locally-owned and operated company, is currently replacing stoves in Public Housing units in Davenport, Iowa, with American-made Whirlpool appliances.”

The reality: Zeglins TV & Appliance, Inc. in Davenport, recently placed an order for 160 stoves and refrigerators for public housing.

The order “is certainly helping an independent businessman like myself keep making payroll,” owner Jeff Zeglin told ABC News.

But… this was a project that had already been approved by Davenport city council to be paid for by federal monies, Margaret Murphy the Assisted Housing Manager for the city, tells ABC News.

When the stimulus bill passed, some astute city workers realized they could have some of that order paid for by the stimulus because of the American steel used in the stoves.

So the city of Davenport submitted $13,000 for 42 stoves (and installation) paid for by the stimulus.

The point is: those stoves would have been purchased and installed anyway.

The full article and a video can be found here: link

• While certain agencies and programs had their general fund spending cut, overall spending went up. $5.9 billion in FY 08, $6.1 billion in FY 09 and $6.3 billion in FY 10. (FY 09 and FY 10 include federal stimulus funds used for general fund purposes.) The Democrats are saying they cut the budget, but this just isn’t true.
• The FY 07 budget (the last budget approved by House Republicans) spent $1.01 for every $1.00 of ongoing revenue. The FY 2010 budget spent $1.14 for every $1.00 of ongoing revenue. That is simply not sustainable and leaves a gigantic spending gap in FY 2011.



• The Auditor believes the spending gap between revenue and expenditures in FY 2011 is $1.062 billion. If the remaining federal stimulus dollars are used to help fill the gap, it would mean the state would need 15 percent revenue growth in FY 2011 to make up the difference between revenue and spending.



• According to the Auditor, $248 million was shifted out of the Rebuild Iowa Infrastructure Fund (RIIF) for general fund purposes. If these funds were allowed to remain in the RIIF, the entire I-Jobs program could have been funded on a pay-as-you-go basis in less than 6 years.
• Borrowing $1.664 billion to receive $765 million in net bond proceeds means that for every $1 of construction in the next 2 years, it will cost the taxpayers $2.18 over the next 25 years.

For a copy of the news release and PowerPoint presentation, click here (PDF). Also, we linked to it yesterday, but here it is again. The Auditor has put up a video on Youtube discussing the state’s budget situation.

On Tuesday Jan. 30 the Wall Street Journal called the Democrat’s effort to gut Right to Work the “Iowa Emigration Act”.

The Journal stated “If the Iowa Legislature wanted to chase jobs and employers out of the state, they couldn’t come up with a better plan than undermining right to work.”

Also according to the Journal:
“Right to work laws are strongly correlated with faster growth in jobs and personal income.”

“A recent survey by the National Right to Work Institute found that, between 1986 and 2006, 11 right-to-work states have added 104,000 auto manufacturing jobs, a 63% increase. The non right-to-work states lost 130,000 auto jobs, or 15% over the same period.”

David Yepsen of the Des Moines Register noted in his column on Jan. 30 that,:
“…lawyers and others trying to craft the legislation to enact it are discovering that they can’t do it without gutting part of the right-to-work law. (That law also says it’s illegal to collect “dues, charges, fees, contributions, fines or assessments to any labor union, labor association or labor organization” as a condition of employment.)

Labor is saying, “You promised fair share.” Democratic legislators are saying, “You didn’t tell us we’d have to gut the right-to-work law to do it.” Labor replies: “So what’s wrong with that?”

On February 13th the Clinton Herald wrote: “Perhaps the words Fair Share don’t scare you yet – but they should.”

On February 13th, the Cedar Rapids Gazette wrote: “The “fair” aspect of the legislation seems to be more about “fare,” inasmuch as the measure has the potential to dump millions of dollars into unions, which have seen their ranks decline in recent years.”

The Gazette summarized it’s position: “As much as proponents would like to position the debate about winning one for the little guy, it is not. This issue is more fundamental than a classic labor-business clash. It is about the importance of individuals to make choices about where they work, and whether they want to be represented by a union. Being forced to do so is an infringement on the basic rights Iowans cherish.”

On February 10th the Mason City Globe-Gazette wrote: “To some it looks like a classic quid pro quo. Unions have been the most fervent backs of the Democratic Party and are licking their chops thinking now the Democrats control both house of the Legislature and the governor’s office in Iowa, it’s time for some payback that would boost union membership rates, which have been declining.”

The Globe-Gazette went on to write: “We’d like to see the issue go away. Fair share could be a real detriment to the state’s ability to attract new businesses. Various reports show some businesses won’t even consider locating in non-right to work states. But beyond that, fair share simply isn’t fair.”

On Febuary 13 the Burlington Hawkeye wrote: “In addition to bargaining contracts, unions are very politically and socially active. It’s simply wrong for them to compel someone to financially support an organization in which they have philosophical differences.

Unions sruggling to retain and grow membership should look inside themselves and create a marketing strategy to swell their ranks. They have something to sell to a new employee, and should put their expertise at that endeavor.”

On February 18th, the Des Moines Register wrote, “It is not exactly a repeal of Iowa’s right to work law, but it would have the same effect on businesses looking at Iowa.

The segments appear on a rotating basis at the top and bottom of each hour of CNN Headline News.

The clip will eventually be put up on the Mediacom website at: http://www.Connections22.com