The Des Moines Register this weekend featured an article on an interesting idea that will help jump start Iowa’s economy:

It contributes little to the state budget. No tax would attract business.

Former Mason City Mayor Roger Bang called recently with a “what-if” question about Iowa’s corporate income tax.

Eliminating that tax is something Des Moines accountant Joe Kristan and others have been pushing behind the scenes in recent months, but with little headway.

I told Bang there was zero chance of the Legislature eliminating the tax this year, so most people don’t care what would happen. He agreed, but said people should start thinking about it anyway.

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The Council Bluffs Daily Nonpareil posted an article on Fair Share today:

Democrats, who control both houses of the Iowa Legislature, are again moving ahead with a labor-backed measure that failed last year. While it remains unclear if the proposal will fare any better in the current session, passage, in our view, poses threats to both the current recovery and to future economic development.

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An article in today’s Des Moines Register questions the economic impact of the Governor’s I-Jobs plan. In fact Raymond Keating, chief economist for the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council, says,

“The bottom line for Iowa is this: In the best-case scenario, it won’t make any difference. In the worst case, it’s going to make things worse.”

You can view where the money is going by clicking here: I-JOBS road funding amounts and bridge projects. One thing to note is that according to the Iowa Department of Transportation’s 2008 Factbook, it costs $3.2 million for a mile of new two lane highway. None of cities or counties receiving funding will receive that much for roads according to the documents released by the Governor.

Also worth noting is cities hit hard by job losses aren’t being targeted by the I-Jobs program. Ottumwa which has experienced 700 lay-offs at John Deere is receiving $242,226 or $346 for each job lost. Webster City which experienced 150 layoffs at Electrolux is receiving $79,220 or $528 for each job lost.

Today’s Des Moines Register editorialized about making state budget data more accessible. The Iowa House voted on this issue several times in 2009.

• On March 10th, House Republicans attempted to add the budget transparency bill to a piece of legislation that created a lean enterprise office within the Department Management. The amendment was ruled out of order. Here is the vote to add the transparency bill: H-1108, March 10, 2009, House Journal Page 728.
• On April 23rd, after the transparency language had been added to a larger budget bill, House Democrats voted to strip it out. Here is that vote: House File 809, April 23, 2009, House Journal Page 1666.
• As part of House Republicans effort to make the state budget transparent and easily searchable to Iowans, an amendment was offered to make a searchable budget database available on January 1, 2010. The actual language of the transparency bill made the searchable budget database available on January 1, 2011. A date which falls after the 2010 election. House Republicans saw no reason to keep the information from the public until 2011. You can find that vote here: H-1270, March 24, 2009, House Journal Page 1010.
• Today’s Register also has an article detailing the pay increase state employee’s will receive despite claims that a pay freeze was implemented. To avoid confusion over the compensation package the state employee’s union negotiates with the state, House Republicans offered an amendment that required costs associated with the collective bargaining agreement to be included in any searchable budget database. The amendment was defeated by House Democrats. You can find that vote here: H-1266, March 24, 2009, House Journal Page 1011.

A newspaper article in Florida (link) interview Florida’s Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink on Tuesday as the state launched a Web page to open Florida’s state finances to scrutiny by the public.

Florida is just one of many states engaging in this type of transparency. Unfortunately, Iowa isn’t one of them. House Republicans pushed through HF 801, the Transparency Bill, this past session which created a searchable budget database for taxpayers. The bill died in the Senate.

Republicans added the transparency requirements into another bill but it was stripped out by House Democrats in the closing hours of the session. A vote for the amendment was a vote for removing the transparency language from the bill.

The vote for House Amendment H-1662 to HF 809, can be found here: 04-23-09, House Journal page 1666.

By Rep. Scott Raecker, found on his site http://www.raeckerbacker.com

Since I was a teenager my dad has said – “Nothing Good Ever Happens After Midnight!”

What is true for a teenager is also true for the legislature – and last night was again proof that nothing good happens after midnight at the Capitol.

Early this morning, between midnight and 4:21 am (when the legislature adjourned) the Majority Party Democrats caught Iowans sleeping – literally.

After working for fifteen weeks in secret meetings on the budget, the Majority Democrats rolled out the final four components of the state budget on Friday evening – the Standings Appropriation Bill, the Bonding Plan, the Rebuild Iowa Infrastructure Budget, and the plan to spend the Federal Stimulus Funds.

Bottom line – despite the worst economy in generations – the state of Iowa will spend more money next year – $6.3 billion – than in any year in our history (according to the non-partisan Legislative Service Agency).
In addition, after months of closed door meetings with no public input, the Majority Democrats rolled out a plan to spend $1.6 billion over the next 20/30 years by borrowing $765 million to spend now.

That is right – we are going to pay $899 million of interest/costs for 20 years so we can borrow and spend $750 million. The debt payments will be made from gambling revenue ($50 million a year) that is supposed to be dedicated to infrastructure projects.

We are not able to ‘pay-as-you-go’ for these projects because the majority party raids the Rebuild Iowa Infrastructure Fund (gambling revenues) by spending 75% of the money on ‘pork projects’ and unauthorized spending on non-infrastructure expenses.

And the use of committed funds, one time cash reserve, and federal stimulus money will create an $890 million gap between revenue and spending for the next legislative session.

Iowans should be outraged – because while you were sleeping – nothing good happened after midnight.

From this week’s House Republican Newsletter:

On Sunday, April 5, the Des Moines Register released a new poll of Iowans. The poll finds the public sides with House Republicans on labor issues as well the relationship between employers and employees.

The poll asked 800 Iowans if they supported “Setting minimum pay and benefit standards for works on government building projects” (prevailing wage) and the result was 41 percent for, 50 percent against and only 9 percent not sure. This is surprising because it doesn’t mention the potential impact being the increase of property taxes or that fewer projects may be undertaken.

On the question “Should unions be allowed to charge non-union employees for the services they receive?” the result was more lopsided, with only 28 percent for and 66 percent against. It is clear that the public opposes the Democrats’ plan to dismantle the Right to Work law.

The next question was “Are labor unions in Iowa, if anything, too powerful or not powerful enough?” 46 percent said the unions were too powerful while only 38 percent said not powerful enough. Obviously the public understands that the unions help elect Democrats and now have too much power.

The poll followed with a question about employers. “Do employers generally have too much power over workers and frequently take unfair advantage, or do employers generally treat workers reasonably?” Only 33 percent said employers take unfair advantage while 62 percent said employers treat employees reasonably well. This is proof that the unions are a solution in search of a problem that does not exist.

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House Republican’s work this year is inline with what Iowans want. A new poll in the Des Moines Register on Sunday shows that Iowans agree with what Republicans have been saying all year. Some of the highlights of the poll, which polled 802 Iowans ages 18 or older, randomly selected, are as follows:

On Governor Culver’s $750 Million bonding plan:

Fewer than a quarter of Iowans say it is better to borrow the money, while 71 percent say it is better to pay as the state has the money over time.

On the issue of Fair Share:

By more than 2 to 1, Iowans say they are opposed to a bill that would allow unions to charge nonunion employees for services they receive from the union

On Prevailing Wage:

Fifty percent of Iowans say they oppose a measure to set minimum pay and benefits for workers on government construction projects. Forty-one percent favor the measure that supporters call the “prevailing wage” proposal.

The full article and poll results can be found here (Des Moines Register)

For PDF version of the poll results, click here.

Stateline.org authored an article on Friday detailing the House Republican’s Transparency Bill, House File 74. The bill is sponsored by Reps. Kraig Paulsen, Doug Struyk, Erik Helland, and Linda Upmeyer. Here’s an excerpt from the article:

Struyk, along with a handful of Republican legislators, has proposed a bill requiring the state to create a searchable, consolidated, online database of the state’s budget and spending report, free of charge and open to the public.

“It’s an information age. People want to be able get on the Internet and see what’s being spent and where. I think it’s a great way to keep government spending in check and keep the populace educated as to what government’s doing with their tax dollars,” he said.

At least 10 other states — Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Montana, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Wyoming — are considering or recently have considered legislation to create online budget and spending databases.

Click here to read the full article

The Muscatine Journal Editorial Board posted an article on their website this morning:

What does the Muscatine High School Student Council have in common with the Iowa Legislature?

Both taught their superiors a lesson Monday about bullying.

Kudos go to the students. For MHS teachers and administrators, the students conducted a dress rehearsal of an anti-bullying presentation. MHS seniors Taylor Wettach and Jasmine Brent, sophomores Dawn Eichelberger and Giles Joslyn, and freshmen Tony Vo and Sierra Sagastume asked the staff to break into groups and participate in some activities that focused on including others.

They will make their presentation for real this weekend in Chicago at the Leadership Experience and Development Conference for the National Association of Student Councils student leaders and advisers.

It’s too bad Pat Murphy, a Dubuque Democrat and Speaker of the Iowa House of Representatives, missed the students’ presentation.

Hearing it might have spared him from the egg he found on his face over a union-backed prevailing wage bill. The bill would have set standards for minimum pay and benefits on government projects.

After failing to pass the bill last week, Murphy kept voting machines in the Democratic-controlled House open from about 6 p.m. Friday until 1 p.m. Monday. His goal was to persuade — a nice, political term for bully — at least one of five Democrats who had voted against the bill to change his or her vote.

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