|
THE
IOWA HOUSE IS BACK AT WORK THIS WEEK
Ten days after session
was scheduled to shut down, following a week of work in the
Senate.
When the Senate
eventually wrapped up business last week, they passed a budget
deal that spent $117.5 million more than the House budget, and
is a 10 percent increase over last years budget. My fear is
that this level of spending cannot be sustained. Additionally,
in order to finance the increased spending, the Senate raised
taxes by $100 million.
In contrast, the House
passed a responsible and reasonable budget, without exceeding
the 110 day session, and without raising a single tax. After
putting money in reserves and paying back funds. We also left
the state in a good position to deal with the budget again next
year.
The legislative session
resumed on Monday, the 120th day of a 110-day
session. I came back to Des Moines this week hoping to scale
back the Senates budget. However, House members had a limited
number of bills awaiting us for debate.
While every budget bill
was amended and passed by the Senate, a procedural motion put on
them by Senate leadership prevented House floor debate, mostly
because they knew the House would scale down the Senates
double-digit spending increase.
The economy has
improved, which has filled the states coffers, but the absolute
worst thing we could do is to spend every last dime of it. I do
not believe we need additional spending above and beyond the
$340 million, 6.3 percent increase passed by the House this
year. We must show more fiscal restraint or face cuts and more
increased taxes next year.
This makes for a slower
process, but we must remain steadfast and prepare for the
future.
I plan to exercise
fiscal discipline for taxpayers. It does no good to make
pie-in-the-sky promises to various programs only to come back
and cut them later because we never had the funds to back it up.
This is about responsibility, and I will remain as long as it
takes to ensure that the Legislature does not mortgage away
Iowas future.
I look forward to
finding common ground with the Senate and governor, but I will
make sure that any compromise we reach does not involve throwing
taxpayer money into risky spending plans.
BUDGET BATTLE
© 2005
Sioux City Journal May 13, 2005
Stick to your guns, Mr.
Speaker.
Iowa House Speaker Christopher Rants, R-Sioux City, and fellow
House Republicans should stand their ground in the budget battle
with the Senate. The Senate wants to spend too much money and
its cigarette tax increase is both unnecessary and unwise.
Senate Democratic Leader Mike Gronstal of Council Bluffs told
The Journal's Des Moines bureau for a story in Monday's editions
that he appreciates Rants' "need to posture," but it's "now time
for people to sit down and work together." Gronstal, a possible
2006 candidate for governor who appears to be doing a
disproportionate share of the talking for the evenly-split
Senate these days, is familiar with posturing because he does
plenty of it himself. As for working together, in Gronstal's
dictionary that means doing things his way - and his way largely
is how things have gone in the Senate this year.
Well, it's time for Gronstal - and the Senate - to give a little.
Drop the extra spending from your budget and drop the tobacco
tax hike, accept the more prudent, responsible budget offered by
the House, and put the legislative session to bed - still secure
in the knowledge that much good has occurred at the Statehouse
this year.
The House passed a $5.1 billion budget two weeks ago that
represents a generous 7 percent increase in spending over the
present year and includes more money for early childhood
initiatives, K-12 public schools, teacher salaries and Regent
institutions. Last week, the Senate passed a budget that
contains $25 million more in spending than the House budget
would allow, largely for early childhood initiatives, K-12
public schools, teacher salaries and Regent institutions.
The House budget increases spending enough - perhaps not enough
for Democrats such as Gronstal, but enough for taxpayers.
As for the cigarette tax, it's bad policy. The Senate proposes
to double the present 36-cents-per-pack tax and build the extra
revenue into the budget in the form of property tax relief, not
for health programs as originally was proposed by Gov. Tom
Vilsack in his budget request. It's unclear to us how raising
one tax to lower another one makes sense. Plus, the same bill
that proposes to funnel revenue from the increased cigarette tax
into property tax relief also allows community colleges to levy
$37.5 million more in property taxes beginning in 2007, and
we're scratching our heads over that, as well.
Also, if the cigarette tax increase works the way anti-smoking
proponents believe it will, fewer people will smoke, and that
will translate into less revenue from the tax. So the pot of
money that will be built into the budget for next year will
become smaller in subsequent years. Then what happens? Will
lawmakers have to make cuts or raise other taxes to make up for
that? It's a slippery slope. |
Well, it's time for Gronstal -
and the Senate - to give a little. Drop the extra spending from your
budget and drop the tobacco tax hike, accept the more prudent,
responsible budget offered by the House, and put the legislative
session to bed - still secure in the knowledge that much good has
occurred at the Statehouse this year.
The House passed a $5.1 billion budget two weeks ago that
represents a generous 7 percent increase in spending over the
present year and includes more money for early childhood
initiatives, K-12 public schools, teacher salaries and Regent
institutions. Last week, the Senate passed a budget that contains
$25 million more in spending than the House budget would allow,
largely for early childhood initiatives, K-12 public schools,
teacher salaries and Regent institutions.
The House budget increases spending enough - perhaps not enough for
Democrats such as Gronstal, but enough for taxpayers.
As for the cigarette tax, it's bad policy. The Senate proposes to
double the present 36-cents-per-pack tax and build the extra revenue
into the budget in the form of property tax relief, not for health
programs as originally was proposed by Gov. Tom Vilsack in his
budget request. It's unclear to us how raising one tax to lower
another one makes sense. Plus, the same bill that proposes to funnel
revenue from the increased cigarette tax into property tax relief
also allows community colleges to levy $37.5 million more in
property taxes beginning in 2007, and we're scratching our heads
over that, as well.
Also, if the cigarette tax increase works the way anti-smoking
proponents believe it will, fewer people will smoke, and that will
translate into less revenue from the tax. So the pot of money that
will be built into the budget for next year will become smaller in
subsequent years. Then what happens? Will lawmakers have to make
cuts or raise other taxes to make up for that? It's a slippery
slope.
Finally, increasing taxes simply isn't something a high-tax state
ought to be doing when it isn't necessary.
No one knows for certain where this budget showdown is headed, but
we believe Republicans in the House are, as Rants insists, "standing
on the side of the taxpayers," and we're standing with them. Hang
tough.
THE
ROAD TO ADJOURNMENT
SITTIN IN THE SENATE
1.
HF 808 AG and NR
Senate calendar with House amendment
2.
SF 342 Supplemental
Senate calendar with House amendment
3.
HF 761 Early
childhood Senate calendar with House amendment
4.
HF 816 Education
House refuses to concur in Senate amendment
5.
HF 619 Sex offender
registry Senate Calendar with House amendment
6.
HF 807 Judicial
branch Senate Calendar with House amendment
7.
HF 809 Eco Dev
Appropriations Motion to Reconsider (MTR)
8.
HF 811 Justice
Systems MTR
9.
HF 825 Human
Services MTR
10.
HF 882 - Standings
MTR
11.
HF 881 Salaries
MTR
12.
HF 847 - Property
taxes II (Commercial and Industry tied to Ag-land) Sen. W&M
13.
HF 787 Statistical
reporting Senate
IN THE HOUSE
1.
HF 868 Values Fund
House calendar with Senate amendment
2.
HF 810
Administration and Regulation Senate amendment adopted MTR
3.
HF 875 RIIF
Senate amendment adopted - MTR
TO GOVERNOR
1.
HF 466
Transportation Signed by Governor
2.
SF 346 Federal Block
Grant Signed by Governor
3.
HF 420 Mental
health parity Signed by Governor
4.
HF 819 Long term
care Signed by Governor
5.
SF 206 Deer
management To Governor
6.
HF 862 HITT To
Governor
7.
HF 841 Medicaid
To Governor
Ways
& Means Update
Bills introduced in committee this week:
Committee did not meet this
week.
Bills passed out of
committee this week:
Committee did not meet this
week. |
Week
in Review Archives