Iowa Archive

By State Rep. Christopher Rants The Governor and Lt. Governor have been traveling the state the last two weeks with a shovel in hand. They are pitching hard their bonding scheme (I-JOBS) to borrow $750 M for infrastructure projects. Already the Senate has approved the first $175 M of the plan. I asked ... Full story

Governor Culver and Democrat Leaders in the House and Senate say they are close to finding a compromise between their bonding proposals. Both plans call for the state to borrow at least $700 million dollars, but that’s where the similarities end. Legislative Democrats want to use the bulk of money to pay for flood-related ... Full story

Last week, Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal screamed into his microphone that Republicans were saying no to 5,000 jobs when they opposed the first phase of the bonding proposal. Republicans said that the $175 million plan wouldn’t even create the number of jobs if 100% of the money went directly to salaries. In today’s Des ... Full story

From the Polk County Democrats My wife, Vicky, and I would like to cordially invite you to attend a reception to announce the formation of an Exploratory Committee for a campaign for the United States Senate. We expect to travel much of the state in the weeks ahead to solicit support from friends and Iowans who believe ... Full story

The Paulsen Perspective House Republican Leader Kraig Paulsen The Revenue Estimating Conference (REC) met today to estimate state revenues for the current fiscal year (FY2009) and next year (FY2010). The state’s fiscal year runs from July 1st through June 30th. The REC is a three person committee of experts who estimate state tax revenues. The ... Full story

McKinley’s Memos Senate Republican Leader Paul McKinley We are now into the third week of March, which means warmer weather, longer days and a change from the dark and drab winter season to a more vivid and stirring spring season. Soon farmers will be out in the field, flowers will be blooming, children will be out riding their ... Full story

Iowa Revenue Estimating Conference cut FY 09 Revenue estimate by $129.7 Million. The REC also cut FY 2010 projections by $269.9 Million. Governor Culver will be forced to make additional cuts this year. Furloughs and additional across the board cuts are expected. Paul McKinley, Republican Senate Minority Leader, reacted to the REC numbers by saying, "“Even though the Revenue Estimating Conference ... Full story

By Iowa Congressman Tom Latham Iowa's 4th Congressional District American taxpayers are once again being played for fools on Capitol Hill as the president and members of Congress shed crocodile tears and gnash their teeth over the fact that American International Group (AIG) used part of its $170 billion grant from the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) for ... Full story

Governor Chet Culver’s $750 million bonding proposal is has met serious objections with Democrats in the House and Senate. Legislative Democrats want to change everything in Culver’s proposal from what the money would be used for to the types of bonds that will be used to fund the program. The news of the dissension from ... Full story

Yesterday, we learned that Governor Chet Culver was soliciting money from labor unions and health care companies to help cover the costs of the upcoming health care forum in Des Moines with President Obama. The estimated cost to the state for Monday’s forum will be $30,000.00. While the Governor’s office claims they were originally ... Full story