Senate Leader Jerry Behn Provides Legislative Update

Submitted by Senate Republican Leader Jerry Behn

Late last week, Senate and House Republicans announced a joint plan to enact a pro-jobs budget for the hardworking taxpayers of Iowa.

This plan, crafted with job creators in mind, is a conservative approach that will create an atmosphere of stability, predictability and certainty for all Iowans.

The Republican budget plan returns to common sense budgeting principles of aligning ongoing expenses with revenues and ending the practices of using one-time money for ongoing expenses, intentionally underfunding entitlement programs and raising taxes in order to spend more. 

We can all agree that as economic uncertainty continues throughout the country, it is imperative that we take a conservative approach to the state budget in order to give stability for Iowa’s job creators.

Without question, the best way to help Iowa’s employers, small businesses and job creators is to keep control of government spending and balance the budget.

Here are just a few highlights of the plan:

• A continued effort of listening to Iowans and digging deep into the budgets, with a line by line review to cut out waste and find efficiencies. 

• A modest and conservative one percent growth.  The Republican plan spends just $.97 cents of every dollar that comes in whereas the Democrat plan spends $1.02 for every dollar that comes in.  It’s easy to see which one is fiscally sustainable and which one is not.

• In fact, this Republican budget plan spends $313 million less than Fiscal Year 2011, the last budget crafted by legislative Democrats and Governor Culver.  This is an efficient budget that funds Iowans’ priorities without raising taxes.

• Republicans’ budget funds Iowans’ priorities including: education, public safety, health care, property tax credits and preserving any ending balance in the Taxpayers Trust Fund.

• Taxpayers can no longer afford to carry the full burden for every state employee’s health insurance.  Since over 80 percent of state employees pay nothing for their health care, asking all employees, including state legislators, to contribute at least $200 towards their own health care is the right thing to do.

Iowans deserve a budget that is transparent and accountable and they do not want to see politicians utilizing budget gimmicks to mislead or deceive.

We pledge to be straightforward and honest because that is what the hardworking taxpayers of Iowa deserve.

If our budget plan is enacted, it will be another important step toward getting Iowa back on track and on the road to more growth, prosperity and career creation.

As always, I welcome hearing from you and can be reached by phone at 515-281-3560 or by e-mail at Jerry.Behn@legis.iowa.gov