Larry Noble - February 12, 2010
This
has been a very interesting week in the Iowa Legislature. We have the
self-imposed “funnel” week, which requires al bill be moved out of committee in
the house from which they were introduced. If they are not voted out to the
floor for debate, with very few exceptions, they will no longer be considered
this year
Another interesting event this week included the release of State Auditor David Vaudt’s review of the Governor’s initial budget proposal. Our State Auditor released this statement: “Not only does this proposed budget continue to follow the poor budgeting practices of past years, it is the first budget I’ve reviewed that exceeds the statutory 99-percent expenditure limitation.”
Vaudt, who has been one state’s budget watchdog for eight years, pointed to the estimated $341 million in “savings” by enacting the recommendations of a report authored by a highly paid out of state consulting firm as his biggest concern regarding the proposal. After studying the report and a separate analysis of those recommendations by the nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency, the state auditor agreed with LSA’s conclusion that the savings will be far less than the governor thinks.
Welcome to the world of “pretend” budgets.
Vaudt believes that even if all of the consultants’ recommendations were enacted, the so-called savings of $83 million will not be realized because several of the savings amounts have no impact on the general fund. That’s almost 25 percent of the governor’s $341 million projected savings.
This results in the proposed budget being $25 million above, not $60 million below, the expenditure limitation. That means the governor’s proposed budget for next fiscal year does not comply with state law.
Auditor Vaudt identified two other concerns. First, the budget for the current fiscal year was balanced via furloughs and “mandatory unpaid leave” days, a short-term fix for a long-term problem. Under LSA’s analysis, without at least $13 million of additional funding for union employees, plus millions more for non-contract employees, these unpaid leave and furlough days will need to be repeated in 2011.
Second, the proposed budget does not fund $86 million of general fund salary increases negotiated as a result of collective bargaining. Without funding for increased salary costs or concessions, additional layoffs or “mandatory unpaid leave” will need to occur.
My concern is that our state’s CEO continues to disregard the real spending problems we are facing. Iowans look for leadership on jobs, runaway spending and property tax reform. As your state government, we must deliver on your expectations.
I was very fortunate to meet with some of our small
business leaders from the district this week, and also from Dr’s Chris and Brett
Renze and Dr. JoAnn Brunsvold representing the many Chiropractors who live and
work in our district. I also appreciated meeting with several residents from On
with Life from