State Treasurer Michael Fitzgerald, Rep. Sharon Steckman and Sen. Amanda Ragan met the public for a question and answer session Wednesday afternoon at City Hall in Mason City.
The Q & A focused on Iowa’s budget battle between Governor Terry Branstad and Democrats in the House and Senate.
Fitzgerald told the audience that Iowa has $1 billion in reserves, more than enough to “fund our priorities.” He says the Governor needs to “roll up his sleeves” and attend budget meetings to help find a compromise.
He said Iowa’s credit rating, if it were a person, would be a score of 800. “Wall Street rating agencies all give Iowa a “AAA” rating. He also said Iowa’s revenues are rising and growing faster than projected by state officials.
Fitzgerald said hard decisions on Iowa’s economy were made “a couple of years ago” when the economy really went bad. Now the state economy is doing great, he says, and is likely one of the top three or four in the nation as far as its fiscal situation is concerned. It also helped that Iowa trimmed its state workforce by 10% and leaders really pushed alternative energy and ethanol.
Fitzgerald called state government spending “the engine that affects the rest of the state” and that the gridlock in Des Moines is starting to have affects around the state.
Due to the budget impasse, DNR workers have been laid off, state nursing home inspectors laid off and rest areas are closing more often. School districts could feel the affect as they are not funded and top teachers take jobs elsewhere. He says anyone who relies on state funding needs time to organize and plan and without their funding they are at a disadvantage.
Fitzgerald is on a tour of the state, taking his message about the budget battle to Iowans at meetings similar to Wednesday’s.
Watch video of entire meeting:
