From Iowa Rep. Sharon Steckman:
The Economic Growth budget bill came to the floor this week. Democrats offered an amendment aimed at strengthening Iowa’s economy and putting people back to work. Unfortunately, not only was the amendment rejected along party lines, but also, even the Governor’s proposal was gutted by more than $32 million.
I was under the impression that our focus this year would be on economic growth and job creation. Instead, we have eliminated programs that have, since their inception, created 23,300 jobs with average salary levels of $39,000 and attracted investments of more the $3.6 billion. How could this possibly be considered “wasteful and irresponsible”? Under the current bill, 0.5% of the total proposed budget is related to job creation. The Department of Economic Development has stated there are ramifications connected with 0 incentives that will influence companies negatively that are looking at locating in Iowa.
Another aspect of the plan that was rejected included using state universities to help entrepreneurs, high tech startup businesses, manufacturers and Main Street businesses. So, while our reasonable plan was rejected earlier this week, I intend to keep working with the Senate and the Governor to get it approved before we adjourn.
The 2011 FACTBOOK is now online. The document contains a range of facts, both financial and non-financial, regarding the State of Iowa. The link to the FACTBOOK is http://www.legis.state.ia.us/lsadocs/FCT/2011/2011.pdf.
