DES MOINES – Iowa Governor Terry Brasntad and his successor Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds are proposing major cuts to the state budget.
Democrats say that have received the Program & Budget for Fiscal Years 2018-2019 from Gov. Terry Branstad & Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds. According to Senator Matt McCoy, the proposal includes:
CUT $7.7M from court system.
CUT $8.7M from Comm. Colleges
CUT $5.5M from the Dept. of Ed
CUT $20.3M from DHS
CUT $15.5M from Dept. of Corrections
CUT $3.8M from Public Safety
CUT $13.8M from Human Services, Medicaid
Senator McCoy says “Gov. Branstad’s total cuts made = $110M which is the SAME amount he awarded Orascom Construction Industries, a publicly traded fertilizer company in Lee County.”
In December, State Representative Sharon Steckman, a Democrat, said the Legislature has “some tough budget decisions to make when they come back in January due to declining state revenues.” According to details she released in a statement, at the Revenue Estimating Conference’s (REC) December meeting, the state budget is $135 million in the red.
To create a budget for fiscal year 2018, (July 1, 2017 through June 30, 2018), the Governor and the Legislature will use the estimated revenues from the REC’s December meeting. The REC predicts that there will be a 4.8% growth for FY 2018, which equates to a total of $7.556 billion.
If the award to the company was in tax breaks so be it – if it was a state grant it should be investigated – to many corporations getting tax payer funded money and do not create many good paying jobs – sometimes only 1 job for 1/2 to 1 million dollars of taxpayer money – The tax breaks sometimes are necessary – the payoffs are not – I know -I live in a taxpayer grant county and cannot afford anymore TIF PROPERTY TAX INCREASES. PS get rid of Black Bartz the corporate owned free suppervisor. As for medicare cuts – we have 29 counties in Iowa that are sanctuary and support illegals and the cost for their health benefits and welfare is a burden on the legal citizens of Iowa and the United States. PS -cut public servant wages and benefits.