May 1, 2012
Republicans in the House, as well as the governor, have come to an agreement to spend roughly $6.25 billion for the state budget. Democrats, who control the Iowa Senate have moved their total number of general fund expenditures down from roughly $6.45 billion to match the House and governor's number. This move does little to assist in negations to end the legislative session.
Truly, the devil is in the accounting details. Total spending is not less; in fact it has appeared as hundreds of millions more in multiple budgets presented. Money is pulled from one-time accounts and used for purposes other than what those accounts were intended for to keep actual spending at a higher level.
As an example, the Economic Emergency Fund, Cash Reserve Fund and Taxpayer Relief Fund are used to keep taxes down in tough economic times. If politicians pull money out of these accounts for ongoing programing they did not spend less, they just shifted the funding source. This is like paying your cell phone bill out of your savings account rather than budgeting for the bill in your checking. What do you do when your fridge goes out and you spent down too low in your savings account?
The budget process impacts the whole pie and it is impossible to pass individual pieces without a rational outlook on the whole thing. For this reason, even if an agreement happened today, moving the pieces through the chambers will still take several days if not two more weeks. With responsibilities at home like corn to plant, jobs to return to, and primary elections to work on members are becoming anxious.
Thank you for letting me serve you in Des Moines. Feel free to contact me at shawn.hamerlinck@legis.iowa.
Shawn Hamerlinck
State Senator
District 42
