Paul McKinley for Iowa

February 12 - McKinley's Memos

Our state is facing serious economic challenges but with every challenge comes the opportunity to lay out a bold and ambitious plan to pave the way for a brighter and more optimistic economic future. I know that the best way to grow our communities is to remove the barriers that hinder job creation, capital investment and entrepreneurial imagination. These tough times are affecting every family, business, employer, manufacturer and entrepreneur and the way to grow Iowa’s economy is to cut taxes, remove regulatory roadblocks and ensure that Iowa’s workforce remains dynamic and flexible.

 

Unfortunately, the agenda once again being pursued in the Iowa Legislature would be a major step in the wrong direction. This week, Governor Culver and his party members in the Legislature have decided to once again shine the legislative spotlight on their big boss union backed agenda that would severely hinder – not help - the economic forecast for Iowa. I believe it is time to remove the barriers to economic prosperity in this state, but this big labor backed agenda would only work to further solidify those obstacles.

 

Just last week the news magazine U.S. News & World Report released a study noting that Iowa is now the second worst state in the United States when it comes to employer climate as determined through indicators by several esteemed and respected business indexes. Only West Virginia had a employer climate less desirable than Iowa’s. In making their pronouncement, they cited Iowa’s high government interference, very high and burdensome taxes. If Iowa is to create more jobs and attract and retain the kinds of investments, employers, manufacturers, businesses and talent to compete not only with the other states but also with other countries, we must act now. If we are to continue to have strong communities and strong schools, we must create more jobs. Failure to act will mean our children and grandchildren will not find the same kinds of opportunities that generations of Iowans before them cherished and treasured.

 

Governor Culver and his party member leaders in the Legislature have publically stated that they initially intend to bring forward four major anti-job backed bills this session with potential for several more to follow. Having won their majority in the Senate as a result of hundreds of thousands of dollars from big union bosses, many of those union bosses are asking for a return on their electoral investment. These bills, if enacted, will drastically and dramatically affect Iowa’s business and employment climate and send a message across the country to potential employers, businesses, employees and investors that Iowa is not a welcoming place to conduct or grow a business.

 

This week, the governor and his legislative counterparts are pushing a doctor shopping bill that would reverse 96 years of workers’ compensation law and effectively eliminate employer directed medical care. Iowa has prided itself on creating a balance between employees’ needs for medical care for injuries occurring in the workplace, employees’ needs for replacement income while off of work, and employers seeking a predictable and insurable cost structure to accommodate employees’ needs. This anti-jobs bill would allow workers to shop around for a doctor or multiple doctors to get a desired diagnosis and treatments that may not be related to their workplace injury. Iowans would also not receive adequate and immediate referrals to trained employer directed occupational medicine specialists. If this bill passed, workers’ compensation insurance rates would immediately go higher due to the added tension and uncertainty that would be injected into they insurance pool because it would prevent employers from contracting for care through a health system – thus saving money. Simply put, this bill will mean job losses for Iowans and reduced care for workers.

 

I know the path toward a more prosperous and optimistic economic future lies in removing the barriers and roadblocks to economic growth in this state. Amidst layoffs, business and plant closings, worker furloughs and hour cutbacks, now is definitely not the time to add even more burdensome regulations onto the back of employers, businesses and entrepreneurs. Iowans can be confident that I will choose to continue to side with the vast majority of Iowans and choose the path of common sense and economic sensibility. This bill will cost our important small businesses and employers tens thousands of dollars in additional expenses. That is money that  could otherwise go towards hiring more employees and creating jobs. I oppose this doctor shopping bill and other job killing bills because generations of Iowans depend on us to give them a future where they can thrive and succeed.

 

During these challenging times, I think it is important to remember the wonderful story of two men who have forever changed many lives and made an incredible impact on your state. It was a dream that David Vredenburg, a good southern Iowa boy, had in the 1930s. Months after the worst day on Wall Street, Mr. Vredenburg and a friend, Charles Hyde, opened a small general store. They opened a store at a time when the only thing more scarce than money was hope. As unemployment began ramping up to one quarter of the population and a different bank closed every day, the southern Iowa dreamers kept working. Today, as you might know, Mr. Vredenburg and Mr. Hyde’s legacy that began as a depression-era general store has become 220 Hy-Vee stores across the Midwest and boasts 55,000 thankful employees.  

 

I am fully committed to working every day to ensure that other potential David Vredenburgs and Charles Hydes can have the opportunity and freedom to chase their dreams in this state too. I fully believe that in a free society, economic opportunity is the great equalizer.

 

Sen. Rich Olive: Wasteful Bureaucracy's Best Friend

DES MOINES, IA  - As more evidence of serious waste and abuse of taxpayer dollars are discovered every day in connection to the newly formed Rebuild Iowa Office (RIO), Sen. Rich Olive (D-Story City) is finding that his rhetoric is not matching the votes he took on the issue just two weeks ago.

 

While flood victims are struggling to get back in their homes and get their businesses back open, thousands of dollars have been wasted on putting new carpet in the office Des Moines and millions of dollars will be needed to pay the salaries of over 30 new full time employers, including the services of a full time lobbyist.

 

Speaking today, Olive voiced his concerns about the Rebuild Iowa Office becoming a permanent fixture in state government noting, “I think the concern is we’re creating a whole new government agency, a permanent agency, and none of us think that’s necessarily the way to go”.

 

Yet only a few days ago, Olive voted against nine separate amendments that would have brought added accountability and transparency to the agency created to oversee and implement the flood relief effort in Iowa.

 

Senate Republican Leader Paul McKinley (R-Chariton) said Iowans have grown tired of the waste and excesses of government and demand accountability and transparency. Senate Republicans believe that flood disaster aid should go directly to flood victims not for carpet and bloated bureaucratic salaries. During floor debate, Senate Republicans offered nine different amendments aimed at cutting government and providing more transparency and accountability to the office and flood relief process. All nine amendments were defeated on party lines.

 

“Sen. Olive had a chance to back up his rhetoric with votes two weeks ago by joining with the Senate Republicans in ensuring that there was adequate transparency and accountability,” said McKinley. “Unfortunately, Sen. Olive chose partisanship and voted for helping lobbyists and bureaucrats and against directly helping those who were directly affected by the floods. He’s only now realizing his serious error and doing everything he can to frantically cover his tracks.”

 

Below are a list of the nine amendments offered by Senate Republicans:

 

S-3011 by Hamerlinck (R) failed by a record roll call vote of 17-32.  The amendment would have eliminated the use of vouchers under the Iowa Unmet Needs Disaster Grant Program.

 

S-3010 by Hamerlinck (R) failed by a record roll call vote of 17-32.  The amendment would have required a detailed report regarding what was purchased by individuals under the Iowa Unmet Needs Disaster Grant Program.

 

S-3015 by Zaun (R) failed by a record roll call vote of 17-32.  The amendment would have required any funds left over in the Iowa Unmet Needs Disaster Grant Program as of September 1, 2009 to be transferred to the Department of Economic Development for the small business disaster recovery financial assistance program.

 

S-3017 by Feenstra (R) failed by a record roll call vote of 17-32.  The amendment would have required any city or county who failed to file a report on the expenditures under the Community Disaster Program to be penalized an amount equal to 10% percent of the amount of the grant. 

 

S-3009 by Hamerlinck (R) failed by a record roll call vote of 17-32.  The amendment would have eliminated the establishment of the Rebuild Iowa Office.

 

S-3012 by Hamerlinck (R) failed by a record roll call vote of 17-32.  The amendment would have allowed the Executive Director of RIO to enter into 28E agreements with other state agencies for employees.

 

S-3014 by Hamerlinck (R) failed by a record roll call vote of 17-32.  The amendment would have eliminated a provision under RIO that encourages them to seek innovative financing alternatives.

 

S-3013 by Hamerlinck (R) failed by a record roll call vote of 17-32.  The amendment would have prohibited government from growing by requiring the rest of state government to reduce an equal number of full-time equivalent positions created in RIO.

February 5 - McKinley's Memos

Late last week, the governor unveiled his suggested state budget for the next fiscal year and ever since, I have been scouring through the line items and fine print looking at how this proposed budget will affect Iowans’ pocketbooks and influence the state’s financial future.

 

The governor’s recommended state budget totals up to approximately $6.211 billion dollars which would be the largest budget in the history of the state. Even after Governor Culver implemented an across-the-board reduction a few weeks ago, his new budget proposal for next year is nearly a $150 million dollars larger than the current budget, which already has the record for being the state’s largest in history. At a time when family budgets in Iowa are being squeezed and sacrifices are being made, the governor seems only interested in making the state’s budget bigger and more bloated.

 

The state is already facing a budget gap in the hundreds of millions of dollars as a result of irresponsible budgeting and out of control spending. During the last two years, the time that Governor Culver has been in office and the start of his party in control in the Legislature, Iowa’s budget has unsustainably ballooned by 21 percent with nearly a billion dollars in new spending.

 

While national economic conditions and terrible natural disasters have not been a help to the state’s fiscal outlook, they are not the reason why Iowa is in the financial predicament that it is today. This fiscal quandary is not the fault of a lack of revenue as current levels coming into the treasury remain at near record levels; this is instead the direct result of massive overspending and irresponsible growth of government bureaucracy. Had the governor and his party counterparts in the Legislature kept spending to the rate of inflation, our state would be sitting with hundreds of millions in surplus revenues. Simply put, this is solely a self-inflicted spending problem.

 

During the annual Condition of the State address a few weeks back, Governor Culver remarked, “I believe this is no time to raise taxes on hardworking Iowans.” However, if the governor’s party members in the Legislature enact or expand upon the governor’s proposed budget, taxpayers will have real cause for alarm. Should the governor’s budget plans be signed into law, taxes will go higher, state government will grow larger at the expense of hard working Iowans and Governor Culver will have broken the vow not to raise taxes that he made to three million Iowans less than a month ago.

 

Governor Culver’s plan, first and foremost, would place an even heavier burden on the back of Iowa’s property taxpayers because several property tax credits would be eliminated. Property taxes could also escalate to pay for education expenses under the governor’s proposed arrangement. Iowa’s public schools would be allowed to retain the spending authority for four percent allowable growth but the state would only fund enough for two percent. Individual school districts could levy additional property taxes to pay for the additional spending that the governor and his legislative counterparts would give them the authority to spend. If Governor Culver’s proposal moves through the Legislature, local property taxes could be headed for yet another increase.

 

 

Instead of raising taxes, growing government, adding bureaucracy and sending the state hundreds of millions further into debt through bonding, I believe that we must remove the roadblocks that are keeping jobs from coming into our state. By keeping taxes low, keeping the labor force dynamic and flexible and keeping burdensome bureaucracy and regulations from stifling job retention and creation, the state will once again flourish with economic opportunity.

 

I believe that the priorities that Iowans have can be met within the scope of a leaner and more streamlined budget. It is time for Iowa’s governor and his legislative counterparts to listen to the taxpayers who expect a smaller, smarter government. While I am confident that brighter days can be on the horizon if the roadblocks to economic growth are removed, these tougher times call for critical and decisive action. Our children, grandchildren and future generations of Iowans depend on us to make necessary and difficult decisions. Failing to act accordingly to the fiscal dilemma facing the state could mean that generations of Iowans after us will have to live with the economic consequences of decisions they did not render.

 

I know that we must re-establish the notion that it is Iowans who run government and not the other way around. If common sense and practicality can make a comeback in state government, I know and am confident that the road to prosperity begins with growing Iowa - not government.

Legislature Should Freeze Salaries, Unnecessary Travel

DES MOINES, IA - Senate Republican Leader Paul McKinley (R-Chariton) issued the following statement regarding the passage of Senate Concurrent Resolution 2.

 

"The passage of this resolution is not a pay increase for legislative employees but I want to urge Senator Gronstal to call a meeting of the Senate Rules Committee to look at freezing salaries and eliminating unnecessary travel."

 

"At a time when Iowa's families, businesses and employers are facing tough times and making sacrifices, so to should state government. Iowans are living within their means and they expect government to do the same."

January 29 - McKinley's Memos

The tempo of action at the Statehouse greatly enhanced this week as Governor Culver unveiled his proposed state budget for the next fiscal year. While Iowans are always especially attentive to the activity surrounding the crafting of the annual budget and the ramifications it has on taxpayers’ personal pocketbooks, this year is particularly significant given the substantial fiscal distress and serious budget deficits that face the governor and lawmakers.

 

Yet, all of this budgetary anguish is the result of self inflicted fiscal mismanagement that could have and should have been prevented. When session ended last spring, the governor and his party counterparts in the Legislature left town after leaving the state with a half a billion dollar deficit. Since, the number has climbed to over $700 million dollars. While the national economic conditions and the natural disasters that tragically struck Iowa last summer have not helped the budget situation, they are certainly not the reason the state’s finances are in such poor condition. 

 

Over the two year period that Governor Culver has been in office and his party members have been in control of the of the Legislature, the bloated state budget ballooned by an additional and staggering 21 percent – which amounts to nearly a billion new dollars in spending. For every new dollar that came into the state’s treasury, the controlling party members in the legislature and the governor spent one dollar and fifty cents. That would be like a family who earns $40,000 a year spending like they made $60,000. Iowa families cannot afford to put that kind of debt on a credit card and neither can the state. I know that family budgets in Iowa are not growing at a 20 percent level and we believe that Iowans want their state’s budget to live within its means.

 

In order for legislators to leave the capitol at the end of the session with a balanced budget that still reflects the priorities that Iowans want the state to pursue, I am offering the governor and my counterparts in the legislature a bold and comprehensive budgeting process plan that will guarantee necessary public services are paid for and any excess waste and spending is trimmed away. I believe it is time to get back to the fundamentals and inject some common sense back under the big golden dome in Des Moines. Iowa’s elected officials should follow the lead of Iowa’s families, employers and businesses and budget with reasonability, responsibility and restraint.

 

My budgeting plan is designed to be forward looking and provide future generations of Iowans with an optimistic financial outlook. During the past two years, the governor and his party members in the Legislature have picked the state’s balanced budget lock. My responsible three point plan provides far more accountability and transparency in how their hard earned tax dollars are spent.

 

First, I want to shine more light on the budgeting process by immediately cutting the budget by fifty percent. From that point forward, every department head in all areas of state government would come before the Legislature and be required to justify each and every additional dollar that they request. This process would allow taxpayers a chance to see exactly how their dollars would be spent and it would weed out many outdated and obsolete programs that could not be justified.

 

Next, I want to enact a Constitutional Amendment that would prohibit the state from spending more than 99 percent of dollars coming in to the state. As it stands now, the Legislature cannot cross that threshold during regular session but there is no mechanism in place to halt the governor and legislators from crossing that spending line during a special session. Iowa is facing financial shortfalls exactly because our legislative counterparts and the Governor have spent too much money. This is rock solid step would ensure taxpayers’ dollars are protected against massive overspending.

 

The third prong of the plan calls for a Constitutional mandate that the Legislature use the December Revenue Estimating Conference (REC) for the upcoming budget. While it is currently law to use the December REC projection, the Governor and his counterparts in the Legislature have “not withstood” the law over the past two years to the detriment of the taxpayer and the budget. Using the language “not withstood” allows the Legislature to ignore some of the statutory budgeting locks that taxpayers deserve to have in place to avoid having more of their hard earned dollars going towards a larger, more obtrusive government.

 

I am serious about not only protecting current taxpayers but future generations of taxpayers. During these challenging times when families are worrying about job security and the markets are acting with uncertainty, Iowans should not have to worry about whether their tax dollars are being wasted or if their taxes and fees will be increased to pay for out of control spending.

 

I think we need to immediately put our state’s budget back on the track toward manageability and sustainability. I am asking the governor and his legislative counterparts to follow our recommendations and the leadership of Iowa families, businesses and employers from every corner, community and county in the state by finally budgeting with some common sense and with an eye toward the future.