One veto too many

The Gazette Editorial Board

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Gov. Terry Branstad used his line-item veto power to slice tens of millions of dollars from spending plans approved by the Legislature, including money for public employee pensions, planing dollars for university buildings and several other areas.

That's not unusual. And it's why governors have that authority, to rein-in the Legislature's tendency to overspend in the interest of cutting deals and getting out of town. And many of Branstad's decisions seem reasonable, such as putting the breaks on university building plans while arguing that online learning opportunities may curtail the need for new brick and mortar. Although, in the case of the University of Iowa's plans to remodel its pharmacy building, we're skeptical of an online replacement.

But one of Branstad's vetoes did puzzle and trouble us. And that was his decision to strike $13 million in supplemental funding for cash-strapped county mental health programs.

Iowa is in the midst of an ambitious redesign of its mental health delivery system, with hopes that more efficient and cost-effective and higher-quality services can be administered regionally, rather than at the county level. The redesign holds much promise, but it's been a difficult process and remains the work in progress.

While that work continues, counties still need funding to provide critical services to vulnerable Iowans. But in many parts of the state, local officials are struggling to maintain existing services, which were underfunded even before the redesign.

One of the great things about the mental health redesign is that it's been a highly cooperative, bipartisan process. And the $13 million in additional funding also was the product of bipartisanship, passing both the Republican-controlled House and Democratic Senate. Branstad contends that the money isn't needed, and that the new Iowa Health and Wellness program will provide savings. But the new program won't begin until January, and much of its expected savings are set to flow back to the state, not to local systems.

The governor made a mistake in ignoring the bipartisan wisdom of lawmakers to provide much-needed funding. His veto means more anxiety and uncertainty for providers and the Iowans who need them.

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