Culver: Iowa employment picture worse without I-JOBS

DES MOINES – Iowa's job losses in construction last month would have looked a lot worse had it not been for a state bonding program that is funding 1,700 projects in all 99 counties that are employing thousands of workers, Gov. Chet Culver said Tuesday.

Iowa's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for June remained at 6.8 percent, with both the number of employed and jobless Iowans dropping for the month. Included within the tough job market numbers was data that construction jobs declined by 1,900 in June and were down 2,700 from a year ago. Analysts said hiring was affected by the government's cutting of temporary census workers and weak consumer spending.

Culver said the construction sector was affected by weather issues that have disrupted work, but overall he said Iowa's jobless rate ranks in the top 10 among the lowest levels in the nation and the numbers have been bolstered by construction projects to improve rural water and sewer systems, recovery work in 2008 disaster zones and other work activity supported by the I-JOBS bonding package.

“Without I-JOBS, we'd really be having more difficulties,” he told reporters.

Culver later announced that between 7,900 and 9,000 Iowans were on I-JOBS project payrolls in June. Projections show that up to 23,000 people will work on I-JOBS projects this year and in 2011, with the construction season this summer and fall being the busiest time for improvements funded under the two-year initiative, he said.

“There's no question we're creating jobs and economic growth,” Culver said, pointing to recent ground-breaking ceremonies at prison upgrade projects in Mitchellville and Fort Madison, favorable economic rankings from national groups and publications and plans by corporations like Microsoft, IBM, Google and Go Daddy to locate or expand in Iowa.

However, Republican Party of Iowa Chairman Matt Strawn said the June jobless report is more evidence that Culver “continues to fail Iowans,” noting that over 17,000 Iowans have lost their jobs since the governor signed the I-JOBS legislation in May 2009 and that Iowa's unemployment rate is higher today than it was then.

“Chet Culver's big borrowing, big spending, big government plan has clearly failed and it's time to elect a governor who gets it,” Strawn said. “Terry Branstad will turn this state around, and he won't do it by piling decades of debt onto our children.”

However, Noga O'Connor, a research associate at the Iowa Policy Project, a liberal think tank headquartered in Mount Vernon, said Iowa's job picture remained muddled in June by losses in the private sector, including 4,200 in trade, transportation and utilities last month alone. “We must recognize that public-sector jobs are a critical lifeline for the economy when the private sector cannot deliver. This is not a time to cut back in public-sector jobs,” O'Connor said in a statement.

Culver said he looked forward to debating Branstad numerous times in the remaining weeks before the Nov. 2 election, saying “we're going to try to figure out the most-ambitious debate schedule we can.”

Branstad outpaced Culver in campaign fundraising during the latest reporting period, but Culver said he enjoyed a similar post-primary surge in 2006 and has not experienced a drop-off in contributions.

“We've raised $6.75 million, which is more than any candidate running for governor at this time has ever raised,” said Culver, noting he currently has roughly a $1 million edge in cash on hand and expects to continue to have the resources needed to win in November. “We've hit every fundraising goal that we've set and we will continue to. I'm better positioned than any incumbent governor has ever been going into the final 100 days here. That's the story.”

And finally, Culver gave a strong vote of confidence to Rich Leopold, his director of the state Department of Natural Resources, whose agency was the target of a state audit that indicated the department has not complied with 16 state laws dealing with issues such as treatment of infectious waste. The governor said he believed the report was “overstated and overblown.”

The items were cited in a regular yearly report by State Auditor David Vaudt's office – some of which have been cited in previous annual audits where recommendations were made for corrective action. Vaudt, a Republican up for re-election in November, said the yearly agency audit was routine and not intended to sound any alarms. One of the areas cited in the audit went as far back as 1991 when Branstad was in his third term as governor.

Culver said DNR officials are addressing the state's needs on a priority basis given the scarce resources available in a tight budgeting situation and are recognized as leaders in a number of areas.

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