Vander Plaats, Culver visit 'Fantasyland'

The 2010 Iowa gubernatorial campaign has made an early summer stop at Walt Disney's Magic Kingdom with Gov. Chet Culver and a potential challenger trading charges about who is living in "Fantasyland."

Republican gubernatorial hopeful Bob Vander Plaats called the governor's insistence that the state budget "should be all right" nothing more than "hope you can't believe in."

"If that's the only kind of hope he has to offer, Iowans will be more convinced than ever that we need real change in the Governor's Office," the Sioux City businessman said. "He's living in Fantasyland."

Fantasyland, according to the late Disney, is dedicated to "those who believe that when you wish upon a star, your dreams come true."

Vander Plaats "is living in his own Fantasyland" if he doesn't understand that everyone, especially the governor, realizes the difficult times facing Iowa families and the state budget, the governor's spokesman, Troy Price, said Friday afternoon.

The back-and-forth more than 16 months before the election is a memo from the non-partisan Legislative Services Agency suggesting the state won't have enough cash on hand to cover its bills at the end of the fiscal year June 30. A fiscal bureau analyst said the $45 million ending balance and the governor's authority to transfer up to $50 million probably won't cover the state's bills.

Despite that, Culver said he and his advisers "still feel very good that we're going to balance in '09 but we're watching it closely.  We should be all right."

"Should be, could be, would be - those are the words of people who react to situations instead of taking charge and making things happen," said Vander Plaats, who is seeking the GOP nomination for governor in 2010. "Chet Culver created these problems with his own out-of-control spending. He's a poster child for politicians who will say whatever it takes in hopes that things will hold together just long enough for him to win another term. Meanwhile, our state's budget is out of control."

There's no need to hit the panic button, Price said, unless that's what Vander Plaats wants to start.

"The governor and legislative leaders are committed to doing everything possible to avoid a budget crisis," Price said. "Perhaps Bob Vander Plaats is trying to provoke one."

Although June 30 is the end of the fiscal year, Price noted the state won't close the books on fiscal 2009 until September. At this time, "rash action would just mean cuts that are painful to Iowa families."

Vander Plaats urged Culver to follow the example of former Gov. Terry Branstad when he faced a down economy in the mid-1980s and led a major reorganization and downsizing of state government."

"I'd also bring cities and counties to the table and ask them to do their part," Vander Plaats said.

Recently, Culver said he has met with department heads to begin work on a 2006 campaign promise to save $250,000 by reorganizing state government. "We're talking about government reorganization and efficiency," the governor said.