Hatch says he offers vision for Iowa, while Branstad ‘out of ideas’

DES MOINES - Democratic gubernatorial challenger Jack Hatch told a business group Thursday he offers a vision to 'light the fuse on an economic explosion,” while five-term GOP incumbent Terry Branstad sadly is 'rebranding” others' ideas as his own because he's out of ideas, out of vision and out of time.”

Hatch, a three-term state senator from Des Moines who trails Branstad in public-opinion polls, said earlier this week his Republican opponent offered a plan to create a new public-private center to address a skills gap by better matching education and workforce training efforts with worker and employer needs.

Hatch said the approach is a good one because it 'mimics and mirrors” a plan pushed by Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, and signed by President Barack Obama that directs states to establish that model by next July 1. Branstad merely copied the concept and embraced it as his own, he told members of the Greater Des Moines Partnership.

The irony, Hatch said, is that Branstad made a statement during an August debate that the federal government is the biggest impediment facing Iowa, but then he turned around Tuesday and embraced the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act as his own.

'This is happening because of the federal law, and it will happen no matter who is governor. So, it was with some amusement I learned on Tuesday, Gov. Branstad came here and laid out a policy that looks, talks, acts and walks exactly like the Harkin bipartisan law that President Obama signed in July,” he told the business group.

'The truth is this: Branstad has resorted to rebranding the ideas of a Democratic administration because he's been there too long and is out of ideas, out of vision and out of time. It's kind of sad, really,” the Democratic challenger said.

Hatch's contention was quickly dismissed by Tommy Schultz, spokesman for the Branstad-Reynolds re-election campaign, who said 'Gov. Branstad is offering solutions, while our opponent is offering hyperpartisan attacks following a miserable poll showing him down by the largest margin in 2014: 23 points.”

Branstad later said state Workforce Development officials have worked to meet all the federal requirements on the new directive slated to take effect by next July 1, but he said his coordinated plan is 'an Iowa approach that focuses on the success that we've had” in educating, training and preparing workers for the job market.

'What this is designed to do is coordinate all the things that we're doing,” the governor told reporters at an event at Drake University. 'Anybody can criticize, but the truth is our focus is not on politics, it's on policy that will create jobs and prepare Iowa for the jobs of the future.”

Hatch said Iowa's economy is doing well thanks in large part to the rapid growth in wind energy and renewable fuels spawned by past Democratic Govs. Tom Vilsack and Chet Culver. Their policies resulted in clean, cheap energy that brought a new generation of companies here, including Microsoft and Google in 2007, he said.

'But today we're coasting on the vision and accomplishments of those previous governors. It's a great thing to be living in Tom Vilsack's Iowa, but I'm ready to take the next steps,” said Hatch in building on his 'fresh start” campaign theme.

Hatch said he envisions a regional approach to economic development that would create jobs 'from the community up,” not from state government down, by 'picking winners and losers” with tax credits and other incentives for a few projects like the Orascom fertilizer plant deal in southeast Iowa.

The regions would mirror the boundaries of existing congressional districts and be directed by local stakeholders on oversight boards that would receive funding from the Legislature and decide how best to promote economic development in their areas of the state.

'I want our entrepreneurs to have a shot, our small businesses to shine and our communities to chart their own course,” he said. 'We have great Iowa success stories in places like Dubuque, Cedar Rapids, Davenport and Des Moines. I want to lead this state's diverse economy to new heights by lighting the fuse on an economic explosion.”