Fact Checker: Branstad gets facts mostly right in Condition of the State

Economy

(Iowa) 'ranked as the third best-managed state in the nation.”

24/7 Wall St., a Delaware-based online financial news and opinion company, ranked Iowa as the third best-run state in the nation in a survey released in December.

Iowa has a 'stable outlook” and the highest possible credit rating from Moody's and S & P at AAA/Aaa, according to 24/7 Wall St. Iowa has one of the lowest unemployment rates, highest high school graduation rates and home values climbed 8 percent from 2010 to 2014, according to the publication.

While this rating is subjective, Branstad is pointing out the accolades. We score this an 'A.”

'Iowa family incomes have grown 18.3 percent from 2010.”

The Branstad Administration cited a September 2015 Bureau of Economic Analysis report, the most recent data received.

What Branstad calls family incomes the report calls 'personal income.” It is an aggregate of all income in a quarterly reporting period averaged at an annual rate.

Iowa's annual personal income climbed from $118 million in 2010 to $139.6 million in 2014. That's an increase of 18.3 percent, and an increase of 3.2 percent in the most recent year. Branstad gets an 'A.”

Jobs

'The Iowa economy has created 214,000 new jobs, surpassing our 2010 goal.”

When Branstad campaigned for governor in 2010, he promised to create 200,000 new jobs within five years. Branstad's figure is a gross measurement of jobs created since 2010, which is misleading since it doesn't take into account how many jobs were lost in that same period. A more accurate depiction, the net job growth, subtracts the number of lost jobs from the number of new jobs. Iowa saw a net growth of 109,100 of nonfarm jobs between January 2011 and November 2015, according to a Gazette analysis of numbers supplied by Iowa Workforce Development data. This claim gets a 'D.”

'Today, Iowa's unemployment rate has been cut nearly in half to 3.4 percent. Which is down from 6.1 percent five years ago.”

Data from Workforce Development and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics show the governor was correct in stating unemployment in Iowa is 3.4 percent, as of November, the most recent numbers available for seasonally-adjusted unemployment. Five years ago in Jan. 2011, the unadjusted unemployment rate was 6.1 percent. This claim gets an 'A.”

Schools/Veterans

'Since its (SAVE) inception in 2009, schools have already received $3.2 billion in infrastructure funding.”

Two state agencies differ on how much money schools have received from sales tax for infrastructure projects. Annual reports from the Department of Education show FY 2009 through FY 2014 sales tax revenue was $2.3 billion.

The Department of Revenue puts the state total at $3.2 billion for Fiscal 2009 through FY 2016. There are two extra years with the Revenue data set, but the numbers are widely divergent in some years. In FY 2014, for example, Revenue data is $19 million higher than Education.

Neither agency could explain why the totals were different, but Revenue officials said their numbers closely match those of the Legislative Services Agency. We give Branstad an 'A” because he correctly cited Revenue totals.

'In 19 months, the Home Base Iowa initiative has already led to 1,700 veterans who have been hired across Iowa.”

Elliott Smith, director of the Iowa Business Council, which runs Home Base, said 1,946 veterans and veteran spouses have been hired within 25 council companies and institutions. The vast majority of these hires are vets, Smith said, so Branstad gets an 'A.”

Energy

'We produce significantly more ethanol than we consume in gasoline …”

Iowa can produce 3.9 billion gallons of ethanol annually, according to the Iowa Corn Growers Association, a membership organization that lobbies in support of agricultural issues.

Iowa Farm Bureau put that number at 4.02 billion gallons in 2014.

As for gasoline, 2014 data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, which collects and analyzes independent and impartial energy information, states Iowans consumed about 40 million barrels of motor gasoline that year. With 42 gallons in a standard U.S. barrel, Iowa used roughly 1.68 billion gallons of gas last year, or less than half the ethanol produced in the state.

'We are the leading biodiesel producing state in the nation.”

According to the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association, an organization formed in 2002 to represent and promote Iowa's liquid renewable fuels industry, Iowa produced 227 million gallons of biodiesel in 2014. Accounting for about 16 percent of the total U.S. production, Iowa leads the nation in biodiesel production, according to the association.

We give Branstad's comments on energy an 'A.”

Criteria

The Fact Checker team checks statements made by an Iowa political candidate/office holder or a national candidate/office holder about Iowa, or in advertisements that appear in our market. Claims must be independently verifiable. We give statements grades from A to F based on accuracy and context.

If you spot a claim you think needs checking, email us at factchecker@thegazette.com.

This Fact Checker was researched and written by Jessie Hellmann, Erin Jordan, B.A. Morelli and Mitchell Schmidt.