Lawmakers downplay likelihood of state government shutdown

DES MOINES – Legislative leaders downplayed the likelihood of a state government shutdown, but said today they see no quick end to the continuing stalemate over budget issues.

“I can tell you House Republicans are not going to let government shut down.” Speaker Kraig Paulsen, R-Hiawatha, said at his weekly news conference. He conceded budget negotiations took a step backward this week as legislative Republicans and GOP Gov. Terry Branstad agreed that the budget cannot be more than $6 billion.

“They say it's too early to talk about that. I think it's actually kind of too late to talk about the governor changing his budget numbers to the tune of $160 million,” Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal, D-Council Bluffs, said.

“It's a gut punch to the middle-class,” Gronstal said about Republicans' budget ceiling. “It's an attack on middle-class Iowans. We're not going to let them gut punch the middle-class. That's what these new budget numbers do.”

He called it a mistake for Republicans to sacrifice state programs and assistance to education from preschool through college, health care and job creation “for the sake of piling up ever-larger reserve funds so you can make tax breaks to your rich buddies.”

“Rather than moving closer together a week after we're supposed to adjourn, the Republicans and the governor are moving further apart,” he said.

The GOP-controlled House and the Democratic-controlled Senate were about $147 million apart on their budgets until this week when the Republicans and Branstad agreed on a new number -- $5.999 billion.

Paulsen said House Republicans added $101 million to their budget to accommodate Democratic priorities. At the same time, he said. Democrats added about $100 million to their spending plan.

“Sen. Gronstal likes to talk about olive branches. I think we brought the whole tree,” he said.

However, he insisted that Republicans are committed to their campaign pledge to reduce the cost of state government.

“That's one of the things we promised Iowan we would do in the last election – work toward a less expensive, more transparent, more open, more efficient government,” Paulsen said. “That's exactly what this does and at the same time meets our priorities.”

Gronstal doesn't think that's what Iowans voted for.

“We thought it was about making government more efficient and we've cooperated in every way on that front,” Gronstal said. “They don't want to make government more efficient. When they say ‘reduce,' they're talking about reducing community colleges, making middle-class families pay more to get their kids a ticket to a better life. We don't think that's what Iowans thought when they talked about reducing government. They're just making things more costly for the middle-class.”

Republicans are making a good faith effort to hold the line on spending while allowing Democrats to help determine how to slice the budget pie, Paulsen said.

Only a handful of lawmakers were on hand Thursday and neither the House nor Senate is likely to be in session Monday, leaders said.

“This is going to go on for awhile,” Gronstal said of the budget negotiations.