Branstad calls for 'thoughtful, humane' entitlement reform

IOWA CITY – Former Gov. Terry Branstad, who has made a 15 percent cut in the size and cost of state government part of his campaign for a return to the job he held 16 years, said June 1 his plan includes a “thoughtful and humane” reform of entitlement programs.

State entitlement programs are “unsustainable,” Branstad said in a stop at an Iowa City retirement community.

“We have to systematically and thoughtfully decide what makes sense to keep, what needs to be modified and what we no longer can afford to do and try to come up with a thoughtful and humane way of moving people from welfare to work,” the Boone Republican said.

Branstad is in a three-way primary with Bob Vander Plaats of Sioux City and Rep. Rod Roberts of Carroll for the GOP nomination. He predicted victory in the June 8 primary based, in part, on a significant increase in absentee voting by Republicans. More than 20,000 Iowans have requested absentee ballots – about three-quarters of them Republicans.

“We've identified our supporters. We've pushed very hard to get people to vote absentee,” he said.

Branstad emphasized his experience and knowledge of state government, as well as his success in leading the state out of the farm crisis, during his remarks at Legacy Active retirement Community.

He reminded the voters, many who said they had voted for him before, that he cut taxes, including inheritance taxes, reformed the state budget process and left a surplus of nearly $1 billion in the state's coffers when he left office in 1999.

Part of the success was due to his leadership on the welfare-to-work welfare reform effort led by state governors, Branstad said. A key was that from 1992 to 1999 the state Medicaid budget was under control and required no supplemental appropriation, he said.

“Since then, state government has expanded Medicaid and increased entitlements,” Branstad said. “We can't afford that. It has to be pared back to some thing that is sustainable.”

He contrasted that to record spending by Gov. Chet Culver's administration. Since Culver's I-JOBS economic stimulus plan has been implemented Iowa's unemployment rate has increased, Branstad said.

Voters will see the clear choice between “an honest conservative and a liberal who has really messed up the finances of the state, and who's out of touch with Iowa,” Branstad said. “I think they will see I'm the one who can put this state back on track.”