Culver disagrees with GOP, LSA on year-end fiscal projection

CORALVILLE - Gov. Chet Culver was on the defensive again Friday, defending his handling of

Iowa's response to a national recession against Republican charges his overspending is killing jobs and digging a financial hole for future generations to fill.

However, Culver, who visited a church-sponsored community center in Coralville to congratulate United Way volunteers and AmeriCorps workers for their help in flood recovery efforts, brushed aside suggestions the state doesn't have enough cash on hand to cover year-end bills.

"It's important for people to separate the political, partisan rhetoric from the facts," he said, referring to comments by potential 2010 challenger Rep. Christopher Rants, R-Sioux City.

Based on a memo from a fiscal analyst with the non-partisan Legislative Services Agency, Rants suggested bills that will come due at the end of the 2009 fiscal year June 30 will exceed the budget's $45 million ending balance and the $50 million the governor can transfer without legislative approval.

"You know, this is a candidate who's running for governor," Culver said. "He's going to use partisan rhetoric every day. I'm governing. I'm getting things done. I'm balancing the budget at a time that has been challenging, but we're doing it."

Rants disagreed during a taping of Iowa Public Television's Iowa Press, which will air at 7:30 p.m. Friday and 11:30 a.m. Sunday.

"The governor is wrong, okay, with all due respect," Rants said. "Our budget is in serious jeopardy and Iowans understand that. We're a billion dollars in the hole when the legislature reconvenes in January."

Culver made clear he disagrees with the projections of "one member of the LSA who thinks we won't balance." Even if that analyst is right, Culver isn't worried.

"We have a $441 million coffee can- it's the largest cash reserve ever in the history of our state," he said. "We've never had a AAA bond rating until this year. You only get that for good fiscal management."

He's not worried about fiscal 2010 because, according to his numbers, there will be a $100 million ending balance along with the $4410 because, according to his numbers, there will be a $100 million ending balance along with the $441 million in reserves.

In fiscal 2011 "there will be challenges," Culver conceded, but he's already meeting with department heads on how to fulfill a 2006 campaign promise to save $250,000 by reorganizing state government. "We're talking about government reorganization and efficiency."

There's no easy solution to the financial hole Culver has dug, Rants said, suggesting it will become a political issue when the Legislature has to grapple with a $1 billion deficit next year.

"Iowans will understand it ... because their school boards are going to feel the pinch, their counties are going to feel the hurt, their city councils are going to be talking to them about it," he said. "Every element of local government is going to be affected by the decisions that this governor has made in the last year and it's a negative one."

OPTIONAL TRIM

Also Friday, Culver said his administration is putting Iowans back to work despite an increase in the state's unemployment rate from 5.1 percent to 5.8 percent - a 22-year high. The monthly report showed 96,000 Iowans out of work.

Culver was confident his $830 million I-JOBS plan "will create and retain good jobs all across our state."

However, Senate Minority Leader Paul McKinley, R-Chariton, said I-JOBS, financed largely by selling bonds, "did nothing to create long-term, sustainable jobs." The Democratic plan will "expand government and send the bill to our children and grandchildren."

If Republicans "want to focus on doom and gloom and all the negative aspects related to the Bush-Cheney recession, that's their business," Culver said. "I'm focusing on the fact we're re building Iowa. I'm focusing on getting the job done every day as governor."