Dem, GOP legislators tangle on budget issues

CEDAR RAPIDS - Although they agreed on the severity of the state's budget crisis, Linn County area Democratic and Republican legislators disagreed on how to solve it.

Much of the discussion at a League of Women Voters' forum Saturday centered on the "bad, sad news," as Sen. Wally Horn, D-Cedar

Rapids, called Friday's Revenue Estimating Conference report lowering state revenues by $130 million for the fiscal year ending June 30 and $270 million for the next fiscal year. It's impossible for the state to come up with the money to fill that budget hole, Horn said.

If there was any good news, it was Senate Appropriations Chairman Bob Dvorsky's assessment that the budget hole is only $80 million deep this year. However, 2010, he said, "will be a horrible year."

As bleak as the numbers are, Democratic majorities in the House and Senate will balance the budget

without raising taxes, Rep. Todd Taylor, D-Cedar Rapids, promised, and "hold harmless as much as we can middle-class families, education, public safety and things we all hold dear to our hearts."

They'll do that by using federal stimulus funds to maintain state services. The Democratic lawmakers also want to sell bonds to prime the economic pump to create jobs. Democratic Gov. Chet Culver has proposed a $750 million bonding plan. Legislative Democrats are looking at a $700 million plan.

That's where the parties parted ways. House Minority Leader Kraig Paulsen, R-Hiawatha offered other options. The House GOP identified $48 million in savings though steps such as delaying the purchase of about 600 vehicles and some of the $20 million budgeted for pens, pencils and other office supplies.

Rep. Nick Wagner, R-Marion, compared the Democrats' bonding plan to a family hoping to win the lottery to pay household expenses.

Lawmakers, Sen. Swati Dandekar, D-Marion, said, "will have to do what every middle-class family does and make cuts where necessary."

The state selling bonds is like a family borrowing money to buy a home and send children to college, Sen. 

Sen. Rob Hogg

Rob Hogg, D-Cedar Rapids, argued. With the decline in revenues, the state wouldn't be able to do much on a pay-as-you-go plan, he said. With interest rates low, it's a good time for the state to sell bonds.

Families borrow money for a home based on their income, not lack of income, Paulsen countered. He proposed the Legislature should use the $200 million-plus Rebuild Iowa Infrastructure Fund for infrastructure projects instead of diverting it to ongoing expenses. It would accomplish more that way than the Democrats' bonding plans and the state wouldn't be paying for the projects for 20 years.

With less money than anticipated to spend, Taylor said lawmakers will wrap up their work quickly and adjourn.

However, Rep. Dick Taylor, D-Cedar Rapids, thought the new revenue projection would setback the budget process. While leaders have been talking about adjourning as early as April 2 or April 9, "I don't look for us to get out before April 17," he said.