Republicans say public outcry is turning tide

DES MOINES – Minority GOP leaders said Thursday they believe public backlash is taking the steam out of majority Democrats' top spending, tax and policy proposals for the 2009 session.

Even so, House GOP Leader Kraig Paulsen of Hiawatha said it appears the Legislature is on track to pass a record $6.3 billion spending plan for fiscal 2010 with the aid of federal stimulus money. The total will go even higher if a $700 million bonding package gets ratified before lawmakers adjourn next week.

“The public has spoken and they've spoken loudly, and that's why I think you will see some of these projects that were touted so loudly throughout session beginning to fall by the wayside,” said Senate GOP Leader Paul McKinley of Chariton.

“Government is out of control and I think that's the reason that you see Democrats backing off some of these bills which are as far left-leaning as any being proposed anywhere in the United States,” he added.

However, Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal, D-Council Bluffs, said he remains confident that majority Democrats will proceed with a bonding bill next week that helps disaster-ravaged Iowa communities and he was surprised Republicans are opposed to cutting taxes for a majority of Iowans via legislation to eliminate federal deductibility and reduce state income tax rates.

And, House Speaker Pat Murphy, D-Dubuque, said House Democrats are “very close” to proceeding on the tax policy changes but time is running out on issues that aren't garnering consensus as lawmakers work to close down their 2009 work.

The House speaker said he is hopeful legislation to establish a private cause of action in consumer fraud cases can get approved, but he called it “a long shot” for another bill to raise the compulsory education age through 17 to move this year.

“I'm not very optimistic,” Murphy said of the compulsory age bill. “We're going to focus on the bills that we can get done right now.”

McKinley said his read is that Democrats “overreached and they know they've overreached,” especially in trying to push a major tax shift and labor law changes that have met with formidable resistance.

Gronstal said the reality is the clocking is ticking and issues that lack consensus will have to be left behind as lawmakers push to adjourn next week..

“We're going to get the work done that we need to get done and then we're going to get out of here as quickly as possible,” he said. “If on Tuesday night, people haven't found consensus on a set of issues yet, it's starting to look pretty bleak for them at that point.”

Republicans expressed concern that major pieces of the budget remain unknown with session shutdown approaching. A working draft of the Rebuild Iowa Infrastructure Fund package for fiscal 2010 emerged Thursday with $231 million worth of various projects financed from gaming revenues.

The package included $42 million for the Environment First Fund and established a debt service of $48 million beginning in fiscal 2011 for the expected $700 million bonding plan.

“When we're all said and done, despite of all the cuts … there's going to be more spending than the state has ever done in its entire history,” Paulsen said. “I just find it remarkable that while they're talking about tough times and reducing spending that the truth of the matter when this all shakes out is that once again spending is going to go up in a dramatic fashion.”