Branstad to tout smaller, smarter government in final ‘Condition’ address Tuesday

DES MOINES - In 1999, Iowans thought they heard Gov. Terry Branstad's final Condition of the State address.

Now, 18 years later, as the longest-serving governor in U.S. history, it appears Tuesday's address to a joint convention of the 87th Iowa General Assembly will mark his farewell message as the state's chief executive, with expectations he will become U.S. ambassador to China in the coming months.

Branstad, 70, who served as governor from 1983-99 and again from 2011 to the present, said he expects to deliver a speech that both looks forward and backward as he charts the opportunities facing the state and remembers past challenges like the farm crisis of the 1980s.

'The theme of my speech is going to be smaller, smarter government,” Branstad said in a recent interview. He readily says the idea is not original because it is one that's been a long-term favorite of Rep. Walt Rogers, R-Cedar Falls, who has beat the drum repeatedly for government doing less but better.

Rogers said he gladly shared the phrase for the governor's speech, saying 'It's been my mantra and desire since I got down here, so if we can get everyone moving that way, I think it would be great.”

The governor said his speech will be well-rehearsed and a little sentimental, along with highlighting communities - Bloomfield being one - that have battled back from adversity to achieve productive results with hard work and thoughtful action.

Branstad said he is preparing for the session that opened Monday with anticipation 2017 could be a historic year, with Republicans joining him at the helm of state government with control of both legislative houses for the first time in two decades.

'I'm very excited. I'm very optimistic,” the governor said. 'We have some tough decisions to make right up front. The first order of business has got to be to do some de-appropriations of fiscal 2017 to bring the budget back into balance.”

Trimming roughly $100 million in spending through June 30 will require reductions of up to 4 percent for some budget areas, he said Monday. But he has placed K-12 schools, local government tax credits and Medicaid funding off limits and prefers employee layoffs over furloughs in making long-term changes to government. He also plans to offer a full two-year budget for fiscal years 2018 and 2019 that includes up to 2 percent more funding for K-12 schools.

On Monday, House Speaker Linda Upmeyer, R-Clear Lake, said the de-appropriations bill will be the first item of action for the House, while House Majority Leader Chris Hagenow, R-Windsor Heights, said he expects to take up the first year of K-12 funding this session but likely wait on fiscal 2019 until there's a better fix on future revenue growth and possible tax policy changes to be considered.

Branstad said he doesn't expect full agreement from lawmakers who are in charge of the appropriations process.

'I don't expect the Legislature is going to pass the budget just as I recommended. I think they're going to adjust and change it. I think they may increase in some areas and reduce in some other areas. This is the legislative prerogative,” he said.

'I've said to them: if you have specific ideas or programs that you think could be eliminated, we're all for that, we're interested in that,” he added. 'That's part of our smaller, smarter government initiative. We want to look at every board and commission and we want to look at their responsibilities. We think there has been some overreach and we think there are areas where we could eliminate or dramatically reduce what the boards and commissions have been doing.”

Branstad said the state's certificate of need process for approving health care facilities and the combined enforcement duties by state transportation employees and state troopers are topics he would like to explore for starters.

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