Numbers — and rhetoric — widen Iowa budget gulf

DES MOINES – In their continuing stalemate over budget issues, Democratic and Republican legislative leaders agree on one thing: budget negotiations suffered a setback this week.

Democrats lay the blame on Gov. Terry Branstad changing his budget demands on the 114

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day of what was supposed to be a 110-day session. Branstad and legislative Republicans agreed the budget for the year beginning July 1 should be $5.99 billion or any number less than $6 billion.

Republicans counter that Democrats adding $100 million in spending to the budget have pushed the parties farther apart.

Not being able to agree on the starting point may contribute to the difficulty of reaching a budget settlement.

According to Democrats, the current year budget is $5.35 billion including a $67.5

million supplemental appropriation earlier this session. They are proposing a $6.248 billion budget, a 17 percent increase.

According to Republicans, the current year budget is $6.35 billion including federal stimulus funds and 'purposeful underfunding' that led to the need for that supplemental appropriation. They are proposing a $5.9 billion budget, which is either a 10 percent increase from the current year or an 8 percent cut.

Either way, the GOP budget is 'a gut punch to the middle-class,' Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal, D-Council Bluffs, said May 5.

'It's an attack on middle-class Iowans,' he said. 'We're not going to let them gut punch the middle-class. That's what these new budget numbers do.'

House Speaker Kraig Paulsen, R-Hiawatha, countered that the budget ceiling of less than $6 billion is an attempt by legislative Republicans and Branstad to accommodate Democrats' priorities and maintain the GOP's campaign pledge to 'work toward a less expensive, more transparent, more open, more efficient government.'

House Republicans added $101 million to their budget targets, Paulsen said, but Senate Democrats added $100 million to theirs.

'Sen. Gronstal likes to talk about olive branches. I think we brought the whole tree,' Paulsen said – a reference to Gronstal's comments last week that his arms were weary from carrying olive branches.

Democrats are all for making government more efficient, Gronstal said, but Republicans are 'just making things more costly for the middle-class.'

'They don't want to make government more efficient,' he said. 'When they say 'reduce,' they're talking about reducing community colleges, making middle-class families pay more to get their kids a ticket to a better life. We don't think that's what Iowans thought when they talked about reducing government.'

Branstad, who has met with legislative leaders from both parties, said it's time to 'to get past the political rhetoric and try to work things out.'

'We've been trying to work with both Republicans and Democrats,' he said. 'The Republicans in the House came up much closer to our budget. We have agreed to a figure with them and now we need to negotiate with the Senate Democrats. We all need to work together.'

Only a handful of lawmakers were on hand Thursday. Neither the House nor Senate is likely to be in session Monday.