After the Deal, What's the Real Plan?

Gov. Terry Branstad arrived Monday in Cedar Rapids in a small plane. I was sort of expecting a hulking C-130.

I figured Branstad would need a hefty craft to haul copies of the Republican budget plan he's touring the state to tout. This budget by elephants weighs in at 518 pages. The best-seller “Water for Elephants” is only 335.

But, alas, we got only a spin-filled two-page summary. To the interwebs.

Truth is, the so-called “omnibus,” which sets state spending for the next two fiscal years and unplugs a heated Statehouse sidewalk, among many other things, would not make much of a novel.

Schools get more money next year, but no budget increase this fall. Universities, AEAs, preschools and other education areas still take considerable hits, which explains why Democrats have not rushed gushing to reconcile.

Money for riverfront community attractions gets the axe, but there is $3 million to help fix up the battleship USS Iowa, which will likely be a oceanfront attraction in California.

Still, not a page-turner.  But there is a good mystery in what's missing.

The GOP budget would spend $5.99 billion during the next fiscal year, 2012. That's less than the “austere” $6.16 billion budget proposed by Branstad in January. And it's less than the $6.2 billion in general fund revenues, taxes etc., the state is expected to collect.

The reason why $5.99 billion has became a magic number is mysterious. Surely the state budgeting process, a meticulous, thoughtful matching of public resources with key priorities, is not being priced like a set of late-night knives, a bargain at $19.99.

It slices, dices, it cuts through 518 pages. And it's also shredded chances for a deal.

In any event, spending $5.99 billion also means not spending a considerable pile of money. Branstad tried to argue Monday that no such budget surplus exists, but the non-partisan Legislative Services Agency sees it differently.

The current budget year, using House GOP revenue assumptions, is on pace to end with $494.2 million in the bank, on top of $436 million in existing reserves. A $5.99 billion budget, according to current revenue projections, would end next year with a $339.5 million surplus. Some of that money must stay in reserves to cash flow, but a big chunk would be available to lawmakers.

The mystery is exactly what Republicans want to do with all that dough in the future. There are plenty of clues. Branstad and House Speaker Kraig Paulsen have talked about tax cuts. The House voted earlier this year to cut income taxes by $700 million. Branstad still wants corporate tax cuts. There's talk of fully funding the school aid formula with state bucks to reduce property taxes.

Maybe you like that stuff, maybe you don't. All I'm asking is for Republicans to share their plans. Make it clear what comes next. Those of us paying the sales and income taxes fueling those surpluses would like to know.

I have a feeling that the minute a deal is done, if it gets done, the gloomy GOP line about a budget crisis will be magically transformed into golden election year promises, springing from a surplus that suddenly exists.

Comments (319) 398-8452; todd.dorman@sourcemedia.net