On debt, disaster and debate

Our race for governor has taken a nostalgic turn, with 'Big Debt Chet,” I-JOBS and the Flood of 2008 all making cameo appearances.

It started in last week's debate when Gov. Terry Branstad touted his fiscal wisdom by swiping at former Gov. Chet Culver's I-JOBS program, which used bonded debt to provide $875 million for infrastructure projects across the state. Democratic challenger Jack Hatch pointed out that I-JOBS provided tens of millions of dollars for recovery projects in communities hit hard by the 2008 flood.

Branstad prefers 'pay-as-you-go.” Hatch contends that won't work in a disaster. 'If we don't have the cash, wait until next year,” Hatch said, mocking his opponent.

On Tuesday, Hatch's running mate, Cedar Rapids City Council member Monica Vernon, insisted a pay-as-you go state effort would have denied needed resources and created a decade or more of 'chaos” in this fair city. There's a fair point under that hyperbole.

I-JOBS was, first and foremost, a jobs program when it was introduced in 2009. Hence the name. And as a jobs program, it never lived up to Culver's big promises. He predicted the effort would create 30,000 jobs. By July of 2010, his administration conceded it has created maybe 7,000.

So with that political blood in the water, Republicans feasted on I-JOBS. It became the fodder for many a political attack ad, some misleading. Republicans repeatedly claimed that I-JOBS saddled 'Iowa families” with debt. In reality, the bonds are being paid back with gambling dollars. Those bucks already are used for infrastructure needs.

And as an infrastructure program, I-JOBS did a lot of good, particularly on the flood recovery front. In Cedar Rapids alone, I-JOBS money went to the Paramount Theatre, the public library, public works building, the National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library, the wastewater treatment plant and the Veterans Memorial Building, to name a few. I-JOBS also provided $100 million for flooded facilities at the University of Iowa.

So what happens without I-JOBS? Chaos? Not likely. It's more likely the absence of that state help would have meant more local debt, paid for with property taxes, and a prolonged recovery. A choice between that and tapping gambling bucks seems like a no-brainer. It could have been a far more focused program. The jobs promise was a blunder. But clearly, I-JOBS provided necessary recovery bucks.

Branstad deserves credit for his own transformation. Back in 2010, he repeatedly said repeatedly flood recovery should be a federal responsibility. Makes sense, considering he was governor in the 80s and 90s when the fed did the heavy lifting. Then came Katrina, and the end of earmarks and a deep recession that sapped federal resources.

But in 2012, Branstad signed a bill providing $600 million over the next 20 years for flood protection and mitigation projects. Cedar Rapids got $264 million.

Like it or not, from now on, states will have to play a large role in major disaster recovery, especially for flooding. If re-elected, Branstad may, God forbid, find himself facing a disaster of the scope that Big Debt Chet faced. The seemingly smart politics of dismissing debt may get washed away, fast.

l Comments: (319) 398-8452; todd.dorman@thegazette.com.