Published: February 16, 2009 08:50 am      

Budget again focus at Iowa Legislature

Labor issues, gas tax draw questions at legislative coffee

CLINTON — From Fair Share and the smoking ban to the state budget and transportation funding, many topics were covered Saturday during a legislative coffee at the Clinton Area Chamber of Commerce.

The event brought out a full crowd that was eager to ask questions of Sen. Roger Stewart, D-Preston; Rep. Steve Olson, R-DeWitt; Rep. Tom Schueller, D-Maquoketa; and Sen. Shawn Hamerlinck, a Republican who represents Scott County as well as all of rural Clinton County.

Rep. Polly Bukta, D-Clinton, was unable to attend the Clinton gathering, the first of three to be held during the legislative session.

All of the men agreed that the budget, and where to cut, is the main theme of this year’s session.

Stewart said some of those areas including looking at cutting court reporters and using recording devices instead and looking at smaller schools and making them more efficient with whole grade sharing. Mental health services and costs will also be a prominent topic, he said.

Olson said helping the University of Iowa recover after intense flooding last year and dealing with the sex offender 2,000-foot rule are among issues that will be important this year.

Schueller, as a member of the Rebuild Iowa Committee, agreed that recovering from flooding will be a major topic this session. He said the work being done also will help the state when it is confronted by disasters in the future.

Labor issues, such as contractors hiring subcontractors to avoid paying workman’s comp and taxes also will be dealt with, Schueller said.

“Iowa is losing out on millions of dollars of revenue,” he said. “We need to crack down on this.”

Hamerlinck, in his first term, said the learning curve has been intense.

He said he is learning that Iowa is no where near facing the same financial troubles as other states, such as California, and that the governor's proposed budget will allow for more spending this year than any other year. Spending is proposed to be $1.48 million greater than last year, he said.

He is against the governor’s plan to bond for $700 million, saying that it will put the state $1.2 billion in debt by the time it is paid off.

He also pointed out that the rainy day fund must be handled with care because the back-up funding streams, such as the tobacco fund, have dried up. He also is seeking to remove the cap on historical tax credits — something he calls a policy decision that is needed. He also said there is a bill under consideration that would force homeowners living in a 500-year-floodplain to take out flood insurance.

After the lawmakers’ overviews, the audience asked questions about the gas tax. Right now, the amount that is being considered for a gas tax is fluctuating. If it was set at 10 cents it could bring in $200 million a year, which could go a long way in reducing the amount that Gov. Culver would need to bond for, the lawmakers said.

Those funds would bring money into the state from people who are passing through — so in effect money would be funneling in from nonresidents to help Iowa coffers.

Olson said the gas tax amount is up in the air and will be until Culver commits to whether he would sign a bill for a gas tax.

He said the last thing lawmakers in the House and Senate want to do is work on the legislation just to have it fail.

"That would cause a lot of heartburn for a lot of people," he said.

Hamerlinck contends that a gas tax, if set too high, would make Iowa too expensive and that out-of-staters would gas up in Nebraska and Illinois, avoiding Iowa’s stations altogether.

The legislators also were questioned about the future of Fair Share.

Schueller, who supports Fair Share, said he didn't know if a bill has been introduced this session. Olson, who is against it, said it had not been introduced in the House as far as he knew.

Stewart pointed out that Fair Share will be among top labor issues that could be dealt with this session, the others being choice of doctor — a measure for those who have workman’s compensation claims — and prevailing wage.

Some in the crowd were concerned that prevailing wage would make employer costs increase, but Stewart said offering a prevailing wage is about workmanship and drawing quality workers to the state. Schueller said offering a better wage also is a way to counter brain drain, a phenomenon in which younger workers leave the state to get a higher wage.

"Prevailing wage is not a labor issue, it's about paying a livable wage," he said.

School funding also was discussed, with Clinton School Board member Jim McGraw questioning the legislators as to what will make its way to Clinton in the form of allowable growth.

McGraw said even if the state sets allowable growth at 4 percent, only about 2 percent will make its way here.

He said with teachers requesting a 9 percent salary increase, if allowable growth comes in only at 2 percent “it’s a no-win situation.”

The future of the smoking ban, specifically the fact that Iowa casinos are exempt from the ban, also came up.

The legislators agreed it probably won't be addressed this season.

Stewart said he had been to T.C.'s in DeWitt, and that the owner is pleased with the ban, stating business is up 25 percent.

But restaurant owner Mike Rastrelli said the health premise of the smoking ban was a sham, because while that's what it was sold as when the ban was pitched, it is apparent the state isn’t concerned with casino workers because smoking is allowed there.