BRANSTAD'S BUDGETS FAILED
January 27, 2010
When Governor Branstad managed the budget, Iowa faced hundreds of millions in deficits. Then, he raised taxes to cover his overspending, borrowed to pay the bills and even kept two sets of books to hide his deficits from Iowans.“We have moved past Branstad style budgeting. After 12 years of Democratic leadership, Iowa's fiscal discipline is light years ahead of where our state stood back in the 1980s and 90s when Terry Branstad wrote the budget,” said Iowa Democratic Party Chairman Michael Kiernan.
Kiernan pointed out several instances of budget mismanagement from the Branstad era that are not part of the Culver record. Those include:
- Governor Branstad ran up a state budget deficit of $430 million in a single budget year.
- Governor Branstad kept two sets of books for several years to hide the dour budget picture he created. Even state Auditor Richard Johnson, a fellow Republican, criticized Branstad for his bad budgeting practices.
- Governor Branstad raised the sales tax twice and the gas tax once, in part to cover his overspending.
- Governor Branstad used bonds to borrow money just to keep the state budget afloat.
- “Now, Branstad says he’ll cut the state budget by another 15%,” Kiernan continued. “And, he’ll start by cutting preschool, children’s health insurance, job training, and drastic cuts to public schools. We need to continue to move forward, not go back to the days of Branstad's failed budgets."