Kiernan to Republican gubernatorial candidates: Get a plan for the budget
December 11, 2009
As the legislature prepares to gather for what may be one of the toughest sessions in Iowa history, most the remaining candidates for governor, Terry Branstad, Bob Vander Plaats, or Rod Roberts, haven’t introduced a plan for the budget. Each one has criticized Governor Culver for the decisions he has made to ensure that the budget is balanced, but none have offered a detailed, valid alternative.“Governor Culver has balanced the budget every year he’s been in office, and he’s made tough choices. But, not one of these candidates has put forward a well-thought out, detailed plan on how to balance the state’s budget,” said Kiernan.
When candidate Branstad was asked the very direct question about his plan to “fix” the budget, he admitted he had no idea.(1)
MODERATOR: I guess the first thing that I would ask is, do you have a specific plan that you have prepared on how to fix or repair state government? And if so, where can we find that.It’s not surprising that Terry Branstad doesn’t have any ideas. As governor, Branstad appointed a lot of commissions to tell him what to do0.(2)
BRANSTAD: Ok, well I don’t.
The only exception to this is former Speaker Chris Rants who has seemingly rehashed every failed, old Republican proposal from the last two decades.(3)
“While Governor Culver works tirelessly to balance the state budget without raising taxes and without significant layoffs, it’s extremely disappointing that the Republican candidates running against the Governor continue to attack without offering any serious alternate plan.” Kiernan continued, “Until they can each produce a detailed plan on how to balance the budget without raising taxes, they each need to think about how prepared they are to lead the state of Iowa.”
Sources: