Our View - Assessing the condition of Iowa in 2010

Printed in the Iowa City Press-Citizen, Jan. January 12, 2010.

During his first "Condition of the State" address back in 2008, Iowa Gov. Chet Culver said, "(The) condition of the state is strong because last year you passed and I signed historic legislation. These new initiatives related to job creation, renewable energy, health care and education, will improve our quality of life and strengthen our economy."

Rather than being uttered just two years ago, those words -- and the accompanying optimism -- now seem like they were offered two decades ago.

Last year, with Iowa still drying out after the floods of 2008 -- and with the continuing national and international catastrophe of a financial downturn -- Culver adopted a more sober but equally optimistic tone: "The condition of our state is strong, because the people of Iowa are strong! I believe this, because Iowans are tough. We're never better than when our backs are against the wall. We stand tall, and we never give up."

When Culver gives his speech today, we're looking for him to do something more than put a hope-filled rhetorical gloss on what is still very rough time in the state's history. After polling some of readers and writers, we suggest the governor use one of the following phrases instead of "strong":

• "Recovering": The worst has passed, but there are still a lot of sacrifices to be made and the road to recovery will be long and steep.

• "In the same economic boat with the rest of our nation": The length of Iowa's recovery will depend in large measure on how well the nation recovers. But our leaders can't sit around waiting for the feds to make us whole.

• "At least better than California": As bad as economic times are in Iowa, the state is in better shape that most others. With hundreds of millions of dollars still in reserves and with a high bond rating, the state has options that many other states don't. And Iowa has much lower unemployment and foreclosure rates than most other states. These facts, however, offer little comfort to those Iowans who have lost their jobs or are losing their homes.

• "Watchful": Our state leaders need to watch and learn from the mistakes of others -- especially because there aren't many successes to learn from.

• "In need of strong leadership": This is time when Culver and other state leaders have to step up and make some very unpopular decisions. They'll need to focus on putting Iowans back to work and avoid partisan bickering over attempts to restrict the social rights of Iowans.

Today, we're looking for our governor to acknowledge the hard truth about the state's condition and then to offer a clear, practical vision for how to rally Iowa's amazing people and resources over the next 12 months.

Our View - Symbolic cuts need to set tone for real cuts

Printed in the Iowa City Press-Citizen, Oct. 23, 2009

Our View - Symbolic cuts need to set tone for real cuts

In one of her columns last month, Des Moines Register political columnist Kathie Obradovich described one of four ceremonial events (three ribbon cuttings and one tree planting) that Iowa Gov. Chet Culver presided over on Sept. 15.

"At John Deere Credit in Johnston," Obradovich wrote in a Sept. 17 column, "(Culver) gamely brandished giant, wooden faux scissors for the cameras -- then looked on as Deere employees and retirees with real, normal-sized scissors did the actual cutting. There's a budget metaphor in there somewhere."

Whatever the metaphor would have been last month, it took on much more negative and unflattering symbolism Wednesday. That's when the governor's spokesman was left trying to explain why Culver was only giving back 5.4 percent of his $130,000 salary ($7,000) rather than the full 10 percent ($13,000) his staff (and his Twitter account) said he would be giving back.

Now, nothing requires Culver to slice his own salary. But the announcement was the right move both politically and practically. Yes, $13,000 is an infinitesimal part of the half of a billion dollars required for the state to cut 10 percent across the board. But Culver's self-imposed pay cut -- and his call for department heads to do the same -- was a good symbol of solidarity with the thousands of state workers who face layoffs and massive pay cuts. And although the self-imposed pay cuts were never going to be a substitute for the strong leadership that the governor needs to show in the weeks ahead, the promise was a good first step toward working with the departments and the unions to ensure the financial pain is spread around equally.

Unfortunately it turns out the Big Lug couldn't even hold the symbolic scissors right this time. The proposed budget made public Wednesday had the governor's pay reduced by only $7,000.

"John Frew, our chief of staff, directed that the pay cut not be retroactive," Culver spokesman Phil Roeder told the Register. "The 10 percent cut in pay for the governor -- as well as chief of staff and department directors -- will not be retroactive, but apply to the balance of the fiscal year."

Even if the explanation were plausible -- and it's not since a 10 percent cut in eight months of Culver's pay would total $8,666 -- it's completely at odds with other across-the-board cuts. The Iowa City School District, for example, already has received two of the 10 payments it will receive from the state over the fiscal year. That means the remaining eight payments won't have just 10 percent less money, they'll be 12.5 percent smaller to make up for the two pre-cut payments the district already has received.

If the governor is going to make a symbolic cut, he needs to make sure the symbolism rings out loudly and clearly. If he can't even pose right with the big wooden scissors, then no one is going to trust his department heads to cut with their own little scissors. (The governor's office seemed to have recognized as much on Thursday when it issued a statement that the governor really will be giving back a full 10 percent of his annual salary.)

If you have questions about the real cuts that will be taking place -- involving real jobs for real people who often make a lot less than $130,000 a year -- you can ask Culver personally next week. About 11:15 a.m. Wednesday, he'll be on the corner of North Dodge Street and Scott Boulevard striking a new ceremonial pose: He'll be participating in a ground breaking ceremony for the new fire station on Iowa City's northeast side.

Let's hope he doesn't throw the dirt at anyone.

Iowa governor's budget includes $4.2 million to sustain programs for victims of domestic violence

There’s going to be plenty of bad news connected to the trimmed budget that Iowa Gov. Chet Culver released Wednesday. But one bright spot is that the Big Lug seems to have listened to the concerns of domestic violence advocates and called for nearly $4.2 million for programs that provide services to crime victims.

Earlier this month, Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller called on the governor and the Iowa Legilsature to provide $4 million to maintain these “lifesaving services.” Last week, the Iowa City Press-Citizen Editorial Board echoed the attorney general’s request and urged state leaders to find a sustainable source of funding for these programs (“Don’t leave abuse victims out in the cold,” Jan. 24).

“‘This problem is not a result of the current budget crisis,’ said Beth Barnhill, the executive director of the Iowa Coalition against Sexual Assault. ‘This is a problem of long-standing that came to a head in a terrible economic time. We're not asking for any new money. We're only asking to maintain our funding — which is still at 85 percent what we were receiving seven years ago.’”

Many state leaders have spoken in support of the programs — which in Iowa City include the Rape Victim Advocacy Program and the Domestic Violence Intervention Program. But it wasn’t until Wednesday's budget proposal that the program directors were sure whether that support was just lip service or was likely to result in sustainable funding.