The state’s $600 million budget shortfall is an exciting opportunity because it creates “an urgency to reform government, to sharpen the saw, to get rid of the waste and really focus on our priorities,” GOP gubernatorial hopeful Bob Vander Plaats said.

Sioux City businessman and GOP gubernatorial hopeful Bob Vander Plaats.

Sioux City businessman and GOP gubernatorial hopeful Bob Vander Plaats.

The Sioux City Republican told the Iowa Independent that it was overspending during Gov. Chet Culver’s first two years in office that led the state into the budget crisis, and that budget reductions will right the ship.

“Everybody is running around like the sky is falling, which points to a true lack of leadership and focus on our priorities,” Vander Plaats said.

Vander Plaats, who previously ran for governor in 2002 and 2006, said the state budget presented in January by Culver is $900 million larger than it was in 2007. So instead of increasing taxes or borrowing to fix a projected budget shortfall, the state could feasibly cut everything that is not a priority.

“Schools are a priority. Roads are a priority. Courts are a priority. Public safety is a priority. Those who need special assistance would be a priority,” he said. “What I would like to see Gov. Culver do is say that these are our priorities. This is how we are going to fund them and this is how we’re going to live within our means. There is no reason the sky should be falling.”

Culver’s $700 million bonding plan, which the governor said is the best way to repair infrastructure in desperate need of attention due to neglect and last summer’s flooding, is just an invitation for more gambling to be introduced to the state, Vander Plaats said. The governor has said he will secure the bonds with $56 million a year in gambling revenue.

“So when you have a $700 million bond issue that is being paid for on the back of the gambling industry, Iowans read into it that you’re expanding gambling because the money the industry is producing is already committed to other things,” he said. “So either tell me what you’re going to cut or tell me what casino you’re going to add in Iowa.”

One area where Vander Plaats and his Democratic rival do agree is on the gas tax. Legislators have proposed increasing the tax Iowans pay per gallon of gasoline 8 cents over the next two years. Culver has said it isn’t prudent to raise any taxes during an economic downturn, a sentiment Vander Plaats shares.

It was on the subject of the gas tax increase where Vander Plaats fired what some could consider the first shot of the campaign for his party’s nomination for governor. Several conservative groups, like the Iowa Farm Bureau and local chambers of commerce, have supported the idea of increasing the gas tax to fund infrastructure repair. Joining them is state Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey, who said last month he is considering running for governor himself.

Northey told the Iowa Independent earlier this month that the condition of Iowa’s roads and the impact that could have on the agriculture economy have people who would normally oppose any tax increase, himself included, willing to give the gas tax a chance.

“I think generally with [agriculture] folks, a pay-as-you-go gas tax makes the most sense to address those road concerns,” Northey said. “I think everyone has been looking around for other options and there is no magic pot of money sitting around to do those things.”

Vander Plaats said he is not surprised some Republicans and conservative groups support the gas tax, “but it should be an indicator of a real problem.

“What I mean is these groups and individuals are so caught up in the ‘system think’ that they need to get outside the box and think of a different way,” he said, later adding: “Iowans have had it with the increased taxes. They’ve had it with the increase in government. They’ve had it with having their lives controlled. They want someone who will lead the state of Iowa, not just grow the size of government.”

Vander Plaats hopes that the network of supporters he has built in his two previous gubernatorial campaigns, along with his work as state chair for Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee’s successful Iowa caucus campaign, will finally push him past the primaries and into the general election.

“What I’m trying to point out is the organization I built in 2002 and have continued to build ever since is as solid and savvy an organization as you’re going to find anywhere for a Republican in Iowa, and that organization is ready to perform in 2010,” he said.