Reynolds hones budget plan, but still short on specifics

DAVENPORT, Iowa — When Terry Branstad brought state Sen. Kim Reynolds onto the GOP gubernatorial ticket last month, the campaign touted Reynolds’ experience as a county treasurer. And while her legislative tenure spans an array of issues, her most common talking points make it clear that her main role will be to sell the ticket’s fiscal strategy.

Republican lieutenant governor nominee Kim Reynolds drew a crowd of about 100 to a campaign stop in Davenport on Tuesday (photo by Adam B Sullivan/The Iowa Independent).

Throughout her month on the campaign trail, Reynolds has focused on the economic plan voters can expect from a Branstad administration, calling for several changes to the state’s budgeting process. However, despite a campaign pledge to shrink the size of state government by 15 percent over five years, she consistently stops short of naming many specific programs or departments that would be eliminated or trimmed under a Branstad administration.

“One of the things we want to do is stop the policies that really perpetuate growth in government and increasing spending,” Reynolds said during an interview with The Iowa Independent in Davenport on Tuesday.

She said a Branstad administration would stop using one-time money for on-going expenses, such as the use of $700 million from one-time sources like the federal stimulus and state cash reserves last year. She said Iowa should also avoid implementing new programs in the middle of the year and refuse to reassign funds to programs for which the funding wasn’t originally intended. Reynolds also repeated Branstad’s demand for a two-year budget — despite a resounding national trend away from biennial budgeting — and a budget that adheres to a 99 percent spending limitation.

“In the first year we focus on the budget and in the second year we really do a thorough evaluation of all of the programs that are in place and we start making those tough choices and eliminating some of the lower-priority programs,” Reynolds said. “We really need to do a thorough evaluation of all those programs and start making some tough choices.”

So Reynolds left open the option of cutting state-funded programs, but when asked, she didn’t indicate any specific programs that might be slashed. Instead, Reynolds preached cooperation among state and local governments.

“I’d like to bring local government and state government together and have an open, honest dialogue on how we can deliver the most efficient cost-effective services to the citizens of Iowa. Every time there’s overlap or duplication, there’s a cost to the taxpayer,” she said. “Sometimes it makes more sense for those services to be pushed down to the local level and sometimes it makes more sense for them to be pushed up to the state level.”

As an example, the campaign points to allowing county treasurers to issue state drivers’ licenses, a move Reynolds backed while she was Clarke County treasurer. Conversely, Branstad has said the state government should assume more responsibilities in funding education and mental health programs, a move that could add millions of dollars in expenses to the state budget.

But correcting inefficiencies between state government and Iowa’s 99 counties, 900 cities and 350 school districts won’t likely be enough to solve the billion-dollar budget gap in FY2012, which the Branstad campaign has pinned on Democratic incumbent Gov. Chet Culver. And with Branstad’s vow not to raise taxes (and cut some, like the corporate tax) the rest will have to come from cuts and from a possible revenue boost if family and business incomes improve.

Reynolds also addressed flood recovery at her campaign event in Davenport.

The Cedar Rapids Gazette’s Todd Dorman pointed out on Tuesday that Republicans have been icy to putting flood-prevention measures in place:

Branstad contends that I-JOBS is too expensive and created far fewer jobs than promised. But he doesn’t explain how he would handle future flood prevention. Very little was done on long-term mitigation after the floods of 1993, which occurred on his watch. And during the current campaign, he’s had little to say on the subject, except that he doesn’t favor restrictions on development in the 500-year flood zone.

Reynolds avoided answering whether Culver’s I-JOBS program has made the state better-equipped to deal with floods. But just like Branstad, she left her flood prevention plan vague.

“I think we need to take a comprehensive approach to [flood projects] and make sure that all parties are working on that,” Reynolds said. “We need to be sure we’re not piecemealing it and we’re doing it right. It needs to be a holistic approach and we’re all moving forward together.”