Stories

Plans to institute massive layoffs in two state departments will go forward unless union leadership agrees to reopen their contracts in order to find savings, Gov. Chet Culver said Wednesday.

Gov. Chet Culver has scheduled a press conference at 3 p.m. Wednesday to announce the plans for cutting $565 million from the state’s budget.

For a man with decades of experience in Iowa government, former Gov. Terry Branstad offered surprisingly few specific ideas for cutting the state’s budget in a Des Moines Register story today.

After a day of back-and-forth between the Des Moines Register and Gov. Chet Culver’s office about the precise definition of a “10 percent salary cut,” the issue has been resolved.

Proposed budget cuts could result in 791 layoffs and 529 vacant positions left open, according to plans submitted by directors of state agencies Wednesday.

More than a year before the 2010 general election, on the day former Gov. Terry Branstad announces his candidacy for a fifth term, incumbent Democratic Gov. Chet Culver released a television ad touting his management of Iowa’s budget:

As expected, political columnists and Republican leaders are taking shots at Gov. Chet Culver today for the 10 percent, across-the-board budget cut he ordered yesterday.
But for all the bellyaching, it’s important to remember that the political implications of slashing state spending aren’t really so bad.

More than half, or around $332 million, of the 10 percent across-the-board budget cut ordered Thursday by Gov. Chet Culver will come from the state’s department of education.

Gov. Chet Culver has ordered an across-the-board cut of the state’s budget of 10 percent, or about $600 million.

The Revenue Estimating Conference (REC) announced Wednesday state revenue for the 2010 budget year will be $5.438 billion, down $415 million since March.