Supporters of both candidates in the First District congressional on Mays Island Wednesday, August 29, 2012. (Addison Speck/ Sourcemedia Group)

Supporters of both candidates in the First District congressional race turned out on Mays Island Wednesday afternoon for an event organized by Rep. Bruce Braley’s campaign.

About two dozen Braley supporters and about half that many backers of  Republican challenger Ben Lange jockeyed for position in the afternoon heat, trying to hold their candidate’s placard above or in front of their opponent’s during a 25-minute event designed to show Braley’s support for Medicare.

Braley, D-Waterloo, and two supporters sought to tie Lange to what Braley called “the Romney-Ryan-Lange proposal” for Medicare and Social Security. That’s a reference to the voucher-based coverage espoused by Republican Mitt Romney’s running mate, Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan.

“It would end Medicare as we know it,” said Jan Laue of Urbandale, Iowa president of the Alliance for Retired Americans.  “I think we can all agree it would be a very different program under Romney-Ryan. It’s going to replace the guaranteed benefit we have, and it’s going to force seniors to go onto the open market.”

Rockwell Collins retiree Norm Sterzenbach said his Medicare benefits are “very similar to my Cadillac plan at Rockwell” and doubted he’d get the same benefits on the private market.

“I’m not so sure they’d be willing to pay the benefits I’ve been accustomed to,” said Sterzenbach, 66, of Cedar Rapids, who spoke before Braley.

“We need to live up to our commitment,” said Braley. “I’m asking (voters) to listen to the choice that I’m offering them.”

Braley said the changes under the Affordable Care Act – both he and the Lange supporters call it “Obamacare” – will help ensure Medicare’s finances.

“We did that when we passed Obamacare because we increased its solvency by 12 years,” Braley said, adding seniors won’t find cheaper coverage from private insurors. “That should be a good thing that people celebrate. Instead, people are making up lies about Medicare benefits being reduced.”

Lange’s keyed his attack on Braley’s support for the ACA to the law’s the provision reducing Medicare spending $761 billion over 10 years.

The reductions, about 1.3 percent a year, come from reduced payments to insurors and providers, mostly hospitals. Braley said other sections of the ACA will encourage more efficient services.

“We included provisions that make sure we’re going to pay for quality, not quantity,” said Braley, including “new ideas from the health care profession. Many of the health care systems here in Iowa are moving in this direction now, because they see it as the way of the future.”

Braley sharply disagreed with the premise of Blake Behler’s question when Behler, 27, asked why he’d “gut” Medicare.

“You are totally misrepresenting what I said,” Braley said. “Can you name one senior who’s had their Medicare benefits reduced since Obamacare was passed? What happened was, some of the key players who drive up the cost of Medicare premiums came to the negotiating table with us, sat down and made compromises in what they’d accept for payment, and that’s where that cost savings was realized.”

“I just wanted to see what Congressman Braley had to say,” said Lange supporter Bob Klaus, who said he got a call from Lange’s campaign alerting him to Braley’s event.

Klaus, 64, of Cedar Rapids, said “I’m not that educated on it to really speak to” Lange’s Medicare plan, but “Obamacare, I’m totally against.”

A press release issued today by Lange’s office doesn’t specify what the challenger would do about Medicare, only that it can be “saved if the American people fire the Washington politicians and hire real leaders willing to work together to preserve, protect, and strengthen Medicare by giving future seniors more options, more choices, and more control over their health care.”

Iowa's Christian Ballard answers questions at an Insight Bowl press conference at the JW Marriott Camelback Inn Resort & Spa in Scottsdale, Arizona on Sunday, December 26, 2010. (Cliff Jette/Sourcemedia Group News)

Iowa defensive lineman Christian Ballard was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in the fourth round (106 overall) on Saturday at the NFL draft.

Ballard, who stands 6-foot-4 and weighs 298 pounds, started his last 39 games at Iowa and played in 49 games. He  issues considered one of the most versatile defensive linemen in the draft and able to play either defensive tackle or defensive end in the 4-3 or defensive end in a 3-4 defense.

Minnesota’s solid defensive line may have two defections this year. Defensive end Ray Edwards likely will leave via free agency. Defensive tackle Pat Williams could retire this year. That could allow Ballard to challenge at either spot.

“Christian Ballard, with the concerns at tackle, also the concerns at end, where does he fit?” NFL Network analyst Charles Davis asked. “That’s my quesiton about Christian Ballard.

“He’s probably going to play inside also he’s got edge abilities outside,” NFL Network draft analyst Mike Mayock said. “Let me tell you one thing about Christian Ballard: he had second-round grades from the entire league. The reason he slid was for a recent off-the-field issue. That’s why the slide.”

Ballard was considered either a late first-round or early second-round pick. But he may have slipped in the draft because of a report this week that he failed a drug at the NFL Scouting Combine in February.

Ballard started 21 games at left defensive end and 18 games at defensive tackle. Ballard split his team at both positions last season, starting eight at defensive end and five at tackle.

“He’s a total player,” Vikings defensive coordinator Fred Pagac said on the team’s Website. “He comes from a program that plays good defense and produces a lot of NFL players and we’re excited about getting him.”

Ballard finished his career with with 21.5 tackles for loss, 12 sacks and 153 tackles. Ballard was an honorable mention all-Big Ten defensive lineman last season.

HERE’S BALLARD’S TRANSCRIPT

Vikings Fourth-Round Pick Christian Ballard

Q: Were the Vikings one of the teams you thought would pick you?

A: I thought that was a possibility. You never know when you’re going to get taken, but I’m proud to be a Viking. I was honored, and I can’t wait to get to work.

Q: Did you have much contact with the Vikings before the draft?

A: I talked to them down at the Senior Bowl and talked to them a little at the combine. We knew that was going to be a pretty good pick (of a team).

Q: You played both defensive end and defensive tackle in college, which do you see as your more natural position?

A: Right now I think they want me at defensive tackle, and I’m just willing to play wherever they need me to play. Just playing both (positions) will give me the opportunity so that I can really take my game to the next level. Wherever they put me at is where I’ll (be).

Q: Are you disappointed that you dropped to the fourth round, or is this where you expected to go?

A: I just was waiting to get the opportunity, to get a phone call. I probably would have liked to go a little higher, but that’s okay. I’m with a great program with a great coach, and I just thank them for picking me up. And I’m just ready to get to work.

Q: There were reports that you failed a drug test at the combine, do you think that caused you to slide in the draft?

A: I’m not really sure what caused that. I’ve made mistakes in the past, but I’m going to look to the future. I’m a Viking now. Whatever happened in the past is behind me. Now all that’s on my mind right now is trying to make the Vikings a Super Bowl team.

Q: Were those reports accurate, that you tested positive for marijuana at the combine?

A: That’s confidential. I’m just not willing to speak on that right now.

Q: Was that something that teams did ask you about that when you were at the combine?

A: Once again, that is a confidential matter, I don’t really want to speak about it.

Q: Have you looked at the Vikings situation at defensive tackle with Pat Williams possibly leaving via free agency and Kevin Williams possibly facing a four-game suspension?

A: I just got picked up by them, and I’m trying to take the phone calls and trying to figure out what I’m doing right now, so not really. Wherever it is I still got to earn a spot; I got to get better every day.  I’m going to get up there, work, learn from the veterans. Fortunately, Chad Greenway is from Iowa, so I can learn from him and be the best I can be.

Q: With the uncertainty of the lockout, how are you approaching these next few days? Do you know when you will be in Minnesota?

A: I have no idea. The only thing I can control is what I do. That’s just working out, making sure I’m in the best shape of my life before I get up there. I know that the team is counting on me, so I just have to do what I need to do so I can play and help the team out.

Q: Your uncle is a musician, can you talk more about that?

A: My great uncle is Hank Ballard, a musician. He wrote ‘The Twist.’ Hank Ballard and the Midnighters; I know a lot of older people have probably heard of him. That’s something our family really takes pride in and we still try to carry that on.

Q: Do you have a musical background?

A: I play the cello and the bass, I do a little bit of the music and arts, so that part of my family definitely got passed down to me.

Q: How did you get started playing those instruments?

A: My mother actually put me on to the cello, and I was kind of just a natural at it. I’ve really loved it ever since. I stopped of course when I was in college because I was playing football, but it still was a hobby that I want to continue.

Q: He passed away in 2003, correct?

A: Yes, sir.

Q: Did you get the opportunity to get to know your uncle before then?

A: I met him a couple times. One time at my grandfather’s funeral and he sent us a couple tapes of his music. He kept in touch as much as he could. I knew him well but of course everyone wants to spend more time with their loved ones but it just happened that he passed and he was a great guy.

Q: What do you see as the as the parts of your game that you need to work on to be effective at the next level?

A: Probably just keeping my pad level down and work with my hands a little more. It’s really not just one part of my game. I can get better at every part of my game and that’s what I’m going to try to do but definitely my pad level and improve my awareness and all that stuff is just going to come with the coaching staff they have with the Vikings. It’s going to be easy. I’m excited to get there.

Q: You played half the season at end and half the season at tackle correct?

A: Yes, sir.

Q: Did you move inside because of need or because they felt that was a better spot for you?

A: I moved inside because that’s what the team needed. They wanted me to play both so I played both. It’s just kind of a thing that I’ve done, always helping the team out and they put me in a great position that I could excel at either one. I’m definitely grateful for that and I have to thank the Iowa coaching staff for that. I’m just excited to go.

Q: What’s the strength of your game right now?

A: Probably my athleticism. I never played defensive line prior to college and the coaches put me in a position so I could succeed in the Big Ten.  My fundamentals are good and I have a good base and I excel in that but I definitely think my athletic ability has definitely helped me out and I’m just looking to refine my techniques.

Q: What position did you play before you got converted?

A: Tight end.

Q: Is that what you were recruited as?

David Korducki, a selection committee member for Florida Citrus Sports, said the Hawkeyes need to beat Minnesota next week and have a loss by either Michigan State, Ohio State or Wisconsin just to get into the conversation. The bowl cannot select a Big Ten team that has two conference losses more than an available team, according to its contract. Overall record does not have any bearing on the selection.

“They’re still a viable candidate, but a handful of things would have to happen,” said Korducki. “Right now if there is three 11-1 teams — that’s one scenario that could happen — there’s not even a choice that could be made. It would have to be an 11-1 team.

“If next week Ohio State, Michigan State or Wisconsin loses to go to two losses, conference losses, then it is still something that’s an option. At this juncture, certain things have to happen, and it’s not in their control entirely.”

Iowa (7-4, 4-3 Big Ten) also remains in play for the Outback Bowl, but it’s a competitive market. Three other Big Ten teams — Michigan, Penn State, Northwestern — also have seven wins. Any of those teams are available to the Outback Bowl.

“Next week, obviously you’ve got all of these teams that are 7-4 so you look at their overall body of work,” said Outback Bowl Chairman Mitch Schriber. “You look at how they did in the conference. This is our 25th game; this is a big game for us. We’ve had a great relationship with the Big Ten for so many years, we’ve had all of these teams in here. We’re going to be pleased with whatever team we take.”

Iowa has finished three seasons in the Outback Bowl three times under Coach Kirk Ferentz — 2003, 2006 and 2008.
The next bowls in the Big Ten lineup are the Gator, followed by the Insight this year.

Michigan's Zack Novak gives up a basket to Eric May of Iowa during second-half action in the Big Ten Men's basketball tournament at Conseco Field House in Indianapolis, Indiana, Thursday, March 11, 2010. Michigan won 59-52. (Kirthmon F. Dozier/Detroit Free Press/MCT)

IOWA CITY — Iowa fans get to see Fran McCaffery’s up-tempo style of play up close on Sunday in the team’s exhibition against Illinois-Springfield. But don’t expect 150 points or perfection, either.

“It’s going to be fast-paced,” Iowa sophomore forward Eric May said. “Hopefully there will be some alley-oops. But it’s not going to be a Harlem Globetrotters just throwing the ball around. It’s going to be a focused, fast-break type offense. If you don’t get it in the original fast break, then it’s going to be a lot of movement.”

McCaffery coached Siena to three straight NCAA Tournament berths before replacing Todd Lickliter as Iowa’s coach in March. He changed Iowa’s offense from a half-court set to up-tempo. But his goals start with competing, defending, rebounding and taking care of the ball on Sunday.

“We don’t want to play so fast that we’re turning the ball over and driving into packs of people and making poor decisions,” McCaffery said. “I think that will be a true test. Everyone is going to want to come out flying. Crowd wants to see it. I’ve been talking about it.

“But, you know, you can run yourself right into a butt kicking if you don’t know how to play fast. That’s been the hardest thing I think for us in the first couple weeks, is sometimes you go fast to probe the defense, then you pull it back. There’s nothing there. Now we grind it.”

Iowa will miss possibly two starters because of injury. Junior guard Matt Gatens is out after tearing a tendon in his left, non-shooting hand last week. He’s wearing a cast. Senior post Jarryd Cole is questionable with a left-foot injury.

The Hawkeyes will feature multiple looks and players in the exhibition (Time: 3:35 p.m., TV: Mediacom; Webstream: www.bigtennetwork.com; Cost:$5 adults, free children and students) but boasts an inexperienced starting lineup. Sophomore point guard Cully Payne will start alongside junior transfer Bryce Cartwright, who will replace Gatens. May, freshman Zach McCabe and freshman Melsahn Basabe are slated to start in the front-court. Junior posts Devon Archie and Andrew Brommer and freshman guard Devyn Marble will see plenty of time. Walk-ons Jordan Stoermer, Cody Cox, T.J. Sayre, Branden Stubbs and D.J. Stoke also could see the court.

With a new coach, new players and a new scheme, McCaffery isn’t quite sure what he’ll show on Sunday.

“Last year’s team (at Siena), we wouldn’t show anything,” McCaffery said. “With three seniors, two juniors, we had everything in, wouldn’t show anything to anybody, so anybody would look at us on tape. But we only have about half in, what we need in, because it’s taking a little bit longer. Part of me doesn’t want to show things, but part of me knows we got to get things ready in order to win the following Sunday in a game that counts.”

Comments: (515) 243-7220; rod.boshart@gazcomm.com

The first-term Democrat also pledged support for moving Iowa toward universal preschool, raising graduation rates for minority students, eliminating the so-called “achievement gap” by improving curriculum, programs and instruction, boosting professional development, and emphasizing money management for Iowa students.

“I want to see Iowa at the top of every list of states that are doing things right in education,” the governor said.

To that end, Culver told the School Administrators of Iowa and later the Iowa State Education Association he pledged a commitment of 4 percent in “allowable growth” funding for the fiscal year that begins July 1, 2011. He estimated the price tag would range between $300 million and $400 million.

“I think that we have to do all we can to make sure that we make the investment in our students, in our schools, and in our teachers across this state,” Culver told more than 500 SAI leaders at a downtown conference. “I believe as the economy continues to improve, we will be in a position to do that. It’s all about priorities and, when it comes to education, that will continue to be at the very top of my list.”

A 4 percent increase in fiscal 2012 likely would total about a $340 million investment for fiscal 2012 if previous state aid shortfall was “backfilled” and one-time federal stimulus funds were replaced with state money, according to Legislative Services Agency estimates. Each 1 percent in “allowable growth” funding represents about $30 million.

Currently, per-pupil funding to Iowa’s 361 K-12 school districts stands at $5,883, according to Shawn Snyder, who tracks K-12 education funding issues for the Legislative Services Agency. Increasing that investment by 4 percent in fiscal 2012 would raise that figure by $235 — a $6,118 cost for each student attending elementary and secondary public schools.

Culver said he believed the state could afford to make that level of investment in education because Iowa economy is showing signs of rebound, employers are beginning to hire again, new businesses are locating here, and Iowa scores high among national gauges of economic recovery and vitality.

“We have weathered the storm,” he said. “Iowa is back. We’re growing again.”

However, Jeff Boeyink, manager of the Gov. Branstad 2010 campaign, was unconvinced by what he considered to be “hollow promises” by a candidate trying to curry favor from educators.

“Gov. Culver has broken too many of his educational promises to be trusted to get it right the next four years,” he said in a statement.

The goal of Branstad, who served as Iowa’s governor from 1983 to 1999, is to again make Iowa’s education system the best in the country and he plans to unveil his agenda in the coming weeks for achieving that ambitious goal, Boeyink added.

“Gov. Culver has failed to keep his many educational promises to teachers, students and parents, and today again offered more of the same,” Boeyink said. “He has failed teachers with his slashing of school budgets and the significant teacher layoffs that has caused across the state. He has failed school boards with a Race to the Top effort that didn’t bring a single dollar of additional resources for our schools but still shackles local districts with more regulations. And, Gov. Culver has failed parents by signing legislation that means parents will be receiving less information about the performance of their children and their children’s schools.”

Along with increasing K-12 funding, Culver said he also wants to:

• Encourage Iowa high school students to prepare for college by having the state pay for Advanced Placement test fees.
• Expand a voluntary, statewide preschool initiative in every district, so that all 4-year-olds have access to the program.
• Raise the overall graduation rate, and close the graduation rate gap among minority students and those in poverty.
• Help students achieve measurable improvement on test scores each year.
• Make financial literacy a part of Iowa Core Standards.

Comments: (515) 243-7220; rod.boshart@gazcomm.com

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Rep. Kraig Paulsen

Gov. Chet Culver

Paulsen, who represents northern and western Linn County, said Leopold’s objections could scuttle plans for a $10 billion Hyperion Energy Center being constructed in southeast South Dakota – across the border from northwest Iowa where hundreds of jobs were lost when the John Morrell meatpacking plant closed.

The plant is projected to create 10,000 construction jobs, 1,800 permanent jobs and 5,400 spin-off jobs all ranging from $20 to $30 dollars per hour, Paulsen said.

“Last year Gov. Culver let Leopold spend his time killing the Alliant plant proposal in Marshalltown, a proposal that would have created thousands of jobs,” Paulsen said. “This year he seems to have his sights set on killing several thousand more jobs for Iowa.

“I’m calling on the governor to order Leopold to stand down and stop preventing new jobs for Iowans,” he said.

Culver, however, said it’s Paulsen and Republicans who are blocking job creation by opposing his $875 million I-JOBS program that has created slightly more than 7,000 jobs.

“We just wish Rep. Paulsen was as concerned with job creation in Iowa and his own legislative district as he is with job creation in South Dakota,” Culver said.

It’s Leopold who is “helping us protect the environment and create jobs with dozens of water quality projects” through I-JOBS, Culver said.

The governor also said the Marshalltown power plant was approved by the state, but it was Alliant’s decision not to build. Alliant decided not to build due to “economic conditions, uncertainly regarding future regulatory and legislative treatment of environmental issues,” according to an Alliant spokesman.

The company said the rate restrictions imposed by the state “present a number of challenges in today’s financial climate, and we are disappointed that this decision seemingly does not take that reality into account,” Tom Aller, president of Alliant’s Interstate Power & Light utility, said at the time.

The Hyperion plant has received federal permits in accordance with the Clean Air Act as well as South Dakota’s own Department of Environment and Natural Resources. However, Leopold has thrown up roadblocks for the Hyperion plant in the form of letters and threats of lawsuits.

Terry Rich

Later this month, the Lottery will take bids on a new computer system that will allow players to check their tickets at automated kiosks in retail stores as July 1, 2011, Rich said Tuesday (Aug. 3).

He also expects the Lottery to attract younger, tech-savvy players by delivering games electronically, including games played on Smartphones.

There are security issues preventing that now, but Rich expects technology soon will be available to allay those concerns. The games would require technology to verify players verify they are at least 21 and a GPS feature to verify they are in Iowa.

“Millennials need more interactive games, games with more play action,” Rich said, referring to the so-called Millennial Generation of people born in the 1980s to the 1990s.

Iowa law precludes using credit cards to play Lottery games, but it’s possible players could set up debit card accounts with retailers to enable them to play. PayPal accounts would be another option.

Games delivered electronically also would be greener, Rich said. because they wouldn’t involve paper tickets. The Lottery sold $256 million tickets last year. Not all were $1 plays, so the Lottery estimates it used as much as 150 million pieces of paper.

“That’s a huge amount of paper,” Lottery spokeswoman Mary Neubauer said.

Culver’s office issued a news release Tuesday trumpeting the fact that Iowa placed second lowest nationally in per-capita state debt in a new report from Moody’s Investors Service. Moody’s noted that Iowa’s public debt equated to $73 per person for money borrowed to fund infrastructure needs while nationally the per-capita average was $936.

“We are weathering the economic downturn and natural disasters of the last few years extremely well when it comes to government debt in Iowa,” Culver said in a statement. “Even after bonding for desperately needed infrastructure investments through I-JOBS, we maintain one of the lowest debts among states – a testament to our very careful and cautious budgeting and spending practices in this state.”

Jeff Boeyink, manager of Branstad’s 2010 gubernatorial campaign, said the report gave a “significantly distorted view” of Iowa’s debt situation because it pre-dated legislative passage of a public infrastructure plan Culver proposed that will boost Iowa’s debt by $1.7 billion over the life of the bonds once full implemented – a long-term borrowing that would equate to more than $500 per Iowan for a state with roughly 3 million people.

“Just like he tries to mask his big spending increases in the state budget by not counting the use of one-time revenue sources and the use of reserve funds, Gov. Culver is happy to use this sleight of hand in reporting Iowa’s debt burden to further deceive Iowans about the true cost of his massive borrow-and-spend programs,” Boeyink said.

House Republican Leader Kraig Paulsen of Hiawatha said he was disappointed that Culver and his staff would attempt to mislead Iowans by highlighting Iowa’s low-debt standing in fiscal 2009 comparisons based on a public debt of about $219 million that did not reflect the $600 million in borrowing that took place last summer in the first round of the overall $875 million I-JOBS program. He said they were either intentionally trying to mislead Iowans or didn’t understand the numbers, something he found to be disturbing whichever was the case.

Senate GOP Leader Paul McKinley of Chariton said Culver was demonstrating how out of touch he was with economic realities by touting an outdated and incomplete analysis, adding the “campaign-style charade is exactly why Iowans do not trust Gov. Culver’s I-JOBS numbers (and) they do not trust his budget numbers.”

State Treasurer Mike Fitzgerald, a Democrat seeking re-election to an eighth term, said even with the I-JOBS borrowing included Iowa would rank 44^th among U.S. states for per-capita public debt if none of the other states took on more debt, which has not been the case given the financial pressures facing many state governments.

“The Republicans are trying to say, hey, wait a minute, we’re going into debt and that’s irresponsible,” Fitzgerald said. “But yet, Branstad went into debt, too. He borrowed for the fiber-optics network. He did cash-flow borrowings just to pay our bills on time, he borrowed for the underground storage tanks and he borrowed for some prisons around the state.”

The state treasurer said Iowa continues to be a low-debt state and currently has the top bond rating of Aaa, which makes it an ideal time for the state to borrow to make infrastructure upgrade and disaster recovery repairs given that interest rates are low. He noted that the bonds are being repaid at $43 million a year from gambling profits to the state, not tax money.

Comments: (515) 243-7220; rod.boshart@gazcomm.com

“We have the full spectrum, Delaware County Assessor Jodi Cahalan said Monday Aug. 2). She described the 830 homes in the Lake Delhi tax district that are taxed an additional $4 per $1,000 assessed valuation as a “real mixed bag.”

There are 103 homes on the lake with assessed valuations of more than $250,000 – six valued at more than $500,000, Cahalan said. Of course, that was before flooding July 24 damaged or destroyed about half of the 830 homes in the tax district.

After more than 15 inches of rain fell across the Maquoketa River watershed, floodwater overflowed the banks and overtopped an 88-year-old dam washing away about 200 feet of the earth-over-concrete portion. The concrete dam remains intact, according to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, but the nine-mile lake on the Maquoketa River drained away once the privately-owned and operated dam was breached.

At the other end of the spectrum, Cahalan said there are 106 homes with assessed valuations of less than $25,000. Fifty of those homes sit on land the homeowners do not own, she said.

Many of those homes are manufactured homes, including older home – “What we used to refer to as mobile homes,” she said.

Cahalan also offered a disclaimer on the more pricey homes. None of the homes are valued at more than $600,000 because she has nothing to compare them against. Assessed valuations are 100 percent of the market value, she said, and the highest sale price paid for Delaware County residential home has been $525,000.

The assessed valuation of the tax district — $122,160,800 – is about 8.5 percent of the county’s total assessed valuation of $1,423,165,400, according to Cahalan.

About 200 of the Lake Delhi homeowners claim a homestead exemption, according to the Auditor’s Office. That suggests those homes are primary residences. The rest are likely vacation homes that don’t qualify for the property tax credit.

“It’s been a lot of work,” said Steve Larson, a former state deputy treasurer who found out shortly after taking his new assignment that his division was being fingered by state auditors for allegedly spending thousands of state dollars on artwork, bicycles and other products as well as bypassing bidding procedures in upgrading and remodeling facilities at its Ankeny headquarters.

“In 90 days, we’ve moved pretty quickly,” Larson said in describing new safeguards, increased accountability and transparency measures, and a staff overhaul that’s taken place since Gov. Chet Culver named him to succeed Lynn Walding as ABD administrator effective May 1. “We have a lot more to do in the next 60 days and after that, we’ll be there.”
Larson said he wants to hire a compliance officer, get the division’s commission better information and more involved in oversight, and “find a new home” for more than $23,000 in artwork and several multi-speed bikes that are among the vestiges of the previous administration.

Tonya Dusold, the division’s communications’ director, also said the agency wants to implement a whistleblower procedure so staff members have someplace to go other than the administrator if they detect a potential problem, institute a records management policy and provide procurement training to make sure personnel at the division — which regulates the distribution and sale of alcohol in Iowa — is following the law and meeting accountability and transparency standards.

The audit findings by State Auditor David Vaudt’s Office were not discussed during Monday’s commission meeting, but Larson said the proposed changes would be discussed as part of the two-day strategic planning process scheduled to conclude Tuesday at the Honey Creek Resort.

Some of the questionable purchases by the agency identified in the audit report included a camper, an industrial strength dishwasher for the employee break room, high-definition televisions, the bicycles and artwork. The audit report covers fiscal year 2008 and other times when former administrator Lynn Walding oversaw the agency.

The audit also found the agency could not document it used a competitive bidding process for some of its vendors — mostly on electronics, remodeling projects or other work on the agency’s building. Agencies are required to use a competitive bidding process when the estimate annual value of a service contract is $50,000 or more. A separate examination by the state Department of Management determined the division improperly accumulated $7.5 million in an agency fund and requested the money be transferred to the state’s general fund, which the division did.

In addition, the audit questioned the rapid promotion and pay increases of employee Nicole Watson-Gehl, an administrative intern with an annual salary of $27,248 in 2000 who, by 2008, was an operations manager within the division making $89,710 per year. Larson said Monday he could not discuss personnel matters but noted that he reorganized the staff since May and that Watson-Gehl is no longer with the division.

Culver aides have indicated the governor requested the Department of Management’s internal review when his office learned of concerns about the division in August 2008. The department’s findings were turned over to the Iowa Attorney General’s Office, which found there was not a sufficient legal basis for Walding’s termination, according to the governor’s office.

The governor did not reappoint Walding earlier this year when his term expired, replacing him with Larson instead.

Larson said the first he became aware of the issues pertaining to the Alcoholic Beverages Division was when he received the draft audit report on May 10.

Commission chairwoman Mary Hunter of Clive said she was “oblivious” to the concerns raised in the state audit until details came to light after Culver decided to change administrators. Commissioners said the division was operating under a special charter status, but agency officials said that still required the administrator to follow procurement and bidding procedures, provide the reasoning for major purchases and remodeling projects, and back that up with documentation.

Commissioner Jim Clayton of rural Iowa City said the commission’s role to date has been one of policy making, not overseers of the agency budget or day-to-day operations. He did note that the state’s warehouse “was a rat trap” in 1998 when he began his commission work, but now it is a “state-of-the-art” operation with energy efficient facilities that represent a vast improvement.

Comments: (515) 243-7220; rod.boshart@gazcomm.com

Sen. Kim Reynolds, candidate for lieutenant governor, will be attending.

The event is free event to all interested voters. Refreshments will be served. Yard Signs and campaign information will be available.

Due to construction, the GOP recommends approaching on 5th Street from the west. The headquarters is across from Golfzilla and south of Burger King. Turn north from 5th Street and park behind the building, on the Burger King side. See the map at http://www.mapquest.com/mq/8-fTwhwbjB.

Bill Northey

Iowa is a national leader in the number of farmers markets with more than 220 markets registered with the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship.

The market is at the corner of Collins Road and Council Street NE.

The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship has an online directory of Farmers Markets that Iowans can use to locate a market near them.  The directory can be found on the Department’s website at www.IowaAgriculture.gov and then click on the “Find Iowa Products” on the top right of the page.  Then they can click on the “Farmers Market Directory” link to search for markets by name, city or county.

Former Gov. Terry Branstad picked up the endorsement of a leading Iowa employers’ group Monday (Aug. 2) despite Gov. Chet Culver’s efforts to revive the state’s sagging economy.

Gov. Terry Branstad

The Iowa Association of Business and Industry’s (ABI) Political Action Committee endorsed Branstad, a Republican who served four terms between 1983 and 1999 saying Iowa needs a change in direction and a change in leadership.

“We need a new leader with experience in dealing with tough times. Someone who isn’t afraid to make tough choices,” said ABI board chairwoman Sarah McDonald Hasken of Dubuque. “We’ve found that in Terry Branstad.”

The PAC represents 1,400 businesses that employ more than 300,000 Iowans.

Branstad, who served as president of Des Moines University after leaving the governor’s office, is challenging Culver, a first-term Democrat who, according to his campaign spokesman, has been an asset to Iowa businesses.

“Gov. Culver has done a lot for business in Iowa. He’s made it a priority to recruit new businesses here, like GoDaddy and Microsoft,” said spokeswoman Ali Glisson. “Others, like John Deere and Pioneer, have been making new hires here in Iowa. Eagle Manufacturing in Fort Dodge expects to hire 300 Iowans under their new contract with the EnVision Motor Company.”

Business leaders also support Culver’s initiatives like preschool and I-JOBS investments in infrastructure, she said.

However, in today’s tough economy Iowa businesses have had to do more with less, said Kirk Tyler, chair of Iowa Industry PAC.

“When revenues tightened, we didn’t spend more than we took in,” he said. “We’ve had to think of new ways to deliver quality service at a lower cost. At the same time, we haven’t seen the same kind of leadership for our state during these tough times. We need Terry Branstad as governor.”

However, Glisson said the state budget is smaller today than when Culver took office.

“It’s been balanced every single day and Governor Culver’s done it all without raising taxes on everyday Iowans,” she said. “Branstad kept two sets of books though, and ran massive budget deficits while hiding the truth from Iowans. The contrast of the two candidates’ records is clear.

McDonald Hasken said ABI members don’t believe that our state is on the right track.

“Instead of facing tough challenges, our state’s has borrowed millions of dollars and pushed problems down to future generations,” she said. “Instead of providing leadership in making Iowa a better place for employers to grow, our state has considered job-killing policies that effectively take Iowa out-of-the-running for economic development.”

Branstad welcomed the endorsement and promised to be a “pro-business, pro-growth governor who will reduce taxes and not increase debt.”

“I believe Iowa’s best days lie ahead, but only if we have the resolve and the will to fix the state’s budget, make government more efficient, and work day-in and day-out to encourage job creation,” he said.

For more on Branstad, visit www.GovernorBranstad2010.com.

For more on Culver, visit www.ChetCulver.com.

Last month’s 3.8 percent increase in personal income tax receipts was offset by a 7.2 percent dive in sales and use tax collections, but LSA fiscal analysts said that decline could have been affected by calendar issues given that July 31 fell on a weekend while the month of July ended on a Friday during the last fiscal year.

Corporate income tax receipts increased by $11.5 million last month but LSA experts caution that normally it takes a quarter’s worth of data to begin to chart reliable trend lines for a new 12-month fiscal period. Likewise, several other tax categories posted double-digit swings both upward and downward in fiscal 2011’s opening month.

Gross state receipts finished the month up slightly but ended at a negative six-tenths of 1 percent when tax refunds and school infrastructure proceeds were factored into the overall monthly total. The state Revenue Estimating Conference have forecast a 2.4 percent decline in state tax collections for fiscal 2011 after a dismal showing last fiscal year when net receipts totaled nearly $5.49 billion – compared to $5.739 billion in fiscal 2009 and $6.059 billion in fiscal 2008.

Comments: (515) 243-7220; rod.boshart@gazcomm.com

Dennis Albaugh if Ankeny is hosting the reception.

The NRCC is hoping to elect at least 39 new Republicans to gain control of the House.

RSVP to Alex at (202) 479-7056 or alawhon@nrcc.org.

Kaine will attend other Democratic events in the area, she added.

“I honor our court’s decision,” Culver told nearly 300 participants at a downtown rally organized by One Iowa, the state’s largest gay-lesbian advocacy group. “We do not support amending the state’s constitution to add a provision which our state’s highest court has said is unlawful and discriminatory.”

The first lady stressed she was speaking for herself as a private citizen at Sunday’s event on a topic that she expected would be “a defining issue” in Iowa’s Nov. 2 general election. However, she urged the One Iowa “stand proud, vote proud” rally participants to “get energized” because “there are those out there who would move further and further to the right in order to appeal to the right-wing of their party” – a not-so-veiled reference to former Gov. Gov. Terry Branstad, the Republican challenging her husband, Democratic Gov. Chet Culver this November.

A short time earlier Sunday, Brian Brown, president of the National Organization for Marriage, made a stop outside the Iowa Capitol building as part of a nationwide tour to advocate for defining marriage as only between one man and one woman. He said he expected his group would contribute money to individual candidates and finance issue advertisements in support of giving Iowans a chance to vote on amending the Iowa constitution to restore traditional one-man, one-woman only marriage.

“We’re not just coming with words, we’re coming with action,” Brown told nearly 100 traditional marriage supporters who rallied at the state Capitol.

“Iowa is a key, key state in the fight for marriage,” he said. “We’re here activating and energizing supporters in Iowa to stand up and say enough is enough. The people should have a chance to vote.”

Danny Carroll, chairman of Iowa Family Policy Center ACTION, urged rally participants to vote for candidates for Iowa elective offices who will support giving the people a vote on a constitutional amendment on marriage and to vote against three Iowa Supreme Court justices who will be up for voter retention on the November ballot.

“We had a major shift in policy on marriage and you had no input whatsoever. You simply woke up one morning and you were told that this is the way it is going to be and that’s the way they’re treated it today,” he said.

Carroll said the marriage issue is not something that likely will be decided by one election.

“Whether or not we win this contest in November of this year or November 30 years from now, our job is not to prevail. This is not a contest where there are winners or losers,” he said. “Ladies and gentlemen, this is a test of your faith. Will you be found faithful and accountable to the creator of this universe or not.”

One Iowa executive director Carolyn Jenison said it was interesting that a New Jersey-based group would be spearheading a “reclaim Iowa project.” She noted that about 2,500 gay and lesbian couples have been married in Iowa since the Iowa Supreme Court’s unanimous April 2009 ruling and that Iowa voters have rejected attempts by “out-of-state extremist organizations (to) hijack our political process and demean our families.”

House Speaker Pat Murphy, D-Dubuque, said Iowa has a tradition as a progressive state in defending equality and civil rights of all Iowans and it is in that spirit that Democrats who control the Legislature have blocked attempts to write discrimination into the Constitution with an amendment defining marriage as only for unions involving one man and one woman.

“You need to hang onto this and fight for this,” Murphy told the One Iowa rally. “If they’re able to get discrimination in the constitution, it will be a long, hard fight to get it out.”

However, Brown countered that gay-rights’ special interests “bought and paid for” leaders of the Iowa Legislature and the real civil right at stake is the people’s right to vote on a policy decision made by seven unelected Supreme Court justices.

“Here in Iowa you’re being told you don’t have the right to vote. You’re being told you need to give up, go back home, the judges have made their decision and it’s a done deal,” he said. “We need to stand up for our civil rights.”

Comments: (515) 243-7220; rod.boshart@gazcomm.com

Gov. Tim Pawlenty

“I don’t want to be cute about 2012,” he said Aug. 1 on his third visit to the first-in-the-nation caucus state since the 2008 election. Pawlenty, who is considered a likely candidate for the GOP presidential nomination, made stops in Dubuque, Waverly and Cedar Rapids Aug. 1, and was scheduled to appear in West Liberty and Davenport Sunday to help candidates who share his ideas and values.

“We believe the country is in trouble. We need to advance a return to common sense,” the two-term governor said. “This isn’t so much about getting ready for 2012 as making sure that 2010 is successful for Republicans. If that goes well, then I’ll consider my options for 2012 sometime early next year.”

Pawlenty, 49, senses voters share his concern that President Obama’s “government-centric” approach to the economy “is not working and won’t work,” that government spending is growing too fast and that the president and Democrats who control Congress have used a “bait-and-switch” approach to force change, including health care reform.

He rejects the “Party of No” label pinned on Republicans, arguing that the GOP is articulating ideas on health care reform and other issues.

“It’s just that the president gets more attention because he is the president and has the bully pulpit,” Pawlenty said.

So Republicans have to present their ideas in bold and dramatic fashion “and that’s what the campaign is about,” Pawlenty said.

Using himself as an example, Pawlenty said Republicans can make positive change when they have the opportunity to lead.

“I’ve demonstrated you can be conservative in a very liberal place,” he said about his tenure as governor of a decidedly blue state. “I’ve made positive changes in Minnesota on a lot of the same issues the country is facing — government spending, education reform, entitlement reform, health care reform — a lot of things the country is going to facing and will be debating.”

He’s optimistic voters will give the GOP control of the U.S. House, giving them “a wonderful opportunity to put on display their ideas and agenda for a better future.”

“I don’t think it’s a mystery what Republicans stand for, but now we have a public re-embracing conservative values and those ideas,” he said. “That’s why I think it will go well this fall.”

And then he can think about 2012.

Roxanne Conlin

IOWA CITY – Roxanne Conlin is pretty sure she’s got the Democratic vote locked up in her race the retire Sen. Chuck Grassley.

Now she’s going after the independent voters – who outnumber both Democrats and Republicans in Iowa.

In Iowa City Friday night (July 30), the Des Moines Democrat said she thinks it possible to win over some Tea Party members because the issues she’s talking about affect them, too.

One of them, she said, is the $700 billion Wall Street bailout, which Grassley supported.

“Iowans have a really well-developed sense of right and wrong and fair and unfair,” Conlin said, “so the whole idea that Wall Street bankers would take our money to pay themselves obscene bonuses just drives people crazy on a basic, basic level.”

There are a whole series of issues – cutting the defense budget, letting tax breaks for the wealthy expire, and finding jobs for everyone that wants one, the lack of a national energy policy – that cut across party labels, Conlin said.

She thinks the independents and Tea Party members agree with her that the war in Afghanistan is not making the nation safer and has been a waste of treasurer and lives.

“We don’t belong in Afghanistan, with guns. We’re not solving anything, we’re creating problems,” she said.

Conlin reminded those in the audience, both those her age as well as those much younger, that this isn’t the first war she opposed.

“I opposed the Vietnam War. I marched for peace right on this street,” she said from the Prairie Lights Café which looks out on Dubuque Street,

Iowa Democratic Party Chairwoman Sue Dvorsky agrees with Conlin that despite what the polls said in June, they will move in Conlin’s favor when independent voters get engaged in the election in October.

Grassley has spent nearly five decades crafting a brand as an independent thinker, said Dvorsky, a Coralville teacher who took over the party’s top post in June. However his recent votes against Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan, against financial reform and against extending unemployment benefits “belie that persona,” Dvorsky said.

Dvorsky also believes that Conlin brings strengths to the race that will resonate with voters.

“Roxanne is the sort of person who steps into the fight and takes on the big players on behalf of regular people,” she said. “That’s not the chapter (Grassley) is in any more.”

And for those who believe the current polls that show Grassley with a double-digit lead, Dvorsky has two words” “Dave Loebsack.”

“Come on, we know that in Iowa you believe the conventional political wisdom at your own peril,” said.

Loebsack, a Cornell College professor, was a longshot challenger in 2006 who scored an upset victory over 15-term Republican Rep. Jim Leach in Iowa’s 2^nd District.

Two of them are in Iowa this weekend. Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty is making a series of fundraising appearances in Dubuque, Waverly, Cedar Rapids, and Davenport on behalf of legislative candidates.

Former New Mexico Gov. Gary Jonson has been bicycling across Iowa on Ragbrai over the past week and plans to spend part of Saturday at the Dubuque County Fair in the GOP booth. Although it’s his first visit, Johnson has spent more days in Iowa than any of the other 2012ers, based on candidate tracking by Democracy in Action.

After this weekend, Pawlenty will be tied with 2008 GOP caucus winner Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor and current Fox TV talk show host, and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum with four visits.

And he’ll be back.

Pawlenty is scheduled to be at the Iowa State Fair Aug. 11 and 12 and campaign for candidates for legislative and congressional candidates. He’s also scheduled to speak at the Hamilton County GOP dinner Oct. 20.

Santorum has visited four times and is scheduled to be back Aug. 16-18 on behalf of state and federal candidates. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich will return for a third visit Aug. 13 to raise women for female Republican candidates.

Huckabee hasn’t announced any plans to visit Iowa in the near future.

In the 2008 election cycle, Republican presidential hopefuls made 283 visits for 551 days. Democrats came 264 times and stayed 644 days.

Since the 2008 election, President Obama has been back to Iowa three times and Vice President Biden has been here twice.

Gov. Chet Culver scored 58 percent to former Gov. Terry Branstad’s 31 percent in the mock election conducted by the County Auditor’s Office. Roxanne Conlin topped Sen. Chuck Grassley 54 percent to 39 percent. A total of 496 people voted. Six years ago, Grassley received 51 percent of the votes.

However, down-ballot Democrats had more impressive margins. Attorney General Tom Miller took 70 percent of the vote to challenger Brenna Findley’s 30 percent. Incumbents Rep. Dave Loebsack and Treasurer Michael Fitzgerald also were over 60 percent as were Democratic challengers Jon Murphy and Francis Thicke.

Here are the complete results through July 29:

US Senate

• Roxanne Conlin, D, 54%
• Chuck Grassley, R, 39%
• John Heiderscheit, Libertarian, 15 3%
• Jim Hennager, Peace Party 4%

2^nd District

• Dave Loebsack, D, 63%
• Mariannette Miller-Meeks, R, 31%
• Gary Sicard, Libertarian, 3%
• Jon Tack, Constitution Party, 3%

Governor

• Chet Culver, D, 58%
• Terry Branstad, R, 31%
• Wendy Barth, Green, 6%
• Eric Cooper, Libertarian, 2%
• Rick Phillips, Constitution, 2%
• Jonathan Narcisse, no party, 1%

Secretary of State

• Michael Mauro, D, 59%
• Matt Schultz, R, 33%
• Jake Porter, Libertarian, 8%

Auditor

• Jon Murphy, D, 64%
• David Vaudt, R, 36%

Treasurer

• Michael Fitzgerald, D, 67%
• David Jamison, R, 33%

Secretary of Agriculture

• Francis Thicke, D, 61%
• Bill Northey, R, 39%

Attorney General

• Tom Miller, D, 70%
• Brenna Findley, R, 30%

State Constitutional Amendment - Sales Tax use

• Yes 60%
• No 40%

State Constitutional Convention

• Yes 36%
• No 64%

Aug. 5 –

1 p.m., Tama County legislative update, King Tower Restaurant, 1701 E. 5th St., Tama

3 p.m., tour Fiberight, a Blairstown biofuels plant, 2154 78th St., Blairstown

Aug. 6 –

8:30 a.m., Main Street America Tour of Belle Plaine, Belle Plaine City Hall, 1207 8th Ave.

11 a.m., North English Senior Center, 210 S. Main St., North English

Gov. Chet Culver

Gov. Chet Culver announced today that his administration is crafting a new state assistance program designed to provide help in areas of housing, small businesses and clean-up needs for communities in eastern Iowa that sustained losses due to recent flooding problems.

Culver said the new program, called Iowans Helping Iowans, is “named to reflect the core values of Iowans: We help our neighbors who are victimized by natural disasters, and don’t make them suffer alone.”

The new state effort will be designed to supplement federal individual assistance that will follow presidential disaster declarations for Iowa’s counties. Currently, damage assessments are being conducted by the federal government in flood-affected areas to determine which counties will qualify for federal individual assistance.

Culver said state officials await the federal government’s assessment of individual needs and the president’s decision regarding the eligibility of counties for federal individual assistance.

In anticipation that some Iowa counties will be proclaimed as eligible for federal individual assistance, the governor said he has directed various state agencies to finalize details of the Iowans Helping Iowans — a state-based assistance program that will be similar to the “Jumpstart” effort provided for individuals and businesses in communities that were affected by Iowa’s historic natural disaster in 2008.

Brett Mills, director of the state Department of Economic Development, Iowa Finance Authority Director Joe O’Hern, Dick Oshlo, head of the state Department of Management, have been designed to spearhead the “fast-track development” of the Iowans Helping Iowans program criteria and the application requirements within the next few weeks, Culver said.

Specific program details will be announced once federal officials have completed damage assessments and designated counties where residents will be eligible for federal individual assistance, he said.

The governor noted that joint federal, state and local teams are further assessing damages from recent storms that caused the failure of the Lake Delhi dam and he expected those assessments would be completed by next week.

Comments: (515) 243-7220; rod.boshart@gazcomm.com

Rep. Bruce Braley

The measure now goes to the Senate, which has passed a Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations bill out of committee. The full Senate has yet to vote on the measure.

Iowa 1^st District Rep. Bruce Braley offered the amendment after visiting Eastern Iowa communities devastated by record flooding last weekend.

The CDBG funds offer more flexible than other federal funding streams “and, hopefully, will provide critical assistance to homeowners and small businesses in the 1st District,” said Braley, a Waterloo Democrat.

Rep. Tom Latham, and Ames Republican, chairman of the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Subcommittee, spoke in support of Braley’s amendment during floor debate.

Braley’s amendment provides a $20 million increase in CDBG funding to assist communities in the Midwest affected by the flooding. It will be offset by decreasing funds for non-personnel expenses within the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The measure now goes to the Senate, which has passed a Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations bill out of committee. The full Senate has yet to vote on the measure.

Much ink, commentary and even billboard space recently has been devoted to the question of whether President Obama is a socialist.

Here is a take from David Rosenfeld, Social Workers Party candidate for governor in Iowa:

“I think Obama is a socialist of a certain type. You could call him a capitalist socialist, one that is putting forward certain social reforms, but in order to defend the interests of the capitalist system, in order to convince working people that they have a stake in it. But we don’t have a stake in it. We’re a socialist of an entirely different type. We’re of the working-class socialists, the revolutionary socialists and we have really nothing in common with Obama and with people of his ilk.”

“Working people in Iowa and around the country face a crisis of the capitalist system,” said David Rosenfeld, a 47-year-old tire factory worker in Des Moines who filed signed petition papers Thursday to be on the Nov. 2 general election ballot as a candidate for governor.

“We’re under attack in terms of the cutbacks in social services, in terms of long-term unemployment, the permanent state of war in this country, and unless working people begin to organize themselves as a movement that can exercise power as opposed to relying on politicians that represent the dictatorship of capital – those are Democrats and Republicans – we’re going to continue to get hammered in this crisis,” he said.

Unlike most political candidates, Helen Meyers, 65, an industrial worker and unionist from Des Moines who is running with Rosenfeld as his lieutenant governor, said SWP members are willing to take unambiguous stands on the issues.

“We are for full legalization of all immigrants now that are in this state and throughout the country. We stand four-square on the right for women to have an abortion. We think you can never have equality among women until women have a right to control their own bodies. We’re for a unionized state. The social services need to be expanded, not closed up,” she said. “We’re not just for a jobs program, we’re for a public works programs.”

Rosenfeld said he wants to build a labor party based on a powerful union movement that would demand millions of jobs producing housing, schools and levees, as well as the immediate withdrawal of all U.S. troops from Afghanistan and Iraq.

The gubernatorial hopeful conceded that his party won’t have access to large amounts of campaign contributions or resources at its disposal to muster a double-digit voter share, but he believes the four Socialist Workers Party candidates seeking Iowa offices this year are carrying a message that working-class organizations are weak and need to fight for their rights is and will generate a growing response.

“We want to organize all workers into unions, but we want those unions to be fighting organizations, militant organizations that champion the rights of all workers. Workers need to unify as opposed to being pitted against each other” with issues such as illegal immigration, he said.

“We don’t have any illusion that simply electing someone to office can solve these problems. We think a movement has to be built and our campaign is part of building such a movement in which working people can begin to fight in their own interests,” he added. “The problem we have right now is we’re given a choice between two parties – the Democrats and the Republicans – that represent the dictatorship of capital. What we want to do is build a movement that can actually replace that dictatorship with the rule of the working class.”

That would mean a new set of priorities, said Margaret Trowe, 62, a Des Moines unionist who worked in the meatpacking, apparel and rubber industries and seeks to be Iowa’s next agriculture secretary. For starters, she said Iowa’s tax system should be converted to a “steeply graduated” income tax that taxes the wealthiest citizens but not working-class Iowans. She said the state should fully recognize the equal rights of gays and lesbians and end any efforts to amend the Constitution or pass laws that would prevent them from getting married.

Rosenfeld said his state budget plans would halt cutbacks in social services and improve average Iowans’ living conditions.

“The priority would not be satisfying the interests of the bond holders and the billionaires,” he said. “The bond holders come last, the working people come first.”

Comments: (515) 243-7220; rod.boshart@gazcomm.com

More than half of the fiscal 2010 total paid for settlements and judgments that were approved by the State Appeal Board involved a $3.3 million medical malpractice case at the University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics and all but about $1.4 million of last year’s payout was under the regent universities’ heading.

The fiscal 2010 judgments included $450,000 paid to resolve two lawsuits stemming from the Legislature’s decision to end the Iowa Lottery’s TouchPlay video lottery enterprise in May 2006. At the height of the lottery program there were more than 6,700 devices in more than 3,000 locations statewide – mostly private businesses that entered into a partnership with the state lottery.

TouchPlay settlements were a major share of the record $23.5 million in judgments the state paid in fiscal 2008. The overall total dropped significantly to $2.55 million in fiscal 2009 before returning to more normal yearly figures in the 12-month period that ended June 30.

Joseph Barry, the state’s risk manager within the Iowa Department of Management, said he is working to borrow a concept from other states to devise a training “playbook” to help minimize risk within state agencies and wants to study whether the state should be more aggressive in challenging claims, although he noted state attorneys estimate the overall yearly settlements represents about 3-5 percent of the claims brought against state entities.

“I think we probably have a ways to go yet,” said State Auditor David Vaudt, a member of the three-person State Appeal Board. “I would like to see us be more proactive and try to prevent a lot of things that come before us. The ones that are especially frustrating to me are the lawsuits on harassment and some of those areas that we definitely should be able to eliminate with the right kind of training for people and the right kind of guidance.”

State Treasurer Mike Fitzgerald, another appeal board member, said he hoped the increased state focus on risk management would help curtail costs judgments and settlements, but he noted “you’re never going to know when a fraud like CIETC is going to happen or some legislative action like TouchPlay is going to happen that’s really going to throw the state into a tailspin.”

Fitzgerald, Vaudt and Barry conceded that the current fiscal year could pose a challenge because more than 2,000 senior state employees recently accepted incentives to retire early, taking a lot of institutional memory and years of experience out the door with them that could create some slack for the new people hired to fill some vacant posts or the remaining workers being asked to assume more duties.

“There are some costs with cutting back of state government. That’s part of it,” Fitzgerald said. “We lose some of the oversight, we lose the expertise. They’re the highest paid for a reason usually. You have to ask the rest of the staff and the new people to pick it up.”

State records indicated the 47 judgments paid last fiscal year included claims brought for medical negligence, personal injuries, discrimination based on age, race, sex and disability, harassment and retaliation, excessive force and a vehicle search by public safety officers, a wrongful death allegation, attorney fees, and a $75,000 repayment of misused funds in the CIETC scandal involving the payment of excessive salaries to leaders of a job-training program.

The $3.3 million settlement involved a child born with cerebral palsy whose parents alleged his condition was the result of negligence on the part of UI Hospital staff during labor – specifically the failure to perform a Caesarian section earlier in the labor process, according to state records.

In a separate medical negligence case, state officials agreed to pay $500,000 to settle a claim brought by the family of a woman who contracted Legionnaires’ disease at University Hospitals and died, according to state records. The family of Sandra Shank, 57, who died Sept. 3, 2006, at the Iowa City hospital, filed a lawsuit in 2008 alleging she died of Legionella pneumonia after she was exposed to Legionella bacteria as a patient at the hospital. The state denied liability in the 2006 death.

In another case involving University Hospitals, the state paid $250,000 to settle a claim brought by a Davenport couple that alleged negligence in the 1997 treatment of their daughter by surgeons in the process of repairing congenital heart defects. Brian and Beth Atkins alleged their daughter sustained severe multi-system injuries due to complications that arose when surgeons removed pacing wires from their daughter Alison’s heart.

Comments: (515) 243-7220; rod.boshart@gazcomm.com

Judgments/settlements paid by state government

Fiscal year       Payout

2010                 $ 6,592,158

2009                   2,552,812

2008                 23,530,913

2007                  6,741,962

2006                  6,221,012

2005                  8,526,313

2004                  8,252,713

2003                  4,231,783

2002                  4,146,646

2001                  2,920,520

2000                  2,163,541

Source: State Appeal Board

For more, visit www.GovernorBranstad2010.com.

Roxanne Conlin

IOWA CITY – Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Roxanne Conlin have a campaign fundraiser from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Friday (July 30) at Prairie Lights Café, 15 S. Dubuque St., Iowa City.

The suggested donation for this event is $25, but support at all levels is appreciated.

RSVP to alliepanther@gmail.com or bailey@avalon.net.

Their schedule:

9 a.m., Sue-Z-Q’s, 726 2nd Ave. SE, Cresco

11 a.m., Decorah City Hall, 400 Claiborne Dr.

2 p.m., Manchester Public Library, 304 N. Franklin

3:30 p.m., Independence Public Library, 805 1st St.

For more, visit www.GovernorBranstad2010.com.

Branstad is challenging Democrat Gov. Chet Culver.

The PAC represents 1,400 businesses that employ more than 300,000 Iowans.

The news conference will be a 9 a.m. Monday at Atlantic Bottling in Waukee.

For more, visit www.GovernorBranstad2010.com.

Brenna Findley

Findley, a Dexter attorney, is pushing a three-point plan of jobs, openness and transparency, and cleaning up scandals in state government.

Findley, 34 – the same age Attorney General Tom Miller when he was first elected three decades ago, acknowledges that jobs isn’t typically seen as part of the attorney general’s duties.

She can help by being a “problem-solving lawyer” on the state’s economic development team. Findley wants to improve the litigation climate “so companies don’t worry about being sued if the locate in Iowa.”

Secondly, she would use the attorney general’s authority to object to job-killing regulations.

“We haven’t heard (Miller) standing up for small businesses and jobs,” the former legal counsel to 5^th District Rep/ Steve King said.

Findley has a “big disagreement” with Miller’s opinion a couple of years ago that government offices may charge Iowans up to $40 an hour for the time it takes to respond to a public records request.

“Those are public records,” she said. “The taxpayers have already paid for them and are entitled to them.”

She agrees government should be able to charge for the actual copies, but said charging people for time it takes a government office to determine whether it should honor the request is not justified.

It’s unlikely, she said, time will be wasted complying with frivolous requests.

“Show me the problem,” Findley said. “It’s important to remember who we work for.”

Findley wants the attorney general’s office to be more aggressive in pursuing scandals in state government.

“I think people know it’s time to clean house in state government,” she said. “It seems like there’s a new (scandal) every week or month. I would investigate and hold people accountable. If we do that, not only will we bring those people to justice, it will also prevent future scandals.”

She realizes the attorney general contest is a down-ballot race, but is committed to a “shoe leather campaign” to get Iowans’ support.

“My best qualification is I’m a hard worker,” Findley said. “I take the farm ethic to the campaign trail – work hard.”

And, she adds, a Republican wave starting with the gubernatorial and U.S. Senate races wouldn’t hurt.

For more, visit www.findleyforiowa.com.

Murphy is on leave from his job as director of the Iowa Office for State-Federal Relations while he challenges Republican Auditor David Vaudt who is seeking a third term.

A top priority for the 39-year-old Des Moines native will be the creation of a centralized “online, checkbook level view of state government spending” to allow Iowans to see how their money is being spent, Murphy said during a July 28 stop in Cedar Rapids after a day of campaigning at the Johnson County Fair.

Iowans with that information will be empowered to lobby their elected officials to spend more or less or spend it on other priorities, Murphy said.

For example, Murphy, who has overseen Iowa’s implementation of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, would like to develop something similar to the “dashboard” feature on the www.recovery.iowa.gov website that allows Iowans to track where the state’s $2.4 billion of federal stimulus money is being spent.

Murphy, who has worked in Washington for U.S. Rep. Leonard Boswell and his alma mater, Iowa State University, before joining state government in 2007, criticized Vaudt for tunnel vision in his operation of the Auditor’s Office.

“I have a broader vision of what the office could be,” he said.

In addition to a user-friendly, centralized database monitoring state spending, Murphy wants to increase the use of performance audits of state programs. Of the more than 7,000 audits on Vaudt’s website, he said, 33 are performance audits.

“I want to make sure we are measuring results,” he said. “Given the state’s revenue drop, we have to be able to re-evaluate our priorities with real information.”

He’s also pledging to be less political than Vaudt, who is on a three-week campaign tour with Republican gubernatorial candidate, former Gov. Terry Branstad.

Murphy will not endorse state or local candidates because partisan political activity “takes away from any measure of impartiality.”

Finally, given the state’s current tight budget, every elected official “needs to bring more to the table,” Murphy said.

“Vaudt hasn’t brought us one step closer to solutions,” Murphy said. “He stands on the sidelines throwing darts.”

Murphy and his wife, Katherine Lefert, live in Des Moines with their 14-month-old son.

For more, visit www.murphyforiowa.com.

Investigators at the Iowa Department of Public Safety on Wednesday issued descriptions and photographs taken of two people caught on surveillance video at an Urbandale convenience store where “credit card activity” occurred involving items believed to have been taken when two vehicles were burglarized in a parking ramp located near the Iowa Capitol and the office building that houses the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship.

Authorities say the two people estimated to be aged in their mid to late 20s are believed to have information on the car burglary.

Descriptions for a white female with blond hair between 5-feet-6 and 5-feet-8 inches tall and weighing 120-130 pounds and a white male with short dark hair who is about 6-feet to 6-feet-2 inches tall and weighs 180-200 pounds were issued Wednesday with instructions for anyone with information about them or the car burglaries to call Polk County Crime Stoppers at 515-223-1400. Crime Stoppers will offer a reward up to $1,000 for information leading to the arrest of any involved parties, officials said.

Last week Iowa Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey reported a computer and protective case was stolen from a locked state vehicle of an IDALS employee – a theft that has placed at risk the personal information of Iowans that are participating in the department’s Horse and Dog Breeding Program. The department provides financial awards through the program to breeders of successful Iowa-born racing greyhounds and racehorses at the close of each racing season, he said.

The state vehicle used by an employee of the Department’s Horse and Dog Breeding Program was broken into Thursday at a state parking ramp located near the Iowa Capitol and the Wallace State Office Building that houses the agricultural department. While the computer did have an encryption protection, Northey said there was concern that unauthorized access could be gained to the names, addresses, telephone numbers and Social Security numbers of 3,404 Iowans who participate in the Iowa Horse and Dog Breeding Program.

Comments: (515) 243-7220; rod.boshart@gazcomm.com

CEDAR RAPIDS — Other than being poorly named, I-JOBS has been a success, according to state officials who released a 107-page report claiming the creation or retention of 7,079 jobs.

Gov. Chet Culver

Gov. Terry Branstad

The $875 million bonding program was “really about getting Cedar Rapids fixed” after flooding devastated the community in 2008,” Jim Flansburg, spokesman for Gov. Chet Culver said July 28. “It was about flood recovery and modernizing our infrastructure. Then, tangentially, it was about jobs.”

From the way it was designed and implemented “it was obvious it wasn’t about creating jobs,” according to Senate GOP Leader Paul McKinley, R-Chariton, who opposed I-JOBS.

I-JOBS, the state’s two-year bonding program has invested $705,355,935 in flood mitigation and infrastructure projects — nearly $100,000 per job, according to the report from Culver’s Department of Management.

According to the report, I-JOBS has:

• Created 1,688 projects so far in all 99 counties in the state (through June 30, 2010)
• Invested $705,355,935 toward flood mitigation and infrastructure projects, with more than half dedicated solely to recovery and mitigation.
• Leveraged, through local, state, federal and private funds, $610,585,794.
• To date, that means $1.32 billion of projects are either under way, committed or completed. For the month of June, I-JOBS has created or retained 7,079 jobs. That number doesn’t count indirect jobs created or retained, such as employees who make asphalt purchased for road projects) or induced jobs (such as a restaurant that benefits from a nearby I-JOBS project.

“Seven thousand jobs is very strong. That number will grow,” said Richard Oshlo, director of the department. However, he stops short of predicting it will ever reach the 30,000 jobs that Culver predicted when he was lobbying the Legislature for the funding.

“Iowans need more than a month of jobs,” said McKinley, who called I-JOBS the “difference between jobs and work.” Iowa should be investing in “sustainable, long-term, career-oriented jobs.”

Flansburg conceded many I-JOBS jobs are “temporary jobs, not long-term,” but are needed to shore up a severely depressed construction industry at a time when unemployment is at 6.8 percent in Iowa.

Plus, he said, big flood recovery projects, such as replacing Hancher Auditorium in Iowa City, part of a $100 million investment in replacing flood-damaged buildings at the University of Iowa, has yet to start.

Likewise, in Linn County, 55 projects will get $113 million in I-JOBS funds plus and additional investment of $224.6 million from other public and private sources.

“I-JOBS hasn’t hit its apex,” Flansburg said, noting June is just the start of the construction season. “We’re just starting to fire up the cooker.”

The report triggered another round in the political battle over I-JOBS.

Jeff Boeyink, campaign manager for former Republican Gov. Terry Branstad, who is challenging Culver’s bid for a second term, claimed the jobs really are costing Iowans about $240,000 a piece – “Not a great return on investment for Iowa taxpayers.”

“In reality, the I-JOBS program has done next to nothing to create the long-term, sustainable jobs that Iowans so desperately need,” he said. “These projects will only last until the money runs out. In fact, a number of these projects will need renovations by the time the state pays back the bond, which is more than two decades from now.”

The report highlighted the need to elect Branstad, “who understands how to create long-term jobs,” Boeyink said.

Branstad wants to manipulate jobs numbers and investment numbers to suit his purposes instead of looking at the facts, countered Ali Glisson, spokeswoman for Culver’s re-election campaign.

“The fact is that I-JOBS has created jobs and improving our infrastructure will improve our long-term job growth prospects,” she said. “The fact is that one-third of the money goes towards flood recovery and mitigation efforts.”

She pointed out Branstad used bonding during his 16 years as governor, but opposes Culver’s use of bonds for flood recovery and infrastructure modernization.

“What is Terry’s plan?” Glisson asked.

In another round of the war over I-JOBS, Gov. Chet Culver’s Department of Management released a 107-page report claiming the creation or retention of 7,079 jobs.

I-JOBS, the state’s two-year bonding program has invested $705,355,935 in flood mitigation and infrastructure projects — nearly $100,000 per job, according to the report.

The cost is even higher, according to former Republican Gov. Terry Branstad, who is challenging Culver’s bid for a second term.

Branstad’s campaign manager Jeff Boeyink claimed the jobs are costing Iowans about $240,000 a piece.

“These are short-term construction jobs, not the long-term jobs Gov. Culver promised when he proposed I-JOBS,” Boeyink said. The $1.7 billion cost of repaying I-JOBS bonds “is not a great return on investment for Iowa taxpayers.”

According to the report, I-JOBS has:

Created 1,688 projects so far in all 99 counties in the state (through June 30, 2010)

Invested $705,355,935 toward flood mitigation and infrastructure projects, with more than half dedicated solely to recovery and mitigation.

Leveraged, through local, state, federal and private funds, $610,585,794.

To date, that means $1.32 billion of projects are either under way, committed or completed. For the month of June, I-JOBS has created or retained 7,079 jobs. That number doesn’t count indirect jobs created or retained (such as employees who make asphalt purchased for road projects) or induced jobs (such as a restaurant that benefits from a nearby I-JOBS project).

But construction employment in Iowa is actually down 2,700 since the I-JOBS bill was passed, Boeyink countered, and nearly 20,000 Iowans have been added to the rolls of the unemployed since this program began.

“In reality, the I-JOBS program has done next to nothing to create the long-term, sustainable jobs that Iowans so desperately need,” he said. “These projects will only last until the money runs out. In fact, a number of these projects will need renovations by the time the state pays back the bond, which is more than two decades from now.”

The report highlighted the need to elect Branstad, “who understands how to create long-term jobs,” Boeyink said.

However, Culver’s re-election campaign said that using Branstad’s job creation formula of one construction job created for every $25,000 of infrastructure spending, I-JOBS is more successful than the Department of Management report would suggest.

Adjusting for inflation, Culver’s campaign spokeswoman Ali Glisson said the total $875 million in I-JOBS bonding should create 15,867 jobs.

“When Branstad wants to sell Branstad’s jobs program, estimates are fine to use,” she said. “When Governor Culver’s office actually calls the contractors and subcontractors to account for jobs created, according to Branstad, the program is somehow supposed to be considered a failure.”

Payouts from the fund have been limited since February because of a low balance, 2^nd District Rep. Dave Loebsack said. Iowa is due more than $480 million as of May, more than any other state.

“The FEMA Disaster Relief Fund is essential to communities that are recovering from disasters and that are mitigating for future disasters,” he said. The recent flooding in Iowa highlighted the need to replenish the fund in order to provide assistance as quickly as possible, he said.

The funding was part of H.R. 4899, the Supplemental Appropriations Act for FY 2010. The bill now goes to the president.

Without the emergency appropriation, FEMA estimated that the fund would have been exhausted before September and unable to pay claims, 1^st District Rep. Bruce Braley said.

“Iowa’s most recent round of record-breaking floods underscores the desperate need to replenish these disaster funds,” Braley said. “Without this funding, the federal government’s ability to respond to this disaster, and others like it across the country, would be severely limited.”

Rep. Leonard Boswell

Sen. Brad Zaun

Democratic U.S. Rep. Leonard Boswell, who is seeking an eighth term, called the remark by his challenger, Sen. Brad Zaun, R-Urbandale, “insensitive … especially as Iowans are experiencing widespread flooding across the state for the second time in two years.”

Zaun said his remark was taken out of context “by the liberal hit machine in D.C.,” a reference to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee that launched the attack

“Shame on Congressman Boswell and his liberal friends for using people’s recent tragedy to attempt to score cheap political points,” Zaun said.

The kerfuffle centers on a remark Zaun made in a March candidate forum in response to a question about the Federal Reserve and financial credit reform legislation.

“The fact of the matter is, is what has been forgotten is personal responsibility,” Zaun said. “We lost that as a country, we expect when there’s a flood or something that’s going on, the government to come in and help us.”

The remainder of his answer dealt with the need for federal financial credit reforms, but “not with more government red tape.”

Zaun, the former mayor of Urbandale, went on to say Tuesday (July 27) that he opposes “creating new government bureaucracies that have the same job description as a pre-existing agency. Natural disasters should not be used as a reason to create another layer of government that eats money.”

DCCC spokeswoman Gabby Adler said if Zaun had his way, “local communities, small business, and families would be forced to fend for themselves in times of disaster instead of receiving the assistance they need.”

The 3rd District includes Benton, Tama, Keokuk and Iowa counties.

Carrie Fitzgerald, senior health policy associate with the Child & Family Policy Center, and center executive director Charles Bruner issued a two-page report indicating that increasing numbers of children and families – many who would not have access to quality and affordable health care otherwise — in every Iowa county are benefitting from health-insurance coverage via Medicaid or the state’s Healthy and Well Kids in Iowa (HAWK-I) programs.

“Efforts to expand coverage through Medicaid and HAWK-I are making a difference in the lives of children across the state. This is the result of a two-pronged public policy effort at the state and federal levels,” Fitzgerald said. “More than one-third of children in every congressional district have health coverage through public programs.”

According to partnership documents, the percentage of Iowa children covered by the Medicaid or HAWK-I programs increased from 29 percent to 37 percent from April 2007 to April of this year. Without those programs, she said, “the impact of the recession on uninsured families would be even more difficult than they have seen.”

The 5^th congressional district had the largest share of children covered at 41.2 percent. The congressional district numbers were as follows: 1^st District 52,437 covered, 37.7 percent, up from 30.2 percent; 2^nd District 51,787 covered, 36.1 percent, up from 29.3 percent; 3^rd District 55,367 covered, 34.3 percent, up from 24.7 percent; 4^th District 46,882 covered, 35.4 percent, up from 26.9 percent; and 5^th District 56,161 covered, 41.2 percent, up from 31.7 percent.

The data is available at the Iowa Fiscal Partnership’s http://www.iowafiscal.org/100727-HCR-children.html Web site.

Comments: (515) 243-7220; rod.boshart@gazcomm.com