Sorenson’s Straight Talk
Government Oversight Continues on IASB
I continue to serve on the Government Oversight Committee during the interim. We met recently to review the release of a long overdue financial audit of the Iowa Association of School Boards (IASB). The audit provided some details on already known financial dealings. We first questioned auditors before moving on to question IASB interim director Veronica Stalker and legal representative Nolden Gentry. Our questions were focused on the inexcusable lack of internal controls within the association and what work is being done to correct these mistakes. The audit confirmed already known details about improper transfers of money between IASB entities and salary increases for three top executives. It also reported that former executive director Maxine Kilcrease spent over $18,000 to refurnish her and another office, and it detailed how much money was still to be paid back for overcompensation or improper personal spending by current and former employees. Questions were asked whether or not the IASB’s services could be provided by a private company or through the AEAs. An audit for the 2010 fiscal year is currently being conducted and is expected sometime in September. The oversight committee plans to have IASB back at the November meeting to discuss the findings of that audit and to formulate plans for any legislative action needed for the next General Assembly.
Should Iowa Put “Right to Work” in the Constitution?
In 1947, the Taft-Hartley amendments to the 1935 National Labor Relations Act affirmed the states’ right to pass Right-to-Work laws. Right-to-Work laws guarantee that no person can be compelled, as a condition of employment, to join or not to join, nor to pay dues to a labor union. The Right to Work principle affirms the right of every American to work for a living without being forced to belong to a union. Compulsory unionism in any form–”union,” “closed,” or “agency” shop–is a contradiction of the Right to Work principle and the fundamental human right the principle represents. As of January 1, 2006, 22 states have adopted Right-to-Work laws. Of those 22 states, ten have taken the extra step of putting Right-to-Work into its constitution (Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Kansas, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Oklahoma, and South Dakota). Should Iowa join those ten states and do the same? Prior to 2007, the answer was probably that it was not necessary. However, since 2007 the Democrat majorities have sponsored several bills to completely overturn Iowa’s 60-year-old Right-to-Work status by requiring non-union members of public employers and private employers to pay a mandatory fee to the union. I would like to hear from you on this issue.
Sales Tax Holiday August 6 & 7
This year marks the 11th annual Iowa Sales Tax Holiday, and it begins when stores open on Friday August 6 and ends when stores close on Saturday August 7. During this time period, consumers will pay no sales tax, including local option sales tax, on select clothing and footwear marked at $100 or less. Consumers can access a complete list of items that are taxable and items that are exempt at: http://www.iowa.gov/tax/educate/STHList.pdf <http://www.iowa.gov/tax/educate/STHList.pdf> .
The annual sales tax holiday provides consumers with a little break on the price of essential clothing items. Many families look forward to these two days in August because the savings can add up. Eighteen states have designated sales tax holidays. In fact, many states have multiple days when no sales tax is collected. For example, the State of Illinois sales tax holiday is 10 days long, beginning August 6th and ending August 15th. Many states have higher price thresholds on qualifying items and have expanded their sales tax exemptions beyond just select clothing items and footwear. Several states include school supplies, books, computers, sports equipment, and energy star products in their list of tax free items. I would support expanding the items on Iowa’s list that would be tax-free on this weekend so families could save even more when back-to-school shopping.
We can’t build a solid future by borrowing
Not only have Iowans witnessed hefty increases in state spending, the unemployment rate and property taxes during the last few years, but we have seen an alarming spike in public debt.
As it stands today, Iowa now has the most debt in the state’s 164 year history. A recent tally shows that Iowa has nearly $1.1 billion in public debt associated with our prisons, Vision Iowa spending, school infrastructure, and Governor Culver’s failed I-JOBS program. Prior to Governor Culver being elected and Democrats taking control of the Legislature in 2006, Iowa had close to $200 million of debt in those areas. In just a few short years, the debt amount has quintupled.
Unfortunately, that is only just a fraction of Iowa’s debt. Iowa’s true total debt for all of state government and its agencies, cities, schools, AEAs, regent universities and community colleges is over $11.6 billion as of June 30, 2009 according to a report issued late last year by the State Treasurer. Compared to the year before, that level of debt is an increase of 6.33 percent. With the level of spending happening in Iowa this year, that number is likely to only get bigger.
Debt at all levels of government is growing out of control. The debt crisis in Greece and Europe as a whole has threatened their entire currency and the consequences are beginning to ripple through our stock market and the worldwide economy. Our federal deficit is now well beyond $12 trillion and getting worse by the day.
The simple truth is that government is spending too much of your money.
The long-term solution is two-fold. First, we need to stop spending at such an alarming rate. We need to better prioritize our spending. Secondly, we must grow our economy so we can create more jobs. With the highest unemployment in over two decades, it’s safe to say Governor Culver and legislative Democrats have proven that you cannot tax, borrow or spend your way to prosperity.
Governor Culver’s $1.7 billion I-JOBS program is a prime example. When he announced the idea, he promised it would create 30,000 jobs. In the time since, over 30,000 Iowans have actually lost their jobs. We must move away from the mindset of allowing government to pick winners and losers.
Instead, we must unleash the entrepreneurial spirit and ingenuity of the private sector. We know small business, the engine of economic growth in this state, is responsible for two out of every three new jobs created. We should not be adding additional barriers, such as Culver’s massive property tax increases, that make it more difficult for jobs to be created. We must grow this economy and send a clear message that Iowa is a destination for all those who wish to find success and fulfill their economic dreams.
We must never lose focus on the future and remember that while we aim to help the Iowans of today, we are also building a state so that all of our children, grandchildren and the future generations of Iowans can find a job, build a business and raise their families here.
Future generations of Iowans deserve more than spiraling debt and unsustainable spending year after year. It is simply unfair to them. They deserve a state where opportunity is provided and success is rewarded. Each generation is trusted with the goal of renewing the promise of a more hopeful and optimistic future. Our children and grandchildren are counting on us to make good on our word.
Let’s Put Kids Ahead Of Special Interest
The end of the school year is upon us. Schools are busy finalizing their budgets and preparing for next year. Since Governor Culver and legislative Democrats underfunded K-12 education by $162 million dollars while still spending the second most amount of money in Iowa history, schools are making deep cuts and property taxes are going up. Culver’s property tax increases are collectively estimated to be near $182 million but could be as high as a half billion dollars.
Through all of this, many teachers and staff members have been let go to ensure districts are operating with a balanced budget. When these layoffs are made, districts are forced to make decisions based on seniority – not necessarily on whether they are retaining the best teachers for the students in their districts.
This must change.
A recent Register Editorial in the Des Moines Sunday Register <http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20100509/OPINION03/5090317/1110/Keep-best-teachers-not-necessarily-veterans> does a good job highlighting the need to change the way we evaluate and promote teachers. “Seniority tends to be a big factor in who stays – it’s written into school district contracts – which can have devastating consequences for students,” wrote the Des Moines Sunday Register. “Putting the best teacher possible in every classroom should be everyone’s top priority. It’s mind-boggling that it isn’t,” they concluded.
I could not agree more.
Year after year, Republicans have authored broad and sweeping education reforms in the Iowa Legislature to reform education. If enacted, our “pay for performance” law would be one of the boldest reform plans anywhere in the nation. “Pay for performance” legislation was passed by the Legislature in 2006 but Governor Vilsack caved in to the demands of the deep pocketed union bosses who prefer the stagnant status quo. This, like many similar proposals to enhance student achievement and renew the legacy of Iowa’s proud heritage in education, has been defeated year after year by the party currently in power.
Case in point, when Iowa applied for President Obama’s Race to the Top grant program, our state’s application was denied. Governor Culver and legislative Democrats, like Vilsack, caved to the demands of powerful special interests and well-funded union bosses by voting down Republican efforts to revitalize our education system and make Iowa more competitive.
Today, 20 to 25 percent of our students are one year or more below grade level. This drastic change in direction is one of the leading reasons why our eighth graders in 1993 were first in mathematics but have now fallen to 28th. Though we have spent billions of dollars, student achievement has stagnated and in many instances declined. The 2008 Iowa Condition of Education Report shows student proficiency has decreased over the past year in fourth grade reading, fourth grade math, eleventh grade reading and eleventh grade math.
We need more accountability. Everyone must be accountable for the success of our students. Though these children may be students today, we will be relying on them to be the leaders of tomorrow. Students, parents, schools, colleges of education and policymakers all need to be held accountable.
We need to pay our good teachers well and weed out those who are not meeting the necessary standards. There are excellent teachers with all levels of experience and they must be rewarded and those who do not excel need to move on. We must be clear, basing personnel decisions solely on seniority must end.
As it stands now, the rest of the world is leaving America behind and the rest of America is starting to leave Iowa behind. Simply throwing more money at the problem without real reform has not and will continue not to work.
We need dramatic reform and we need it now. If we fail to act, we are leaving our children, grandchildren and future generations of Iowans without the necessary skills they need to be productive members of society.
It’s time to put our students first by preparing them to be productive citizens who possess the necessary skills and knowledge to compete with any one else in the world. Our kids deserve the very best.
Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, April 29, 2010
Contact: Rep. Kent Sorenson (515) 250-7555
Sorenson Highlights Immigration Legislation
(INDIANOLA) – Today Rep. Kent Sorenson (R-Indianola) highlighted the work he did during the 2010 Legislative session on the issue of illegal immigration.
Among other bills, Sorenson crafted HF 2345 which is the Iowa version of the Oklahoma immigration law. Under this legislation, the Attorney General would be required to establish a Memorandum of Understanding with the Federal Government to insure that unauthorized aliens discovered by Iowa law enforcement officials are quickly and safely transferred into federal custody. It also requires public employers to use e-verify to verify the lawful presence of new employees.
HF 2263 was another piece of Sorenson legislation which was proposed this year. Under this bill, the Department of Human Services would be required to verify the social security numbers of those who applied for their services.
“Recent legislation passed by the state of Arizona highlights the need for reform in the state of Iowa,” said Sorenson. “It’s time to get tough on illegal immigration and these two pieces of legislation would have been a step in the right direction.”
Democrats killed both pieces of legislation during the subcommittee process.
“I will continue to work to create positive solutions the illegal immigration problem facing the state of Iowa,” said Sorenson.
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Time to be responsible
The 2010 legislative session has come and gone. Coming into the session the Legislature faced a 1.1 billion dollar budget shortfall. As the session came to a close and we began debating the budget bills it was clear that despite the modest savings made through the government reorganization bill, the Democrats who are in the majority were going to be relying a great deal on one-time money and raiding the cash reserve fund to cure their appetite for spending.
What does that really mean? To the average Iowa family, this might be what the state budget looks like on a family budget scale (courtesy of House Appropriations Ranking Member Rep. Scott Raecker <http://www.raeckerbacker.com/> ).
“For 2010, a family planned their budget for the year and identified that they have $64,000 in expenses. They then looked at the amount of money they would take in and saw they only had $53,000 to spend. The shortfall was $11,000. Rather than look at ways to cut expenses to meet the revenue, the family took a financial gift from an uncle (Uncle Sam) to balance the family budget not worrying about where they would make up the difference this year or next.
“Mid-year, it was clear that there was not enough revenue to cover expenses so the family made some mid-year budget cuts and decided not to pay for some commitments that had previously been made.
“Now the family is planning their budget for 2011 and even after the mid-year expense savings from the previous year, they still have $62,000 in expenses and only $53,000 in revenue to balance the budget except this year Uncle Sam does not have the same financial windfall so they decide to find efficiencies and reorganize the family expenses to save money and take the rest from their savings account. After weeks of talking about expense savings, they come up with their best effort to reduce expenses and they save $700 from their $62,000 in spending. They then decide to take the money in their savings account to balance the budget and will worry about next year when it comes.
“The other thing they do to balance the budget is for about $2,000 in expenses they will have someone else (aka: the property taxpayer) pay for them.”
The state has committed to spend $6.2 billion next year, yet we only have $5.3 billion in on-going revenue. The state is spending one-time money from the federal government as if it came from a great uncle. To balance the budget, the Legislature and governor reorganized government to save $70 million and plans to deplete the state savings account for the rest.
Unfortunately, the commitments that were made to fund Iowa’s K-12 education system will not be fully funded by state dollars so local districts are left to cut teachers and programs – and raise property taxes.
The state budget can be very complex, but in reality the principle is simple. The state should not spend more than it takes in. Just like Iowa families and businesses, we must be responsible in meeting our needs with our available resources. Balancing the budget isn’t good enough if it’s on the back of the taxpayer. The 2010 Legislative Session has left a legacy of liability and burden for Iowans that reaches farther than just one year.
See the Des Moines Register take on this at:
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20100405/NEWS10/4050314/1007/NEWS05
/Big-revenue-gap-awaits-lawmakers-next-session <http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20100405/NEWS10/4050314/1007/NEWS05>