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.

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.

House Republicans proposed numerous spending reductions for the FY2010 budget (see partial list below), but House majority democrats shot every one of these proposals down.

Although House Democrats claim they are making $260 million in spending reductions, the spending data they distributed this week clearly shows their current budget still spends as much as the previous year.  House Republicans will be offering numerous cost savings ideas again this year, but we’re going to need a virtual public outcry to get democrats to make the necessary spending cutbacks.

Potential Medicaid Crisis Looming

Legislative Democrats plan to underfund Medicaid by $347 million in FY2011, using cash reserves to make up $187 million of the shortfall, and relying on Congress to extend the Medicaid matching rate for another $95 million – provided Congress votes for the extension. However, if these projections don’t occur, the General Fund contribution for Medicaid will amount to only half of the state’s need. Fast forward to FY2012, and Medicaid could need over half a billion in additional General Fund dollars.

In Your Community

We will have our Forum on Saturday, March 20^th from 9:00-10:00 a.m.  It will be held at the Administration Bldg., 2^nd floor, Indianola.

As always, thank you for giving me the opportunity to represent our district in the House of Representatives. That responsibility means a lot to me, and I am working hard to ensure your voice is heard.

Marriage did play a role in my decision, and will be a key issue in our race, but it is a reflection of my motivation for running – not the motivation itself.  My reason for running comes from a lifetime of hard lessons, from an understanding of just how difficult it can be to raise a family, and from knowing what it’s like to overcome many obstacles along the way.  In short, I’m running not because I am convinced that I am better than anyone else in the district, but rather because I know that I am not.

Two years ago, I would never have imagined that I would be serving in the Iowa House.  I have never had political aspirations, and actually shied away from politics and politicians.  It wasn’t until I met our legislators, and figured out just how unwilling they were to listen to a constituent like me, that I finally got involved.

When I first went to visit the capitol, I watched Senator Appel turn red in the face when asked to defend her actions on the Senate floor.  Instead of thanking me for paying attention, or even trying to convince me that my impression of her was wrong, she just flatly said, “this conversation is over,” and walked away.  I thought that was shockingly disrespectful, until I tried to meet the man who was then our State Representative.  When I asked to speak to him, he came to the front door of the House, looked out at me and the friends that were with me, turned around and went back inside.  We waited for over two hours, but he never again so much as showed his face in the capitol rotunda that afternoon.

As a result, of watching my State Senator walk away from me rather than answer honest questions, and after watching my Sate Representative hide from his constituents, I decided that something had to change.  I knew we needed new representation in the legislature, but I decided early on that I would not be that guy.

I had a picture in my mind of what an elected official looks like, and I certainly didn’t fit the bill.  I thought that politicians were people who came from privileged backgrounds, that they were well connected with powerful people, and that they were more or less born to serve in elected office.  I’m not sure why I thought that office holders were such a separate and privileged class, but I was pretty sure that I had no business running for office.

I’m more than a little too short for my weight, I’m bald, and I’m not especially well known for my diplomacy.  I’m a father of six, who has had to work hard to make my way in the world, and who has a colorful past.  For example, I was married and a father before I could legally drink.  I was anything but a “good boy” growing up, and found myself getting into trouble via the many temptations this culture has to offer.  As a young man an older man I looked up to violated the trust I put in him, which took me years to overcome.  I was essentially the guy you wouldn’t want your daughter to marry, until my wife whipped me into shape and God got a hold of my heart.  As a father of a teenage daughter now, its obvious God has a sense of humor because I find myself trying to protect her from the very sort of boy I was.

I have been poor, abused, and written off.  I know what it feels like to be given up on.  I know what happens to your life when you do the bad things the culture wants to say are really good.  Like many of you, I know what the real world is like, and that it’s not always easy to do the right thing when everyone else seems to be getting away with doing the wrong one.

If they would’ve handed out an award in high school for “least likely to ever run for office” I certainly would’ve won it.  Nevertheless, someone had to take a stand, and my problem was no one was willing to rise up and run against an incumbent in a district that favors the democrats in an anti republican year.

That left me with a dilemma. I could allow my appearance, my business, or my past to keep me from running, or I could step forward and see what happened.

I chose to step forward.

With your help, I beat that incumbent for his Statehouse seat last year, and this year I need your help to rid this district of another elitist politician this go around.  I have nothing to hide.  My life was not always pretty, but it is an example of the grace of God and the power of second chances.  Many of you in this district could use a second chance, and we all could certainly use a little grace.

I’m just like you.  I have kids I love but am not always sure I can afford.  My wife and I have the same ups and downs you have.  We never seem to have enough money, and our family history isn’t a Hallmark Card.  But we believe in the America Dream.  Shawnee and I teach our children that if you do the right thing more often than not, you can be successful here in Iowa.

Sadly, Staci Appel and Chet Culver are remaking Iowa in their image, and if we don’t stop them before it’s too late we’ll leave our children and grandchildren with an Iowa our parents and grandparents wouldn’t recognize.  An Iowa where elites fatten the wallets of their political cronies while your jobs leave the state, and an Iowa where unelected judges impose their twisted morality on the rest of us without allowing us the fundamental right to vote.

Despite my obvious imperfections, I’m willing to take a stand because there’s too much at stake.  But I can’t make that stand alone.  I need your help, and we are better together.  The history of this republic has shown that whenever we the people rise up collectively and take a firm stand, the establishment eventually surrenders.  I want us to make that history happen again.