Branstad takes victory lap; Iowans ask “Where are the jobs?”

Governor Terry Branstad

As Governor Branstad and Lt. Governor Reynolds embark on a jobs tour this week, Iowans will be asking them to set aside the partisan politics and work in a bipartisan way to pass job creation legislation.

While Governor Branstad says the tour is to “discuss the progress we made,” the July Iowa jobs report shows Governor Branstad has no room to rest on his laurels. Instead of campaigning and giving stump speeches, he should roll up his sleeves and focus on his promise to create 200,000 jobs over five years.

Unfortunately, the jobs numbers show Governor Branstad has nothing to brag about when it comes to this goal. The data below shows Iowa has actually lost 8,200 jobs since Governor Branstad took office, meaning that he now has 208,200 jobs to go to reach his goal. Governor Branstad took office in January 2011, so we’ll use that as our base month.

Total Number of Working Iowans, January 2011-current

• January 2011: 1,576,500
• February 2011: 1,578,900
• March 2011: 1,581,200
• April 2011:  1,583,400
• May 2011: 1,582,500
• June 2011: 1,576,100
• July 2011: 1,568,300

Change in number of working Iowans since Gov. Branstad took office: -8,200 jobs

Despite the fact that many Iowans are still struggling to make ends meet, Governor Branstad has repeatedly refused to work across the aisle to get Iowa’s economy moving.

First, Governor Branstad and the House Republicans declined to even consider debating the bipartisan jobs creation package passed by the Senate. Even more appalling, Governor Branstad twice vetoed a bipartisan tax cut for 240,000 Iowa families earning less than $45,000 a year, demanding massive tax cuts for out-of-state corporations instead. And he also vetoed overwhelmingly bipartisan legislation that would have saved workforce offices across the state that help unemployed Iowans gain the skills they need to find work. But instead of finding common ground, all we’ve heard from the Governor is “It’s my way or the highway.”

So here’s the big question we should all be asking the Governor on his tour: When are you going to get serious about job creation?