Prepared closing remarks by Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal on close of the 2011 legislative session

Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal

Thank you, Mr. President.

First, I would like to thank the Senate backroom staff, the Republican and Democratic staffs, the Senate doorkeepers, the Legislative Service Agency, and the pages (those here with us today and those who were lucky enough to have departed months ago).

Your dedication made it possible for us to bring the session to conclusion today.  Your work is truly a service to the people of Iowa

This has been a difficult session.

Finding agreement has not been easy, and that is probably a considerable understatement.

Why was it so difficult?  It sure wasn’t a lack of funds.

Unlike other states, Iowa’s economy is growing, and our state budget is in good shape.

Our reserve funds are full at $600 million.  Our current budget is ending with another $400 million in the bank.  That’s one BILLION dollars in the state’s savings accounts, and revenue estimates for next year continue to rise.

And contrary to the Governor’s posturing, Senate Democrats have ALWAYS insisted that Iowa should spend less than we take in.

In fact, in the 1990s, I was a member of the Senate Democratic majority that limited state spending to no more than 99 percent of projected revenues, and created Iowa’s rainy day funds.

What’s more, the initial Senate Democratic 2011 budget proposal would have spent only 98 percent of projected revenues.  Spending more than we take in was never proposed by anyone.

And just to be perfectly clear, Senate Democrats are very proud of how we guided Iowa through the worst national recession in history.

We cut state spending by a quarter of a billion dollars.  We made state government leaner and more effective when it comes to providing services by conducting the first state government reorganization in 25 years.  And we did it without raising taxes or gutting the services Iowa families depend on.

Our success then is a big reason why Iowa’s state budget is now one of the healthiest in the nation.

I mention all this just to make it as clear as possible that the reason we are still in session on June 30 has nothing to do with spending more than we take in or straightening out the Iowa budget.

When this session started just six short months ago, I used that occasion to speak directly to Iowa’s small businesses and their employees.  I responded to the questions and concerns they shared with me in the months before the 2011 session.

On January 10th, I told the Senate that Iowa’s small business owners and workers especially wanted to know the answer to one question:

“Are legislators serious about helping Iowans recover from the worst recession in more than 50 years?”

Today, almost six months later, I believe the Senate, at least, can answer “Yes, we are.”

Iowa’s commercial property tax rates are too high, especially for small businesses.

That’s why an overwhelmingly bipartisan majority of the Senate voted to cut commercial property taxes by $200 million.  We did it in a way that targets the relief to Iowa’s small businesses.

More than four out of five commercial property taxpayers receive a bigger tax cut under our plan than under Governor Branstad’s proposal.

Iowa’s economic recovery needs to be strengthened.

That’s why the Senate unanimously passed Senate File 209, a 148 million dollar tax cut for working Iowans and businesses.  It would:

Allow businesses to immediately deduct the entire cost of automobiles, machinery, property and other big ticket items, and increase the state Earned Income Tax Credit for working families, providing an immediate boost for many Iowa small businesses.

Iowa’s businesses often struggle to find the skilled employees needed to expand.

That’s why the Senate approved Senate File 328.  It would take a successful community college pilot program statewide.

Working Iowans would receive help earning industry-recognized certificates in welding, nursing and a host of other fields and Iowa’s small businesses could fill critical local skill shortages.

Small businesses pay 18 percent more than large businesses for the same health care coverage, and health insurance premiums have gone up three times faster than wages in the last 10 years.

That’s why the Senate unanimously approved Senate File 506 which would have benefited 60,000 Iowa small businesses with 10 or fewer employees by sending them an annual state tax refund to help pay for employee health insurance.

Small wind and small solar projects at homes and businesses mean jobs for local construction firms, plumbers, and electrical, heating and air conditioning contractors, and lower utility bills for families, farmers, and businesses.

That’s why the Senate passed Senate File 516, which provides rebates to help jumpstart Iowa’s local renewable energy economy.

Distressed buildings on Main Street make it harder for communities to grow.

That’s why the Senate approved new state dollars to make it easier for communities to clean-up and revitalize their business districts and industrial parks.

Those are some of the reasons the Senate can say: “Yes, we were serious about helping Iowans recover from the worst recession in more than 50 years.”

Helping small businesses grow.  That’s what we should have focused on during this session.

Unfortunately, the Republicans in charge of the Iowa House had a different agenda.

The Senate’s job creation legislation was, for the most part, ignored.

House Republicans decided instead to demand deep, deep cuts to Iowa education at all levels, starting with an unprecedented two-year freeze in state support for local schools, the elimination of statewide, voluntary preschool, and double digit tuition increases  at our community colleges and public universities.

At a time when we should have moved aggressively forward on job creation, the Senate was forced to fight furiously to defend the great teachers, students and schools at the heart of our communities and the educational opportunity that makes Iowa workers among the most productive in the world.

I still don’t understand why.

Why have we spent the last two months arguing whether Iowa should close successful, high quality preschools for four-year-olds?

Why were so many of Iowa’s superintendents, school board members, and parents forced to travel to the Statehouse to patiently explain that putting schools on a starvation diet for two years was a bad idea?

Why did community college students and university students have to endure legislative hostility in order to point out that making it more difficult, more expensive for Iowans to improve their skills was a very, very bad idea?

Why?

It wasn’t because we didn’t have the money.

As I’ve said many times, our reserve funds are full at $600 million and the current budget is ending with another $400 million in the bank.

Republicans and Democrats rely on the same non-partisan revenue and budget estimates.  And as far as I know, two plus two equals four whether you are a Republican or a Democrat.

I wish that the Iowa House and Governor Branstad would have joined the Senate in continuing to make smart investments in education.  Then this session could have focused on encouraging small business and creating jobs.

Instead, the state of Iowa was forced into a lengthy, bitter fight to save preschool, to provide a modest increase in state support to local schools THE YEAR AFTER NEXT, and to soften cuts to colleges.

These fights, fights all of which could have been easily avoided, nearly brought Iowa its first ever government shutdown.

Why?

That’s the question I’ll spend the next six months trying to answer.

Because next January, the Senate will be back.  Helping small businesses and their employees will again be at the top of our agenda.

Next year, the state’s bank accounts will still be overflowing.

Next year, the argument that we are too broke to provide a good future for our kids will be even more baseless than it was this year.

Next year, I hope we will quickly agree that Iowa should continue to be a national leader when it comes to education.  I hope we can then complete the work the Senate started this year: growing Iowa’s small business and creating more jobs for Iowans.