“Iowa is broke. Its agencies are scrambling. Its educational system is bleeding. Medicaid is a shameful mess. And mental health services are wholly inadequate.”
Today, the Quad City Times published a blistering editorialcriticizing Governor Reynolds for her mismanagement of the state budget and blatantly irresponsible policy priorities. Excerpts from the editorial can be found below.
Quad City Times: Editorial: Iowa’s irresponsible tax cuts
“Iowa can’t afford tax cuts, governor.
But that pesky fact isn’t deterring Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds, who is desperate to cut income taxes before her re-election bid in November.
Late last year, Reynolds initiated a legally questionable budgetary maneuver to plug gaps in this year’s budget. This past week, ruling Republicans in Iowa Senate did Reynolds one better, with a proposal that would slash $52 million in previously appropriated cash for Iowa’s public universities and other critical services.”
“For fiscal year 2019, Reynolds’ executive budget proposed a 1.5 percent increase in K-12 funding, a figure well below inflation. The bludgeoning of Iowa’s court system would continue, with some officials saying more than two-dozen local courts could close because of the GOP’s slash-and-burn approach to government.
As if there wasn’t enough absurdity already, Reynolds’ has also proposed axing another $19 million from Iowa’s failing Medicaid program.
Yet, somehow, Reynolds and legislative Republicans have deluded themselves into thinking Iowa is in a position to cut taxes. It’s a ready-made recipe for deficit spending and another round of mid-year cuts.
So much for the party of fiscal responsibility.”
“That money could pay for a lot of things that Iowa has left to rot.
Unfortunately, it won’t. Instead, the influx will likely gush out just as fast as it came in, funding a tax cut that, by every objective measure, the state cannot afford.
To make matters worse, the cuts Reynolds’ proposed seem just a starting point for lawmakers to do her one better.
This is the flaw of single-party dominance — where the fringe is elevated and reason is sacrificed to dogma.”
“Iowa is broke. Its agencies are scrambling. Its educational system is bleeding. Medicaid is a shameful mess. And mental health services are wholly inadequate.
Reynolds and legislative Republicans are determined to see that it stays that way.”