Political Football

March 20, 2011
Your Capitol Voice
Representative Jeff Kaufmann

This week is the second funnel week of the session which means that in order to survive; bills must pass one chamber and a committee in the other. Work this week will concentrate on meeting this deadline. The month of April will then focus on drawing the session to a close….a huge undertaking since the Senate has dealt with so few of the House bills that have been sent to them.

Last month the federal census report indicated that Iowa’s population only increased by about 120,000 in the last decade. With new population data, the process for redrawing congressional and legislative districts has begun. This is a process that happens every 10 years.

Iowa’s redistricting process is indeed a good one. Many states use commissions and the process becomes very political, eventually including the courts to settle disputes. Iowa uses the non-partisan Legislative Services Agency (LSA) to create its congressional and legislative maps.

First the congressional maps are drawn. Because of our slow growth, Iowa will lose a Congressperson. This is a negative development for our state given the accompanying loss of congressional power as well as the loss of an electoral vote in the presidential election process. One offsetting factor is the clout and seniority of our current delegation, especially our two Senators. Still one of our Congressmen will lose their job, and more importantly our state will lose some clout.

New Congressional Districts have to be within 1% of their ideal population and they can’t split county lines. Legislative districts for the State Senate and State House of Representatives are then drawn within these four new congressional districts. They too can’t vary by more than 1% and shall coincide with political subdivisions, meaning that the number of counties and cities that are divided shall be as few as possible.

There are 50 Senate Districts and two House Districts within a Senate District for a total of 100. Districts can’t be irregularly shaped and must be reasonably compact. Most importantly the LSA may only take population into account when drawing them. Political affiliation is not a factor.

On March 31, the first plan arrives and must move to the floor for a vote. Meanwhile a Temporary Advisory Commission will hold at least three public meetings throughout the state. There are no amendments, just a YES or NO vote. If the first plan is rejected, a second plan is delivered within 35 days of the rejection of the first plan. Once again the Legislature can only accept or reject…no amendments. If the second plan is accepted, it goes to Governor Branstad for a signature or if rejected a third plan is developed by LSA.

The third plan can be amended and considered by the Legislature. A plan must be adopted by the General Assembly by September 1, 2011 and signed by the Governor by September 15. If this does not occur then the Iowa Supreme Court creates a redistricting plan.

In 1981 the third plan was accepted without amendment. In 1991, the first plan was enacted, and in 2001, the second plan was enacted. A special session for redistricting after April is a distinct possibility .

The population of the 79th District has had little population change. In comparison there have been large population losses in western Iowa County. In contrast, Polk County and Johnson County have grown significantly. These demographic trends ultimately will affect nearby areas. This District will change but there is no way to predict the specific changes.

One aspect of this redistricting process is sure. It is one of the best and will be as non-partisan as any in the country. There have been no attempts to change the process by either political party. I will certainly cover this topic again in future columns and keep you up to date, even after the Legislature has adjourned.

Capitol Visitors: Dan Boddicker, Ron and Carol Hills, Tipton; Matt Hills, West Branch; Richard and Vera Smith, West Liberty; Carol Wade, Monica and Shannon Duffe, Wilton; Carolyn Williams, Diane Farrar, Gina Chesling, Marilyn Wedel, Mary Frieden, Nancy Miller, Mindy Stark, Muscatine; Dee Vander Hoef, Iowa City.

Listening Post Schedule:
March 26 8 AM Iowa City Chamber
April 2 9 AM MCC Little Theater
April 9 9 AM Tipton Farm Bureau
email Jeff:  jeff.kaufmann@legis.state.ia.us
Write Jeff: State Capitol Des Moines IA 50319
Call Jeff: 1-515-281-3221

Dame M. Thatcher said famously, “The problem with socialism is, eventually you run out of other people’s money.”

California is deciding now if they should raise taxes or lay off 19,000 school teachers. (teachers are an unfortunate but easy target of budget shortfalls)

Referencing this data (some details below) California is already the 49th WORST state to live re: taxes.  (click to enlarge)

It only stands to reason that raising taxes will create a condition where more people flee California – like Hollywood film makers who like to shoot in Canada, or Intel who recently decided to build in Arizona.  EVENTUALLY California WILL run out of “other people’s money” because those “other people” will leave.

You can also see here that Iowa is a pretty crappy place to live – tax wize too but Gov. Branstad should change that.

With all this, 47% of households in the US have a negative tax liability. READ HERE

and finally taxing the rich more will solve everything?  NOT SO FAST!!!

Reading this timeline of money squeezing is worth your time.  There aren’t enough Rich people to tax to balance the budget, and even if we did take their $ it would be a one time hit – what would we do next year?    TAX WHAT YOU WANT LESS OF…   READ MORE HERE from IowaHawkBlog – just 11 billion $ a day.  Easy.

Illinois just passed a tax that will lose them money not gain it. They are taxing affiliates of Amazon over 6%. Before now internet acquisitions were not taxed in Illinois.

“Illinois has about 9,000 affiliates, said Rebecca Madigan, director of an affiliate trade group called the Performance Marketing Association. She said the Illinois affiliates generated $611 million in advertising revenue in 2009 and tax revenue of $18 million. She estimates that the state will lose 25% to 30% of that tax revenue because the affiliates will lose business, cut jobs or move out of the state.”

Read more here.

Amazon is also seriously considering moving their Warehouses in Illinois to a more tax friendly Indiana.

Texas tried to do the same thing with the same results, so I can only guess this is truly what the Illinois Governor wanted to do – drive more business out of Illinois.

This is similar to what Iowa did when cigarette taxes were raised a few years ago. But that also had an added value of having some people decide to quit smoking. The bad thing is – the Democrat controlled 2008 Iowa legislature also budgeted that entire tax revenue before they learned – yeah, people either quit smoking or went to Missouri to buy their smokes, so tax revenues were not as expected. But one thing is clear – Legislatures are addicted to tax revenue.

When you think of it, this speaks to any wealth. If you want less of it – tax it. It’s the wealthy that have the flexibility to make decisions on where to live or start businesses. We need a friendly tax structure to encourage businesses to flourish in Iowa.

This week there will be two very controversial bills debated in the House. The first bill which is the amended Branstad pre-K plan will pass and some form will ultimately pass the Senate. The second, a bill dealing with collective bargaining will pass but will be dead in the Senate.

The DM Register, hardly a fan of Branstad or even remotely conservative, has endorsed the pre-K plan. The Branstad plan will change dramatically yet and I believe still has to be adapted to Districts with no privates in the community. The bill will be virtually re-written in the Senate.

I have been attacked for seeking changes in the pre-K system to try to strike a balance with private providers and have a sustainable system that we can afford and not overburden an already underfunded K-12 system. This editorial tells me that having this serious debate is in the best interest of the children and our fiscal integrity.
Thanks.
Jeff Kaufmann

Approve preschool program Iowans can afford
Written by
THE REGISTER’S EDITORIAL
• FILED UNDER
• Opinion
• Register Editorials
Once government gives people something, it’s hard to take it away. That is the case with universal preschool in Iowa. The 2007 Iowa Legislature established a statewide program that allows 4-year-olds to attend preschool for free, regardless of a family’s income. About 90 percent of Iowa school districts now offer at least 10 hours a week of preschool to nearly 20,000 kids.

But just because it’s popular doesn’t mean it’s financially sustainable. Annual state spending for preschool has grown from $15 million the first year to about $64 million.
Gov. Terry Branstad says the state can’t afford to maintain the growing expense. So he has proposed reining in spending and requiring parents with higher incomes to pick up more of the cost of preschool. Though there are some details to be worked out, lawmakers should support House Study Bill 145.

The legislation repeals the existing preschool program. It creates a “preschool scholarship program,” which provides vouchers to eligible parents to help pay the cost. Families of four earning up to $67,000 annually could get financial assistance. All families would have to contribute at least some money – as little as $3 a month in some cases.

This is a reasonable approach to saving the state money while ensuring that state aid is directed to children in lower-income families. Preschool is projected to cost about $70 million next fiscal year under current law. The governor’s proposal reduces spending to $46.3 million in state dollars. Parents will contribute an additional $7.6 million, according to Linda Fandel, special assistant for education to the governor.

If the state spends less, however, that means less money for school.