Gov. Braindead (R-sneaky and dumb) did it again. He did this when he was governor before.

Dammit. I couldn't believe the state voted this jerk in again. Hard as I worked to not see that day come. Here we go again. Iowa has had a surplus in the budget for a while. His budget this year means that they will be spending from the rainy day funds the state has. When he was governor before he totally drained the rainy day funds. Tax and spend liberals, my tushy. He tried to make himself look like a moderate by developing a reasonable healthcare alternative for the state and now he starts to gradually drown Medicaid by squeezing it. This is where this is going and he's hell bent on getting elected again so he can brag that he's served the longest in office. I cannot stand this man.

http://www.kcrg.com/news/local/State-Auditor-Branstad-Budget-Plan-Contains-144-Million-Spending-Gap-244744401.html


KCRG-TV9 | Cedar Rapids, Iowa News, Sports, and Weather

State Auditor: Branstad Budget Plan Contains $144 Million Spending Gap
Originally printed at http://www.kcrg.com/news/local/State-Auditor-Branstad-Budget-Plan-Contains-144-Million-Spending-Gap-244744401.html

By Ellen Kurt
February 10, 2014
DES MOINES – Gov. Terry Branstad’s proposed fiscal 2015 budget plan would create a $144 million “spending gap” in the state’s general fund if adopted as is by the split-control Legislature, State Auditor Mary Mosiman said Monday.

Mosiman, a first-term Republican, told reporters her “apples-to-apples” comparison of the numbers indicate state budget-makers will have $7.239 billion in available ongoing revenue and the governor has proposed a budget with “true total appropriations” of $7.383 billion for fiscal 2015, which means Branstad has offered a plan that seeks to spend $144 million more than the state is projected to take in.

The state auditor said state lawmakers would have to dip into the state’s projected $746 million “surplus carry forward” to balance the fiscal 2015 ledger sheet.

“The proposed budget does not include significant spending on new programs, so nearly all of the spending increase in the proposal is focused on honoring commitments made to existing programs,” Mosiman told reporters. She said “multi-year accelerating” commitments made last session to commercial property tax relief and education reform will exceed $150 million in fiscal 2015 and increase in future years.

The state auditor said it will take long-term planning and fiscal discipline to maintain budget sustainability as lawmakers decide how best to fund multi-year commitments they put on the books last session.

(snip and here is the kicker )

Also of concern to the state auditor was the fact that Branstad’s fiscal 2015 spending plan potentially would underfund Medicaid by $19 million and, for the sixth straight year, state agencies would be asked to absorb salary and benefit costs because no increases were separately funded in the governor’s funding plan he presented to lawmakers last month.



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