After the 2010 elections, Iowa was at the end of the four largest budgets in state history. When we began our work last year, the state budget spent $1.18 for every dollar in tax revenue. Our job was to restore fiscal responsibility to the budget, and stop spending more money than the state collects in revenue.

We have been tremendously successful. Not only have we held the line on spending, the real cost of government to the taxpayers has decreased significantly. Part of responsible budgeting also means asking the state to live up to its commitments. This year’s budget does not intentionally underfund specific programs so that we can overspend in other areas. Here are the highlights:

• We reduced total state spending by $160 million, and did not ask taxpayers to fund the $200 million salary increase granted by Governor Culver before he left office.

• The budget now fully funds our K-12 schools, rather than underfunding those obligations, and asking local property taxpayers to pick up the slack.

• Our budget no longer includes the use of one-time money for ongoing obligations. We did not scoop money out of segregated accounts or reserve funds just to grow government.

• We also now have a budget that does not use federal stimulus dollars for our ongoing operations.

• Over the past two years, we have fixed a $900 million dollar spending gap.

• We now have our reserve funds full

• We put $90 million dollars in to the newly created Taxpayer Trust Fund

• And we now have a $390 million dollar budget surplus ready to be returned to the taxpayers.

These budgets were put together not only to save tax dollars, but to put the state on solid fiscal ground for the future. Past legislatures would often go on a spending spree one year, then be forced to make across-the-board cuts the next. Our budget gives the state and the taxpayers stability and certainty going forward.

The hard work of fixing this budget usually doesn’t grab a front-page headline, but represents the majority of our efforts. As a member of the House Appropriations Committee, I am proud of the work we’ve done for the taxpayers of Iowa. We’ve made Iowa a stronger place, and set ourselves up for future success.

The House amendment makes changes and additions regarding competency-based learning, core curriculum changes, teacher and administrator performance, innovation acceleration fund, online learning, class sharing agreements, assessments, national board certification, educator employment and professional development and third grade literacy.

The amendment also establishes several task forces to study education reform ideas such as teacher evaluations, educator career ladders and compensation, online learning and instructional time and school year, competency-based education and the core curriculum.

The board will have nine members appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Senate. The board’s responsibilities will include receiving and hearing complaints about access to public records. The board will also have the authority to issue subpoenas and issue civil penalties for open records violations.

The board can have no more than 3 members from the media and no more than 3 members that represent cities, counties, or other political subdivisions. The board will hire an executive director that is must be an attorney.

Senate File 430 originated in the Senate during 2011, and is now back to the Senate for further consideration.

Senate File 466 attempts to provide protection for homeowners from unscrupulous contractors who chase major storms from state to state and prey on homeowners who have suffered damage to their roof or other exterior parts of their home. The contractors try to force homeowners into signing a contract to let them do the work immediately.

Too often, this work can be poorly done, and if the insurer refuses to cover the repairs, homeowners are stuck in these contracts with no way to pay. This bill provides homeowners with the right to cancel a contract if their insurance will not cover the repairs. It also requires the contractors to provide homeowners with information about cancelling the contract.

The bill also prohibits a residential contractor from holding itself out as an insurance adjustor and from promising to pay the home owners deductible. A residential contractor would have to provide notice at the signing of the contract the makes clear the contract is binding regardless if the insurance company ultimately agrees to pay for the repairs.

The bill is currently eligible for debate in the House, and I am hopeful that we will be able to pass this bill before the end of session.

Part of the new owners’ plan is to secure tax advantages from the State of Iowa to help finance the construction of the new facility. The House recently passed House File 2453, which creates a sales tax increment fund for the Field of Dreams site. It gives the developers of the project a tax rebate worth up to $16.5 million.

I voted ‘no’ on the Field of Dreams project, because it provided preferential state tax treatment for a local project. While I hope that the project becomes a commercial success, I believe this plan uses the Iowa Tax Code to pick winners and losers. Special tax advantages for one individual or entity results in unfair treatment for the rest of us.

I would prefer that the state go the opposite direction, and provide broad-based tax reform to level the playing field for all taxpayers.

Also before the legislature is a proposal to provide state tax dollars for the reconstruction of Lake Delhi. Lake Delhi is a private lake on the Maquoketa River, which in July of 2010 was significantly damaged after flood waters washed out the dam holding in the waters of the lake area.

The House has already voted to remove the funding from this year’s budget, but those dollars have been added back in the Senate.

Not only do I have reservations about the use of public dollars for the reconstruction of a private recreational area, there are serious concerns about the environmental impact of the dam on the Maquoketa River watershed. Experts from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources as well as various environmental groups have argued that an impoundment dam at Lake Delhi would create problems in the river that will likely give rise to the need for even more ongoing state funding.

The problem with a dam of this type is slowing the river’s natural flow, causing sediment to settle, which damages the river for fish and wildlife habitats. The resulting silt buildup would require the state to continually pay for dredging.

We need to be very careful when considering the diversion of state resources to the local, privately-owned facilities. Our limited state funds should be used on projects and programs which benefit people across the entire state.

Recently many of us in the House have asked the Board of Regents for more information about a little-known policy that has a big impact on tuition. Included in student tuition is a “set-aside” amount, meaning that not all of the tuition paid by a student goes toward his or her education. This “set-aside” amount is redirected to scholarships and financial aid for other lower income students.

For undergraduate students, the current effect of the policy is that $1,864 of the $7,765 tuition bill at the University of Iowa is used to offset scholarships of other students. At ISU, $1,392 of the $7,486 tuition bill goes to other students; and at UNI, $980 of the $6,408 tuition bill is applied to other students’ scholarships rather than direct costs of the paying student.

The Board of Regents has agreed with us that these amounts should be disclosed on each tuition bill. People have a right to know how their tuition dollars are being spent.

With this narrowed focus, we are able to finish work on the state budget and several remaining high-profile bills, most notably property tax reform.

With regard to the state budget, I will not waiver on my commitment to keep spending under control. We must also make sure that government does not spend more than it collects in revenue. These common-sense budget principles have been ignored far too often in government, and the taxpayers are the ones who end up paying.

As we craft the state budget, we need to continue to find saving and efficiencies, while continuing to fund the priority needs of Iowans. The benefits of a responsible state budget are jobs, savings and certainty.

My goal for property tax reform is to provide savings for all Iowans, including individuals and businesses and to provide certainty as people plan for the future. The House has already sent several different proposals over to the Senate, and I am still hopeful that the Senate will choose to act on one.

The time to act is now: if we do nothing on property tax reform, Iowa’s taxpayers will be facing a $2.3 billion property tax increase over the next 10 years, most of which will fall to homeowners.

Right now, the focus of the legislature should be to make it easier for employers to begin hiring people and to invest in their businesses. To meet this goal, we are working on a budget and property tax reform that will give Iowans financial security and an environment where our economy can flourish.

Obviously, the vast majority of small Iowa cities do a great job of managing public money, but too often, the lack of oversight, training and resources opens the door for fraud and abuse.

According to the State Auditor’s office there were 32 cases of embezzlement from 2006 to 2011 in cities of fewer than 700 people, which is up from only seven cases in the five previous years.

One example of this abuse comes from nearby Dexter, where that City Clerk misused $131,392. In other cases, city clerks have used city money to purchase whiskey, beer, laptops, grills, pies, cat litter and self-help books for themselves.

Under this bill, 570 of Iowa’s smallest cities would have the opportunity for increased audits and periodic examinations. To pay for these audits or examinations, each city will be required to pay a small fee to a fund the state based on the size of their budget.

The subcommittee members assigned to the bill worked with both the State Auditor and the Iowa League of Cities to amend the bill. The bipartisan amendment to help reach consensus on the bill addresses concerns about the frequency of audits or examinations, limits on the size of the fees paid, and makes sure that fees collected over a set amount be directed toward education and training to prevent fraud.

I feel confident that this bill will be a useful tool to help prevent some of the fraud that is occurring in small city budgets. I am pleased to see the committee work in a bipartisan fashion to make this legislation better for all concerned parties.

Going into this process we knew that we had a big task before us. Iowa’s schools are in desperate need of help. Over the past ten years, our test scores in reading and math have fallen while other states’ scores have been rising.

From 1992 to 2009, Iowa’s eighth-grade National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) mathematics scores fell from the top in the nation, down to merely average. And even though Iowa has above-average scores on the ACT, only 30% of test-takers in 2010 met all four ACT benchmarks for college readiness.

Recent polls indicate that Iowans support education reform. Iowans expect and deserve a world-class education for their children. In light of this, the proposed bill works to ensure that Iowa students not only have basic education skills such as math and reading, but also have the advanced skills to compete in a globally-competitive economy.

One final goal of the reform bill was to establish greater accountability of taxpayer dollars, so that parents and taxpayers can have confidence that each dollar is going directly to Iowa students.

Despite broad agreement on the need for education reform, there obviously are a wide range of ideas on how to get there. To reach consensus, many of the more controversial ideas were removed from the bill, and several other items added. The final bill incorporated sixteen amendments, authored by members of both parties.

I sponsored one amendment, adopted to the bill, which allows for religious schools to be exempt from core curriculum requirements in conflict with tenets of their religious faith. Additionally, nonpublic schools would be exempt from a requirement of having to post their job openings on the state’s job listing site.

I believe strongly in school choice and the right of parents to determine what is best for their children. We have several quality private schools in our area, including Dowling Catholic, Des Moines Christian School and Iowa Christian Academy. This language is important to protect them mandates to teach things they do not believe. Along with parental freedom to choose a private school should be the freedom of that school to adhere to its closely held beliefs.

After working through over 50 amendments, the final result was a bill which moves on to the Senate, where I trust that the work of improving the bill will continue. The education reform bill is a good example of how the legislative process can sometimes be a benefit in crafting good public policy. I look forward to continuing the conversation on how to improve Iowa’s schools and create better educational opportunities.

Governor Branstad will sign SF 2218, this Friday at 11am at Northwood Elementary School, the school Kadyn Halverson attended. This new legislation focuses on school bus safety and the penalties for breaking these safety laws. The penalties are changed so that a school bus driver who does not operate the bus under current code is guilty of a simple misdemeanor, punishable as a scheduled violation, with a fine of $100. Drivers who violate the law by failing to slow when passing a bus with flashing lights, or failing to stop when a school bus stop sign is deployed can be charged with a simple misdemeanor. A person who is a second or subsequent offender can be charged with a serious misdemeanor. Penalties are also increased for those who hit and injure or kill someone, while illegally passing a bus.

The bill also creates a study committee. The Department of Transportation, the Department of Education and the Department of Public Safety will study the use of cameras mounted on school busses, the feasibility of requiring children to be picked up and dropped off on the side of the road where their home is located and the possibility of including school bus safety as a priority in drivers training.