New revenue estimates do little to comfort the 114,000 Iowans who remain out of work

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Monday, October 11, 2010

Contact: Tim Albrecht (515) 276-2266

New revenue estimates do little to comfort the 114,000 Iowans who remain out of work

Huge budget gap remains due to overspending by Culver Administration

(URBANDALE) – Today, Governor Branstad 2010 campaign manager Jeff Boeyink released the following statement regarding the revised revenue numbers from the Revenue Estimating Conference wherein they predict state government will receive more than was previously anticipated for the next two fiscal years:

“While Governor Culver celebrates the news that state government may receive more money from Iowa taxpayers than previously anticipated, 114,000 Iowans remain without jobs and find no comfort in a supposed recovery that does not include job growth.

“These numbers continue to show Governor Culver has spent too much, borrowed too much, and saved too little as a huge unfunded budget gap for FY12 still remains and Iowans are now paying some of the biggest property tax increases in decades due to the Governor Culver’s mismanagement of the Iowa budget.

“And, comments from the Legislative Services Agency regarding these numbers suggest continued caution:

[The fact remains, that in an economy that is so dependent on personal income tax and sales tax revenue, until the state experiences job growth, revenues will be slow to recover.  The climb back to pre-recession levels will take a long time – potentially years, not just months.]

“It is unfortunate that Governor Culver continues to ignore the obvious reality that his job creation efforts have not worked and Iowans are still hurting.  A true recovery occurs when Iowans are back to work and that is exactly why Iowa needs Terry Branstad and his proven record of job creation.  Terry Branstad oversaw the creation of over 300,000 new jobs and left office with the lowest unemployment level in our state’s history.”

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Read more at Branstad for Governor