Mike Gronstal, Iowa Senate District 50 seat
"Balancing the state budget responsibility.
"In the past four years, we have balanced the budget in a fiscally responsible manner, eliminated the state income taxes for retirees receiving Social Security and pensions, and reduced property taxes by $200 million. I will continue to lead the efforts to balance the budget and serve as a 'budget watchdog' to protect taxpayers."
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"I have supported bipartisan efforts to set us on a path to ensure affordable health care insurance for every Iowa child, raise salaries to ensure we keep the best teachers in our classrooms and make higher education affordable for all our high school graduates. We must continue to keep those commitments during the upcoming 2009 session.
Creating more good-paying jobs.
"During the 2009 session, I voted to move ahead with the second phase of our four-year, $100 million commitment to help Iowa businesses expand their production of renewable energy, alternative fuel and clean technology. This initiative encourages the production of alternative, Iowa-grown energy; helps family farmers become more profitable; and strengthens national security by reducing our dependence on foreign oil. I will continue to support this commitment in the future."
Mark Brandenburg, Iowa Senate District 50 seat
"Education standards.
"Over the past two years, under my opponent's leadership, the current legislative majority increased the amount of money delivered into our education system, but ignored the need for accountability. Since Iowa has slipped in the national education rankings, policy makers need to re-evaluate the need for statewide standards. During the session this year, my opponent championed legislation that created a model core curriculum, but did not institute standards. The education of our children creates one of the building blocks to the future of our state and we must have accountability and standards in our schools."
Protecting the taxpayers money.
"Over the past two years, the current legislative majority, led by my opponent, has increased spending by nearly $928 million while creating a nearly $500 million budget gap for next year. Instead of focusing on how to lower the tax burden so more Iowans could afford the double-digit increases on food and gas, they added 820 new state employees to the tune of $58 million. This is not the type of leadership Iowans expect from the elected leaders."
Helping Iowans afford health insurance.
"While the cost of health insurance continues to increase, how have the current legislative majority offered to help Iowans struggling with this cost? The short answer is a lot of talk and little action. The first argument heard in 2007 was that all of the additional revenue generated by the $1 tax increase on cigarettes was to be spent on health care. The legislative minority was concerned that this money would be spent on other "priorities" and according to an article in the Muscatine Journal dated Jan. 8, 2008 the concerns were valid. Mike Gronstal was quoted as saying 'nearly 80 percent of the tax was directed for health care.' Well, you do not have to be a mathematician to see that 80 percent is not 100 percent as was promised. The nearly $130 million generated each year by this tax increase could have been used to provide tax credits to small businesses to offer or maintain health insurance. Instead, the current legislative majority used this money to grow government without accomplishing the goal of making health insurance more affordable. Budgeting is a matter of priorities, and my priority would be providing tax incentives to small businesses to offer health insurance."
Doug Struyk, Iowa House District 99 seat
"Jobs and the Economy
"The economy is in a down turn due to Wall Street bankers and corporate executives. Iowa has and will continue to feel the effects of their actions. Iowa can weather this storm by investing in all levels of education to ensure a trained workforce. The Legislature must continue to support, not hinder, job creation and retention, and continue to invest in green technology furthering Iowa's energy independence. In addition, we must prevent excessive regulation of businesses, which result in higher costs and lower employment."
Property taxes
"Iowa homeowners and businesses are struggling under the burden of our high property taxes. The property tax system needs to be overhauled to make us competitive in attracting business and investments without shifting property taxes to our homeowners. We must protect our collective bargaining laws and resist radical changes that benefit one side since the impact of these changes is borne by the taxpayers."
Budget
"The state budget is in terrible shape due to excessive spending. We cannot have tax and fee increases pay for irresponsible spending decisions made by the majority over the past two years. We must make the hard decisions to live within our means by prioritizing government spending. This is not the time to raise taxes and fees when many of us are having difficulty meeting obligations and are living paycheck to paycheck."
Kurt Hubler, Iowa House District 99 seat
""Really, there is only one issue on the minds of Iowans and that is our economy. However, it can be divided into three primary factors:"
Jobs
"The more jobs we create that pay a livable wage, the stronger our economy becomes. While the legislature must work to encourage local entrepreneurship, members must also recognize that Iowa already has the natural resources to lead the nation in the advancement of green technologies and thus green jobs. The construction and operation of ethanol refineries and wind farms will not only provide our energy for the future, but the cutting edge jobs of tomorrow for our workforce."
Education
"I have told Superintendent Martha Bruckner that as representative, I will establish open lines of communication with her office to work towards improving our public schools. I also want to extend that invitation to Dr. Dan Kinney at Iowa Western Community College to learn what must be done to make a college education affordable and accessible for everyone. The smarter we are as a state, the more attractive we become to businesses looking to relocate their operations."
Fiscal Responsibility
"Legislators must continue to eliminate wasteful spending on 'pork barrel' projects and not rely on the raising of taxes in order to balance the budget. The more money Iowans have in their pockets, the more apt they are to spend it and continually energize our local economy."
Paul Shomshor, Iowa House District 100 seat
"Growing Iowa's economy
"Our state needs to continue to create highly paid jobs. I have experience in this. As chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, I introduced legislation to help bring high tech jobs to this state created by companies, such as Microsoft and Google. Iowa needs to continue to take steps to be the world leader in renewable fuel and make Iowa a green state. I have worked on Power Fund legislation in an effort to promote renewable fuels and create highly paid jobs. Most Iowa companies treat their workers with respect by paying decent wages and providing benefits. I believe companies that exploit workers and children should be held accountable under Iowa law. We should impose fines and jail time on CEOs who knowingly exploit children and immigrants through abuse and unsafe working conditions or illegal hiring practices, including identity theft.
Ensuring a high quality education
"We must continue the expansion of affordable quality preschool so that more children are prepared to start kindergarten. We must increase the number of children who graduate from high school on time. All Iowa students must graduate with the skills they need to compete internationally. It is also important to limit state university tuition increases to no higher than the rate of inflation and make community college tuition comparable to other states in our area."
Keeping young people in Iowa
"We lose too many of our bright young people to other states. It is sad to see so many families separated and grandparents seeing their grandchildren only a few times a year. One of my first goals is to continue efforts to create new, good paying jobs in Iowa. This will help keep young people in our state. In addition to good jobs, we need to make Iowa a fun place to live. More parks, more entertainment, cleaner rivers and streams can all make Iowa more enticing to young people. Iowa students leave college with some of the highest debt loads in the country. We need to make sure that we provide enough funding to our state universities and community colleges so they can keep tuition under the rate of inflation. We must also provide more scholarships, grants and work-study opportunities so our young people can attend a state or private college or university."
Scott Belt, Iowa House District 100 seat
"State budget:
"There have been recent estimates that put the deficit facing the state at nearly $500 million. This is why the 20 percent growth in the budget over the last two years under my opponent's watch was irresponsible. We need to tighten our budget, make sure we reign in spending and put a stop to tax increases at a time when Iowans are struggling to pay their bills."
Renewable energy:
"This is about growing Iowa's economy and creating better paying jobs for Council Bluffs and Carter Lake. This is a booming industry and I would like to make western Iowa a hub of innovation and job creation.
Right to work:
"At a time when we are fighting to keep jobs in our area, we can't afford to pass laws that will put us at a competitive disadvantage with competing states. My (our) representatives vote to gut Iowa's Right to Work law is wrong and putting job growth for Iowa (Carter Lake and Council Bluffs) at risk."
