FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Contact: Josie Albrecht (515) 419-1038

Paulsen Issues Statement on Governor’s Budget Announcement

(DES MOINES)—Today House Republican Leader Kraig Paulsen (R-Hiawatha) issued the following statement in response to the governor’s budget plans:

“If the governor had not signed the largest budget in the history of the state, we would not be in this fiscal mess.

“Adding to our problems, I am concerned about the lack of leadership from the governor’s office on the $250 million tax increase that he has pushed on the backs of Iowa property taxpayers. Now is certainly not the time to be raising taxes.

“A year ago House Republicans undertook the job of diving in to the state’s budgets to try to find efficiencies and savings. We will continue our efforts of a line-by-line review of state spending, offering positive solutions to bring the budget back in check.”

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The following editorial ran in the Des Moines Register on October 14th:

What to cut from state budget? For a start, cut state employees’ pay
by: House Republican Leader Kraig Paulsen

Gov. Chet Culver and legislative Democrats have a spending problem. They spent too much and cut too little. As a result of this self-created crisis, the governor forced his hand and ordered a 10 percent across-the-board budget cut - an across-the-board cut that was almost entirely avoidable. These cuts are the result of two things: bad planning and back-room decisions in the middle of the night.

To read the rest of the article, click here:
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009910140330