The State Legislature has about a little less than a month left. Will they revive the once lauded Iowa Values Fund? Our friend Clarence Hoffman has been working hard to make sure they try.
Our own Representative, Republican Clarence Hoffman was one of 11 members of the original Values Fund board. The Values Fund granted $56 million to 36 projects statewide in 2004. Those investments have helped create or keep more than 14,000 jobs in Iowa. Better paying jobs than average.
When it was created in 2003 the Fund didn’t really have a permanent source of funding. $100 million came from the federal government that Democratic Senator Tom Harken helped finagle for economic stimulus. That was a great start. But without permanent funding, some Senate Republicans were leary.
Gov.Tom Vilsack signed it but line-item vetoed parts of the bill that Republicans wanted to use to relax business regulation and reform taxes. The Iowa Supreme Court ruled that he miss used his line-item veto and that the surviving bill was void. In September, a special session of the legislature came up with some temporary funding.
Hoffman and fellow Republican Representative Chuck Soderberg from LeMars along with two Democrat; Reps. Donovan Olson of Boone and Roger Thomas of Elkader proposed a new version of the Values Fund bill. This bill has fewer opponents according to some newspaper and journal reports, and seems to have bi-partisan support.
Hoffman chairs of the House Economic Growth Committee and has been leading the charge to bring back the Fund and make it an enduring program.
The House plan promises $500 million over five years for grants to businesses to come to or expand here in Iowa. Research at Iowa's universities, job training at community colleges and other economic development programs would also benefit.
Once again, funding remains the biggest challenge. The Denison Bulletin reported that Hoffman is leaving the source of funding to the leadership and the governor.
Senate Republicans are proposing tax credits to companies who create new jobs. They also want to freeze property tax rates for seniors. But the Senate is split evenly between 25 Republicans and 25 Democrats. The Democrats hope to clean-up Iowa's waterways, and want to keep Republican tax cuts in check.
The Senate tie, the first since the 1930s, could be a good thing for Iowa. Legislators on both sides of the aisle can reach across and cooperate, even if it means a compromise or two. If they succeed, they will be setting an example that the U.S. House and Senate would do to emulate. I think that plenty of Americans are growing weary of bitter partisan battle.
It will be a big job. Lawmakers want to come through on their Values Fund campaign promises. Both the House and the Senate have to work together and both parties will have to work together. And they’ll all have to come up with something that will make it past the governor’s veto pen. Since he’s not running for a third term, he has nothing to lose by vetoing a bill if he thinks legislators are trying to sneak a broader regulatory and tax reform agenda by him again, hidden in the greater good of the Fund itself.
Some legislators have thought about of issuing bonds for a couple years worth of temporary financing until money starts coming in from new casinos that the state gaming commission might be okay. Casino licenses could mean $30 million in new state revenue every year.
However they pay for it the Iowa Values Fund, it will be a boon to our economy. It will also help plug a hole in the wall to help prevent Iowa’s “brain drain,” by providing careers for young Iowans who otherwise might leave the state after college.
If they follow Clarence Hoffman’s bi-partisan leadership and restore the Values Fund, it will be a tremendous legacy for him and vicariously for Charter Oak.
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