Culver wins passage of bonding plan

In a flurry of activity over two marathon days, Democrats in the House and Senate managed to pass a $715 million, multi-year bonding plan (in addition to $115 million for flood recovery), despite fierce opposition from Republicans in both chambers.

Gov. Chet Culver had made the plan the centerpiece of his legislative agenda, proposing it in his Condition of the State address and campaigning around the state for months trying to build public support.

Gov. Chet Culver

The plan, which Culver dubbed I-JOBS, will borrow millions to pay for flood recovery and infrastructure projects, including transportation, public buildings, disaster recovery and prevention, wastewater and water improvements and initiatives on housing, energy, and broadband access.The multi-bill plan is now headed to Culver’s desk for his signature.

“I-JOBS will help rebuild a smarter, safer and stronger Iowa,” Culver said. “It will allow us to speed up our recovery from one of the worst natural disasters in American history. It will put people to work. From transportation to housing, from education to technology, from alternative energy to water systems, no aspect of our public infrastructure will go untouched.”

The high price of the plan, however, caused every Republican to vote against it.

“With this bill, you’re handcuffing us for the next 26 years,” said Sen. Randy Feenstra, R-Hull. “This legislature of 2009 will go down in history.”

Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal, D-Council Bluffs, agreed with Feenstra that the session will go down in history.

“It will go down in history as the session where we said we’re not going to do what Louisiana did and leave New Orleans in swamps,” he said. “We’re not going to do that. We’re going to make sure we recover from last summer’s disasters, help our communities fix themselves up, pull themselves up, and build a new future.”

Culver said Iowa ranks 48th in the nation in debt load, and even if the state were to triple its debt, it would still rank 47th.

“I think [Republicans] needed an excuse to vote against a bill,” he said. “And they are going to have a lot of explaining to do to the voters next fall. What do you say to a flood victim? If you voted against this bill, you voted against helping the University of Iowa rebuild their campus. You voted against flood victims.”

Culver and Democratic lawmakers were originally at odds over how much money to borrow and whether or not to use any of the money for road and bridge repair. Earlier this week, however, the governor indicated that while he was willing to negotiate the details of the bill, the key principals of his plan, including funds for transportation projects, must remain.

The plan is estimated by Democrats to create 30,000 jobs, a figure Senate Minority Leader Paul McKinley, R-Chariton, scoffed at.

“This $750 million will create 30,000 jobs? If you believe that, I’ve got a bridge to sell you,” he said.

In March, Iowa State University economist David Swenson and Creighton University economics professor Ernie Goss looked at Culver’s plan and concluded the total would be closer to 4,000 jobs.

The House and Senate both worked until early Saturday morning only to reconvene hours later with the hope of adjourning the 2009 session this weekend. The final details of a $6 billion state budget are among the final pieces of legislation being considered.