Dave Heineman, governor of neighboring Nebraska, has endorsed GOP candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney in the 2012 race, Romney staff said today in a press release.

“Mitt Romney has a proven record of balancing budgets, keeping taxes low, and creating an environment for job growth,” Heineman, who is serving his second gubernatorial term, said in the release. “As a governor, I understand the challenges this country faces and Mitt Romney has the experience to meet those challenges.”

Romney’s press team confirmed today reports that Romney will sit out straw poll contests in Iowa and elsewhere in the United States.

AMES — Longtime political consultant and activist Fred Karger, the first official Republican 2012 presidential candidate, admits he’s a long shot. But as Gov. Haley Barbour (R-Miss) bows out of the race because he “doesn’t have the fire in his belly,” Karger insists he does.

Speaking at Legend’s Bar & Grill before a dozen students from Iowa State University, largely members of the College Republicans, told them he supported Democrat Hillary Clinton during the 2008 primaries. Karger said he would support a Democrat if they fell in line with his beliefs, and he supported Barack Obama when he became the eventual nominee. But he also said Obama has been a disappointment to him and the gay community, and that’s what pushed him into the race.

Karger has always been a Republican and worked on the campaigns of former presidents Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush. Over the past 10 years, Karger — who is openly gay — spent most of his time as an activist for gay rights, especially fighting the Mormon church over Proposition 8.

He said part of the reason he’s running is to try to influence the debate among the Republican party, to get them away from an ideological divide over social issues and become a “big tent party” once again. That’s why he’s trying to visit with college students.

“Reince Priebus is making that a big part of his initiative is to bring in younger people into the Republican party,” Karger said of the new head of the Republican National Committee. “And I’ve heard him say that — and I’ve talked to him about that — and I’m clearly the only Republican running who is actively trying to bring new and younger members into the party.”

Karger won a straw poll at a college campus recently in New Hampshire, beating former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. He attributed that to spending a week at a time in the Granite State repeatedly, meeting with voters. He said college students are typically more accepting of his sexuality and are able to get around it to talk about policy and other larger concerns.

Karger admits he’s taking a page out of Obama’s playbook by targeting youth voters, but believes Obama is “vulnerable” in 2012 despite a “bleak field” of GOP candidates emerging.

When students asked him about the size of government, Karger said some social programs will have to stay because some people just can’t take care of themselves. But he said the size of entitlements needs to be on the table.

Photo by Tyler Kingkade/The Iowa Independent

“I’m not making any finite recommendations but … I’m not running from it,” Karger later told The Iowa Independent. “Because of health care [improvements], people are living far longer than they were when Medicare was passed, when Social Security was passed.”

Along with him, Karger brought frisbees that read “Fred Who?” to pass out. He said the frisbees are intentional because it’s part of his initiative to get people healthy. “It may not be throwing frisbess,” he admitted, but he wants to encourage people to take small steps like walking up stairs, going for short runs and making an effort to live healthy. That’s part of why health care costs are so high, he claimed.

Karger said part of his campaign will be focused on listening to ideas from potential voters rather than simply throwing out his policy ideas right away. But he will focus on fiscal issues over social issues, such as gay rights or a woman’s right to choose.

“I want to bring back that entrepreneurial spirit and get people to stop relying on government,” Karger said.

He also declared he would not accept any matching dollars from the federal government for his campaign. He said there has been too much money being raised.

Raising nearly hundreds of millions of dollars just before entering the White House, as Obama did, makes health care reform packages and stimulus programs with price tags near $1 billion seem like no big deal, Karger asserted.

The Iowa Board of Regents will consider at their meeting this week whether to open the Harkin Institute for Public Policy at Iowa State University. The institute would be focused on the state’s first-in-the-nation caucus and policy matters relative to current legislation, and would be named after U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa).

On Monday 24 state Senate Republicans sent a letter to the Board of Regents to voice their objection to naming the center after the Iowa Democrat, as a current sitting official.

The copy of the letter sent to The Iowa Independent stated, in part:

“We agree with Senator Greiner’s points that the inclusion of this proposed institute raises serious concerns about transparency within the Regents system and also prompts very concerning legal and ethical challenges. At this time, we respectfully request the Board of Regents to postpone any consideration of the Harkin Institute for Public Policy until there is further discussion about this proposal and the general propriety of a state institution naming an institute after a current elected official serving the people of Iowa.”

State Senator Sandra Greiner (R-Keota), who has herself been the target of government watchdog groups for her association with the American Future Fund, originally raised a flag of objection last week.

“My basic concern is the impropriety of a seated senator … whose organization would be soliciting funds to run their institute from the same people who would possibly be seeking regulation from that senator,” Greiner told Radio Iowa.

The institute is said in the proposal that it would be nonpartisan and funded through gifts, not by the state. Part of the proposal before the Regents states the institute would honor “[Harkin's] policy concerns, including those related to agriculture, education, international affairs, disabilities, nutrition, health, and labor, will guide and direct the proposed institute’s teaching, research, and outreach priorities.”

See the Harkin-Institute proposal to the Regents.

See the Senate Letter to Regents Regarding Harkin Institute.

Iowa’s public universities are experiencing record enrollments but are being funded in real dollars at the same level as they were 30 years ago. In fact, no area of state government has taken more hits in funding over the past 10 years than Iowa’s Regent universities, according to the Legislative Services Agency.

The universities made up most of the cuts through efficiency measures — staff and faculty reduction, closing programs, reducing janitorial services — but average tuition increases have been increasing while nationally they have declined. The Regents say they would need to increase tuition by 38 percent to close the gap in appropriations from 2009. In the past two years, Regents absorbed 20 percent of the overall budget cuts. Over a period of 10 years, from FY 2001 to FY 2011, in-state tuition increased 99.7 percent.

At the community college level, enrollment increased 15 percent over the past five years while their appropriations remained largely stagnant as a percentage of state spending. The national stimulus plan would have provided $12 billion in investments to community colleges, but was whittled down to only $2 billion.

Iowa will see an average 5 percent increase in tuition for the 2011-12 academic year. But that number changes based on the program a student is enrolled in; nursing students at the University of Iowa will see the largest tuition increase in the nation with a nearly 40 percent rise.

Not all Regents agreed on the tuition increases, with both Ruth Harkin and Michael Gartner voting against it. Gartner had an alternative proposal.

“For every $7 million they add back to the Regents budget for fiscal 2012, we will cut the proposed 5 percent rate by one percentage point,” Gartner wrote in an op-ed. “If they added $35 million — which could be done quite easily — we’d agree not to raise tuition at all for resident undergraduates.”

How Iowa compares to other states

Iowa’s public universities still rank at the bottom compared to peer schools in tuition and fees. Neighboring states Illinois and Minnesota both charge nearly double what Iowa’s universities do. Iowa has been able to keep tuition and fees below the national average throughout the past 10 years.

The average annual cost of public 2-year college in Iowa is $3,415, ranking the state 8th in the nation. Iowa ranks 25th for average annual costs of 4-year colleges at $13,831. This is including more than simply tuition and fees, like books and other education expenses, but not food or housing.

Tuition now accounts for 54 percent of general education revenue for public higher education, up from 20 percent in 1982. State appropriations have shrunk from 77 percent of revenue in the 1982 to 39 percent in FY 2011. The national average in FY 2009 was 63 percent of revenue came from state government appropriations.

Despite Illinois having a much higher tuition than Iowa, they surpass that 63 percent national average, as do other states like California and Texas. Arizona, which has tuition near or lower than Iowa’s levels and is towards the bottom in average student debt loads, provides 60 percent of public higher education revenue. There are states like Michigan which maintain higher tuition than Iowa and provide less state support directly to public universities.

Overall, Iowa ranks 2nd in the nation for per capita spending on higher education with $1,353, only behind New Mexico at $1,363, according to data compiled by the American Human Development Project.

The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education says the cost of college has risen more than 450 percent since 1982, or four times the rate of the Consumer Price Index. The cost to attend postsecondary education is outpacing the median family family at a 2-to-1 rate, and is far surpassing the rate of increasing medical costs.

Students Push Back

Iowa is not seeing the same cuts as other states like California, and so few students have taken action to protest the cuts. This year a small crowd organized in Iowa City and students traveled by busloads to the state Capitol for the annual Regents’ day.

“The budget cuts that we make now are going to affect the University for the next week, next year, for the next 50 years,” said Jared Knight, Vice-President of the Iowa State Government of the Student Body.

Knight said he’s already seen the impact of cuts with class sizes, cleanliness of the facilities and technology available to students.

“Every single day we hear complaints from professors about technology not working–I mean, it’s Iowa State University of Science and Technology and we’re years behind in technology,” he added. “It’s a state school, it needs state support. Otherwise it might as well be a private school.”

The Board of Regents themselves have been vocal this year about their concern with the cuts. Regents president David Miles appeared alongside students at the Capitol. He and other board members have also written editorials, as have some professors and university administrators.

While cuts came last year, and Iowa now has a surplus, stimulus funds have dried up and the state faces a structural budget deficit.

The cuts force the universities to become leaner, which often means fewer class offerings and chances to utilize various labs on campus.

Gov. Terry Branstad said while he is proposing cuts for FY 2012, he wants to see a restoration of funding levels to higher education eventually. He said he took out student loans when he was an undergraduate and is sensitive to the cost of college, but insists he has an obligation to balance the budget.

“We have to get our financial house in order first,” Branstad told The Iowa Independent, when asked what stands in the way of increasing appropriations for the Regents. He added that the state is in a financial mess, and education makes up more than 60 percent of the budget, but remains hopeful as the economy improves Iowa could provide more support to higher education.

Iowa ranks near the bottom in terms of the size of the state’s budget gap, with a 6 percent shortfall.

Branstad has said he believes colleges need to be more efficient, and that was echoed by the Iowa State University College Republicans at the Regents day.

Iowa State President Gregory Geoffroy outlined what his university has done to make up the budget shortfalls, other than tuition increases:

Our many operational efficiencies and cost savings measures include: Administrative and program reorganizations in several colleges; elimination and downsizing research centers and institutes; new processes to gain efficiencies in information technology; and streamlined administrative functions. We restructured the statewide extension system in 2009, reducing the number of county and area directors by 77 positions and closing several regional offices. No other statewide Iowa government reorganization matches the scope of what we had to do in restructuring ISU Extension.

“We need to continue to find more efficiencies and, yes, it’s the Regents’ job to be mindful of tuition,” Miles told The Iowa Independent. “But a significant part of our budget for educating students comes from state appropriations.”

Miles said as much as he’d like to see a return to the support Regents got 30 years ago, he believes this year would be appropriate to begin to stabilize and move away from cutting further, even if an increase is not in the cards.

What investing in higher education means for the rest of the state

While $551,738,691 was appropriated to Regents in FY 2010, Miles said there was $8 billion in economic impact. This would mean Iowa receives around $14 back for every $1 put in to public higher education.

The universities also provide services to small businesses, helping more than 1,000 Iowa businesses each year with research and start-up opportunities, according to the Board of Regents. But the budget for Iowa State University’s economic development has gone from $3,019,446 in FY 2009 to potentially being cut to $935,233 in the Iowa House budget target for FY 2012.

A state relations officer for the Regents explained to The Iowa Independent the economic development includes five hours of free consultation for small businesses. A hand sanitizer company in Muscatine went through this fund to help define the chemical makeup of their product. Larger companies like John Deere had help from Iowa State to identify a problem on a pipe on their manufacturing line.

But without looking at what the state puts in, the higher the level of education an individual, the more they work and earn. That’s what the Iowa Policy Project argues; someone with a bachelor’s degree will earn on average $7.26 more an hour than a person with only high school diploma. The IPP would encourage the state to offer tuition scholarships for low-wage workers; their analysis finds it would return $3.70 for every dollar invested in a 2-year degree and $2.40 for each dollar invested in a bachelor’s degree.

Iowa is a relatively low-wage state, ranking 32nd nationally with a median personal income of $26,856, according again to the American Human Development Project. The state ranks 41st for those with at a professional or graduate degree with 7.33 percent of the population. Iowa is slightly better at 35th in the nation for those with at least a bachelor’s degree; 24.3 percent of the state’s population hold one.

A study by Georgetown’s Center on Education and the Workforce found Iowa will need 319,000 new, postsecondary-educated workers by 2018. Sixty-two percent of all Iowa jobs will require at least some higher education within seven years.

“America needs more workers with college degrees, certificates and industry certifications,” stated Anthony P. Carnevale, the Center’s director. “If we don’t address this need now, millions of jobs could go offshore.”

However, the barrier of the cost of college is prohibitive on many young people seeking to further their education. The results of a Associated Press and Viacom survey of 18- to 24-year-old students found them citing money over grades as the major reason for dropping out of college. Two-thirds of respondents work part-time jobs and 57 percent said they rely on loans. Still, 85 percent believed college was worth the high cost.

“It’s not partisan — it’s not about this particular legislator or this governor — it’s been going on for years,” Miles said. “Now that the economy has gotten a little better we’re saying to everyone, it’s time to reinvest.”

No budget has been decided in Iowa, and the legislature is now expected to go past their scheduled end of session. Senate Democrats are fighting against Branstad’s desire for a biennial budget, and other legislators are concerned about the governor’s transfer authority if he would be given a two-year budget.

Linn County Supervisor Ben Rogers is spending 10 days in Pakistan as part of a U.S. State Department delegation and is inviting constituents to travel along virtually.

Rogers, who began a work-related blog on his website in March, has already begun to provide small glimpses into his trip to meet with members of the Pakistani government.

It’s been a long day of driving to Chicago, 14 hour flight to Abu Dhabi and waiting to get on a three hour flight to Islamabad. … The delegation is an eclectic mix of age, professions and international travel experience.

Rogers and the delegation arrived in Abu Dhabi Friday, so readers can expect updates throughout the next week from Islamabad. Although Rogers has traveled abroad previously, this marks his first experience in the region.

Visit his blog at benrogers.org or you can subscribe to his syndication feed.

Recent polling of Iowa Republican voters found three-quarters believe President Obama was either not born in the United States, or are unsure if he was.

Forty-eight percent of respondents said they were unsure, 26 percent said they thought he was not born in the country. Only 26 percent believe Obama was truly born in the United States.

The poll also found Donald Trump was in third place with 14 percent of the vote. Trump has been trumpeting the so-called “birtherism” belief; challenging that there is a conspiracy to explain why Obama has not only an actual birth certificate stating he was born in Hawaii, but also a newspaper clipping announcing his birth.

Mitt Romney came in third with 16 percent, while Mike Huckabee — who has largely remained vacant from the 2012 candidate scene — leads the pack with 27 percent of the vote in the poll. If Trump was not included in the race, both Huckabee and Romney held their position with increased support. If Huckabee was removed, Romney took the lead with 25 percent of the voters.

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was nearly tied with former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich and U.S. Rep. Ron Paul in most of the polling.

Results came from a poll conducted by Public Policy Polling of 419 usual Republican voters in Iowa conducted April 15 to 17.

Despite the support for Romney, only 11 percent said they would vote for a candidate that backed a mandate to buy health insurance, as was required in the health care reform Romney signed into law in Massachusetts as governor. Romney won the Iowa straw poll in the summer of 2007. He came in second, behind Huckabee, in the Iowa caucus in 2008.

The results also indicated a majority of Republicans in Iowa were unsure of some of the candidates who have spent the most time in Iowa when asked if they had a favorable or unfavorable opinion. They included Tim Pawlenty, Herman Cain, Rick Santorum, and Haley Barbour.

Two dark horse candidates pundits throw out as possible last minute candidate, Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels and outgoing Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman, were nearly unknown among respondents.

A majority also indicated they did not consider themselves a member of the tea party.

Gov. Terry Branstad will sign legislation Wednesday aimed at encouraging the blocking of state funds from going to companies in Iran.

House File 484 reads “the General Assembly intends that state funds and funds administered by the state, including public employee retirement funds, should not be invested in companies that provide power production-related services, mineral extraction activities, oil-related activities, or military equipment to the government of Iran.”

The bill opens by saying the legislature is concerned Iran has provided support for international terrorism.

HF 484 provides explanations of what kind of companies would be included and what funds, including retirement funds, are included in the new law. Notably, the bill prohibits business with any company that has business operations which has more than ten percent of the company’s revenues or assets linked to Iranian power production activities.

For years now, Iran has faced scrutiny over whether its nuclear power pursuit was for peacetime energy or for developing weapons. This bill would prohibit Iowa funds from going to companies or third parties which may support those efforts by the Iranian government.

According to the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, 16 states and the District of Columbia have enacted legislation regarding Iran divestment policies.

The bill would have no effect on the state’s general fund, the Legislative Services Agency claims. The costs, if any, the LSA says will be $25,000 to $35,000 from the Board of Regents and Municipal Fire and Police Retirement System in both FY 2012 and FY 2013. The LSA said in an analysis the fiscal impact to IPERS is an estimated additional cost ranging between $109,000 and $592,000 in FY 2012 and up to $25,000 in FY 2013.

This is all estimated and vague because it is unsure just exactly how much disinvestment would occur. The costs would be endured by the current budgets of the government institutions.

Branstad will sign the bill into law Wednesday at 1:15 p.m. in his formal office.

Only a few months ago, Iowa politicos were questioning whether U.S. Rep. Leonard Boswell (D-Iowa) would face a tough primary challenge by Christie Vilsack, the wife of former Iowa Governor turned U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. Now it’s clear Boswell has a challenge from another direction, by U.S. Rep. Tom Latham (R-Iowa).

Latham, the current incumbent for Iowa’s 4th District, announced Friday he would move to the 3rd District to square off against Democratic incumbent Boswell.

Latham would thus avoid facing U.S. Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), a conservative firebrand and favorite in Iowa’s 5th District. The new redistricting, approved by the Iowa legislature this week, had to deal with a cut to Iowa’s Congressional seats and placed Latham and King in the same district.

Boswell began holding private fundraisers immediately after the 2010 elections and is said to have deep pockets. However, Latham has been close with Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio) and is no stranger to political fundraising.

Boswell’s base is in Des Moines, while Latham resides in Ames. The new redistricting pairs Ames with Sioux City, and Des Moines with Council Bluffs.

Latham held his current district in 2008, although Barack Obama carried it in the presidential election.

The Washington Post reports “Gov. Terry Branstad (R) would have carried the [new] district with 52 percent in his successful 2010 campaign, while Obama would have won the seat with 52 percent back in 2008.”

Boswell offered insight concerning his 2012 race to The Hill:

“I would just say that I’ve had a tough race every time and that’s what I expect,” said Boswell, adding that his new district will have “half the counties I’ve served before anyway.”

“The one thing [Latham] would have to think about, or even King for that matter, if he were to move south, is that if you’re going to represent the capital city, you better be ready for a tough competition every year,” Boswell said. “So they’ll have to really think about that. Whereas if one of them wins that new 4th district, they could probably coast a little bit by comparison.”

The Iowa Legislature approved the redistricting plan overwhelmingly on Thursday, which now only requires Branstad’s signature. Branstad tweeted Friday that his approval would be forthcoming.

Boswell released the following statement in response to Latham’s announcement:

“I respect Tom’s right to run in the newly-drawn 3rd District. The 2012 election is still a year and a half away, and while my campaign operation is humming, my focus is locked on delivering and fighting for the people of Iowa, and serving in my current committee roles which are of great relevance to every Iowa constituent.

“It continues to be exciting to represent Polk County and this urban area of Iowa, but I also look forward to serving new-old constituents. Growing up and raising a family in southern Iowa, this area has always held a special place in my heart and many of these future constituents are Iowans who know me as a farmer and a veteran, not just a congressman. I have served nearly 70 percent of the people in the new 3rd District during my time in public service.”

(Editor’s Note: Updated at 3:15 pm CST to include Boswell’s statement.)

The conservative interest group Iowans for Tax Relief is pushing against Gov. Terry Branstad‘s proposal to raise casino taxes with a statewide campaign.

Last week, the group launched a radio ad criticizing the governor and the state legislature. In an email to members obtained by The Iowa Independent, ITR called the tax increase on casinos “fundamentally unfair” and claimed it would destroy jobs in Iowa.

The new law singles out Iowa casinos, and would raise taxes on them by 64 percent. At the same time, Republicans have been pushing for a Tax Relief Fund, without significant detail as to how it would be administered, and cuts to property taxes and income taxes.

“This tax grab by state government will take almost $200 million from local communities and transfer that money to state bureaucrats in Des Moines,” Iowans for Tax Relief said in the email.

Leaders from the legislature said in February they doubted the casino tax increase would go through.

Economist Harvey Siegelman of the Strategic Economics Group, hired by gambling interests, concluded if the tax increase went through, four to six of the state’s casinos would close, leading to as many as 4,500 layoffs.

Branstad has said he believed the casinos were crying wolf and didn’t believe it would turn out as bad as they predict. At one point, he said they were the ones who could afford a tax increase.

The Governor confronted protests at town hall events over the issue, but did say he was willing to compromise.

Polling shows around half of Iowans are supportive of the major tax hike.

Hear the radio ad by ITR here.

An Alabama man employed by the Pawlenty Exploratory Committee was arrested early Wednesday morning for allegedly trying to enter a home in Ankeny.

Police said Benjamin Foster, who was confirmed to KCCI TV-8 to be employed on staff for former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty‘s presidential campaign, was arrested for trespassing and public intoxication.

Benjamin Foster processing photo from the Polk County Jail

A teenage girl told the Des Moines television station she woke at 3 a.m. to the sound of her dogs barking. She discovered a man banging on the back door and trying to get in. She screamed before the family called police.

“His arm was in my back door, trying to get in and I screamed and went upstairs to my parents room and I continued screaming,” said 15-year-old Chloe Steward.

KCCI reported:

The Steward family said Foster was drunk and was trying to get home to a friend’s house in Johnston. They said he vomited in their backyard and scared their daughter.

Ankeny Police Chief Gary Mikulec said Foster told the officers he was staying at 6905 Jack London Dr., in Johnston.

That address would be the same address as state Rep. Erik Helland (R-Johnston) who in 2010 was arrested for driving while intoxicated. Helland was arrested and also charged with interference with official acts.

Foster issued a statement saying “Last night, I made a very serious mistake. I take full responsibility for my actions. I want to apologize to all affected by my poor judgment.”

The 24-year-old Foster was hired in 2010 as an aide shortly after he moved to Iowa from Alabama.

Eric Woolson, speaking for the exploratory committee issued a statement to the Des Moines Register:

“Governor Pawlenty is extremely disappointed in Ben’s actions and his behavior does not meet the standards he expects of his employees. Therefore, the committee is placing Ben on a two-week unpaid suspension and expects him to bear the legal consequences for his action.”