February 2010

Dear Citizen:

As of February 15, I have received 158 responses from my recent legislative survey.  I have personally read every response.  This is a summary of the responses and highlights of the comments I received.

In the survey, I asked which areas of the budget we should try to avoid budget cuts.  Here are the areas of the budget that respondents said should be protected:

            Human Services - 86

            Public Safety - 86

            K-12 Education - 79

            Disaster Recovery - 63

            Unemployment - 59

            Higher Education - 52

            Ag and Natural Resources - 50

            Transportation - 47

            Court Services - 40

            Business Tax Credits - 29

            Iowa Power Fund - 27

I also asked open-ended questions about your top priority for Iowa in 2010 and any other comments or suggestions you had.  Many people told me to focus on balancing the budget, reducing spending, and making government more efficient.  For example, one person said, “Cut spending!!!  Cut everything!!!  Government is too big and should be cut in half.”  Some had a different approach, asking me to “raise taxes” and “keep budget fully funded,” or telling me to make sure that “budget considerations do not dominate your agenda.”  Another person asked for better explanations about why the state’s budget has to be cut.  The answer is that since 2008, the effects of the national recession in Iowa have reduced our expected revenue by more than $740 million, according to the non-partisan Legislative Services Agency, which is responsible for our budget projections.

The next largest area for comments was the economy and job creation.  As one constituent said about his highest priority for 2010:  “Jobs, Jobs, Jobs.”   Education also was a high priority for many.  One person said, “Maintaining our excellent education system – it is the hope of the future.”  A few comments asked for the state to expand health care coverage.  The marriage issue also attracted a few comments, both for and against a Constitutional amendment to reverse Varnum v. Brien.  Several people wanted a vote to define marriage as between one man and one woman, while others said it would be a “waste of time” and “who cares – it’s not the government’s concern – let gays be gay – there are more important issues.”

There were also many individual comments on issues such as imposing a $10 license fee on bicycles, raising taxes on luxury items, increased fines for pollution, charging fees to use state parks, stopping sports betting, restricting sales of alcohol where gasoline is sold, improving street repair in Cedar Rapids, building a rail line from Chicago to Omaha, protecting the mountain lion, supporting hearing aid insurance coverage for children, expanding the use of community colleges, protecting veteran’s programs from budget cuts, requiring unemployment recipients to work, and banning texting and cell phones in cars.

As with previous surveys I have done, I also appreciated the comments like, “Thanks for asking, Rob” and “Thank you for this survey!!!”  It is an important way for me to hear from the many citizens I represent.  It is an honor to represent you in the Iowa Senate.

If you want more information about particular issues or concerns, send me an email at rob.hogg@legis.state.ia.us, or please feel free to send me a letter or give me a call at home.