House Journal: Page 5: Monday, January 8, 1996

The unfortunate passing of Jerry Cornelius and several family
members of other members of this body certainly caused sadness
during the past several months. The sadness was mitigated by the
joy that was caused by the births of children to the families of
Representatives Brunkhorst and Moreland, Mark Brandsgard and Pam
Dugdale, and even State Democratic Chairman Mike Peterson. And,
of course, our congratulations to Representatives David Millage,
Donna Hammitt Barry and Chuck Larson on their marriages. We will
be waiting for goodies from these people during the next several
weeks.
As we start our session today, the question that is being asked
is what will we accomplish between now and our projected ending
date on April 16th. Some people say nothing - it's an election
year. Others say we'll accomplish a little bit. I say we will
accomplish a lot in this body, this session.
I must say it is refreshing not to hear all the jokes and snide
comments about "hold on to your wallet, the legislature is back
in session". And there is a good reason that we are not held up
for ridicule much anymore. Look at the record this body has
assembled the past three years. We've eliminated a $400 million
plus deficit and replaced it with a $400 million plus surplus. 
We pay our bills on time. We reformed welfare in a meaningful
and compassionate way. We have created jobs. We actually cut
taxes. And the list goes on. We have positioned Iowa to be one
of the shining stars in the U.S. as we move into the next
century.
And yet there seems to be a prevailing mood of doom and gloom
around this place. There appears to be very little optimism as
we start this session. And this is in spite of the fact that our
economy continues to grow far beyond expectations; our
unemployment rate is an unbelievable 3.2 percent; there are
almost 29,000 more Iowans working this year than last year; our
per capita personal income increased from thirty-fifth in the
nation in 1993, to thirtieth in 1994; the number of children in
our schools increased for the sixth straight year; and in the
report "State Rankings 1995", Iowa was ranked the fourth most
livable place to live in the United States.
Now, I certainly understand that we have problems in this state.
We do need to have better paying jobs for our citizens, we do
have to provide more housing, especially for moderate income
people, and we need to tend to our infrastructure needs.  But
while we have problems, we also have a unique opportunity to
vault our state into the national limelight.
I think we need to recognize our problems, work to create
solutions to begin solving them, and at the same time,
accentuate the positive side of Iowa and let the rest of the
world know that this is a place moving in the right direction.
Too many people, including several across the rotunda only want
to point to the problems and talk about what's wrong, not what's
right. I think they went and looked through their old record
collection of 45's and found the early 1960's hit by a guy named
Barry Macquire called the "Eve of Destruction"; and they've been
playing it over and over. Doom and gloom. When I look at our
state today, I am reminded of a more recent, albeit rather
obscure rock band called "Timbuk 3". and the line from one of
their songs, "the future's so bright, I gotta wear shades". Not
doom and gloom, ladies and gentlemen: opportunity!

All of us read recently that AT&T was reducing their workforce
by 40,000 people in a downsizing effort. That announcement, and
others like it, cause concern for our citizens.  Make no mistake
about it. In the remaining years of this decade, Iowa will lose
jobs. Every country of the world will lose jobs as business
downsizes and tries to become more efficient. Iowa will not be
immune. What we must do in this legislature is work to create a
climate that will allow us to create more jobs than we lose. We
must create opportunity for our state to grow. We have

Iowa General Assembly

Index: House Journal (76th General Assembly: Session 2)

© 1996 Cornell College and League of Women Voters of Iowa

Comments? hjourn@legis.iowa.gov.

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