House Journal: Page 13: Monday, January 10, 2000
to live by enhancing our quality of life and ensuring that our water is clean and that
recreation opportunities and community attractions continue to improve. These are
the goals of the Republican Caucus, and indeed I believe they are shared by both
parties as well as the Governor.
Martin Luther King, Jr. said "Life’s most persistent and urgent question is: What
are you doing for others?" By acting on these goals, I know we will feel comfortable at
the end of this session answering Dr. King’s question.
Another thing that Iowa citizens told me around the state is that they are proud of
all of us for getting our fiscal house in order. They are proud that we no longer use
budget gimmicks to balance our books. They don’t want us to make promises we don’t
keep, and they don’t want us shifting money around to places where it doesn’t belong.
Iowans have long memories, and they remember our past indiscretions. They
remember starting the Instructional Support Levy for schools and then never fully
funding it. They remember the creation of R.E.A.P. at $30 million a year and then
never fully funding it. They remember in the early ‘90’s when we cut back on the
Homestead Tax Credit because of our bad budgeting practices. And they certainly
remember the years that we robbed the road use tax fund by paying for the operation
of the Highway Patrol out of road construction funds. They appreciate the progress we
have made and during this tight budget year they want us to continue to use sound
budgeting practices.
Iowans also are very happy with our infrastructure fund. They love the recreation
grants, lake dredging, biking and hiking trails, state capitol restoration, and the
Community Attraction and Tourism fund that we established using infrastructure
money. We should not be moving programs that have nothing to do with infrastructure
from the general fund into the infrastructure fund. We have made great progress, and
we have to make sure that one tight budget year doesn’t make us think of the easy, but
bad, practices of the past.
So we have a challenging session ahead of us. To accomplish what our state needs,
we have to strive to work together. There are some people around here who say it is an
election year and that partisanship will be very high. That’s not what the people of
Iowa want. They want us to work to improve our great state. They understand that
we will have fights and disagreements. However, there will be plenty of time for
partisan politics beginning next May. For the next 100 days, we must work to pass the
legislation necessary to improve our state.
Finally, I want to thank each and every one of you for serving in the Iowa House. It
is an unfortunate fact of life that the people of Iowa do not know what a sacrifice it is
for all of us to serve in the Iowa House. If you haven’t been here, you can’t know how
difficult it is to leave family, friends, and jobs back home to serve the public. They
don’t realize that we totally uproot our lives to provide a public service. There are days
around here that my stomach hurts because I’m not at home with my wife and two
young children. On those days, knowing that I work with all of you, the best people in
the state, makes it worthwhile. Knowing that together we are making a difference
makes up for the sacrifices we all make.
Thank you for allowing me to serve as your Speaker, and thank you for being part
of this great institution.
© 2000 Cornell College and
League of Women Voters of Iowa
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