Gov Kim Reynolds made a campaign stop in Jefferson Tuesday as part of her “Keep Iowa Moving”(KIM) tour. With her was State Auditor Mary Mosiman, who is running for re-election. Phil Thompson, Republican candidate for Iowa House District 47 made brief remarks. The event, which was held at Dunkers by Matt, lasted 30 minutes.
Reynolds was introduced by Greene County GOP treasurer Sean Sebourn. She mentioned low unemployment rates and the state budget surplus of $127 million. She noted the increased cost of health insurance for those who don’t qualify for subsidies under the Affordable Care Act, and said the state is working with Farm Bureau Insurance to provide an option at half the cost of other plans.
She spent much of her time comparing current numbers to those in 2011 when she became lieutenant governor with Terry Branstad as governor. She said under Democrat Governor Chet Culver the state borrowed $700 million for the I-Jobs program that didn’t create the promised jobs. According to Reynolds, the state is still paying $55 million per year on that debt.
She also reminded attendees that the Culver administration cut appropriations to education 10 percent across the board. “That’s what we don’t want to go back to,” Reynolds said.
“That’s the choice in this election,” she said. “Do we keep Iowa moving forward, or do we stop, reverse course, and go back to where we were in 2010?”
She said wages have increased the past three quarters, taxes have decreased, and the budget is balanced.
She answered claims by Democratic gubernatorial candidate Fred Hubbell that recent tax cuts need to be repealed, saying the cuts were done “in a fiscally responsible manner and we were able to maintain our priorities.”
She said Democratic claims that the GOP will end IPERS (retirement benefits for public employees) are a scare tactic. “They (the legislators) are not going to do anything that will impact your IPERS today, tomorrow, or into the future. It is not going to happen,” Reynolds said.
She encouraged Republicans to vote. “We’re just getting started and we have a lot more we can do, so get out there. It’s worth fighting for,” she said.
State Auditor Mosiman talked about the role of her office, and said that for the office to audit public agencies, it must be led by a CPA. It’s not required by Code that the state auditor be a CPA, but in that case, an outside firm must be hired for the audits. She said the estimated cost of that is $5 million a year.
Mosiman said her office has done 100 investigative audits and found $14 million in fraud by government entities.
Thompson promised to continue the work of his former employer, Rep Dawn Pettengill, “who is notorious for going to bat for IPERS.”
He said the Reynolds’ tax cuts are important to protect because they’re moving the economy forward. “If you value having more food on your table, it’s important for you to vote,” he said.
In encouraging voting, he said, “Friends don’t let friends vote alone. If you know a patriot, if you know a good Christian, if you know somebody that shares your values, make sure you get them to the polls, too.”
