Sen. Pat Ward: Senate Budget Bill Asks State Workers to Pay Part of Health-Care Coverage

After many calls of concern, I want to be very clear – I have no plans to retire from the Iowa Senate.

A great deal of confusion occurred over my announcement last week that I resigned from Senate District 30, so that I can run for re-election in Senate District 22. As you know, my current Senate District 30 was split in half to become part of Senate District 21 and part of Senate District 22.

If I am fortunate enough to be re-elected in November, I will continue to represent a district of informed people who care deeply about the future of our great state.

Last week, we announced a Republican plan to enact a pro-jobs budget for the hardworking taxpayers of Iowa.

This plan, crafted with job creators in mind, will create an atmosphere of stability, predictability and certainty for all Iowans.

Our budget plan promotes common sense budgeting principles of aligning ongoing expenses with revenues and ending the practice of using one-time money for ongoing expenses, intentionally underfunding entitlement programs and raising taxes in order to spend more. In other words, state government needs to “live within its means”.

As economic uncertainty continues throughout our country, it’s imperative that we take a conservative approach to the state budget in order to provide stability for Iowa’s job creators.

One of the best ways to help Iowa’s employers, small businesses and job creators is to control government spending and balance the budget.

Our plan includes:

• Perform a line by line review of government budgets to find waste and create efficiencies
• Spend less than we take in. The Democrat’s budget plan spend $1.02 for every dollar that comes in and our plan spends just 97 cents. It’s easy to see which one is sustainable and which is not.
• Our budget funds Iowans’ priorities including education, public safety, health care, property tax credits and preserving any ending balance in the Taxpayers Trust Fund.
• Taxpayers can no longer afford to carry the full burden for every state employee’s health insurance. Since over 80 percent of state employees pay nothing for their health care, asking all employees, including state legislators, to contribute at least $200 towards their own health care is the right thing to do.

Iowans deserve a budget that is transparent and accountable and they do not want to see politicians utilizing budget gimmicks to mislead or deceive.

If our budget plan is enacted, it will be another important step toward getting Iowa back on track and on the road to more growth, prosperity and job creation.

We have two more community forums scheduled. The Clive forum is on Saturday, Feb. 25, from 9:30 to 11]at the Walnut Ridge Senior Campus. The West Des Moines forum will be on Saturday, March 24.

Everyone is welcome! I am your voice at the State Capitol and look forward to your input. You can also reach me by calling the Capitol at (515) 281-3371 or emailing me at pat.ward@legis.iowa.gov. Your thoughts and concerns remain very important to me – it is truly an honor to serve you in the Iowa Senate.