Culver calls for state to cut up to $40 million
Iowa Gov. Chet Culver, right, speaks during a news conference after Rebuild Iowa Advisory Commission chairman Major General Ron Dardis, left, presented the findings of the RIAC 120-Day Report, Monday, Nov. 17, 2008, at the Statehouse in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
November 20, 2008
DES MOINES (AP) — Gov. Chet Culver has asked department heads to find ways to cut up to $40 million in spending over the next seven months, citing the economy and disaster expenses.
Spokesman Phil Roeder says Culver has given each agency director a target dollar amount and asked them to share ideas for spending cuts over the next few weeks.
Culver will decide after Thanksgiving which trims to make.
Charlie Krogmeier of the Department of Management says it likely won’t mean job cuts, but job openings might not be filled, and new programs could be delayed.
“I don’t think we’re talking layoffs or furloughs or anything like that,” Krogmeier said. “The economy’s been bad and it’s getting worse and this is the first reaction to it.”
Iowa was expected to end its budget year with $85 million in its general fund. But calculations by budget officials show the state will have only about $5 million when the year ends in June.
That’s uncomfortably close, officials say, because Iowa law prohibits state government from being in a deficit.
“The Department of Management recommended to the governor that that’s not enough, and the governor agrees,” Krogmeier said. “That’s why we’re giving warning signs to the department heads.”
He said it may be tough for some departments to meet their target, although the savings being sought is a small percentage — about one-half of 1 percent — of the state’s $6 billion budget.
Republican State Auditor David Vaudt predicted last summer that state spending would outpace available money by more than $300 million. On Wednesday, Vaudt projected the shortfall would grow to $500 million in fiscal year 2010, which begins on July 1, 2009.
“We had all the signs that there were going to be problems with the way they were balancing the budget, even absent the floods and the economic downturn,” Vaudt said. “The sad part is we’re talking about cutting services at a time when Iowans need them the most because of the economic downturn, and that’s what I was warning them to avoid.”
But Krogmeier was adamant that wasn’t the intention.
“The intent is not to cut back on services,” he said.
