With the election more than a year away, three Iowa governor candidates outlined their stances on key issues at an Associated Press panel discussion held in the gallery of the Memorial Union on Saturday morning.

Ed Fallon, Patty Judge, and Bob Vander Plaats all weighed in on issues bound to become heated points of debate in the months leading up to the November 2006 Iowa gubernatorial elections.

The candidates spent much of their time discussing plans to stimulate economic growth in Iowa, which has one of the lowest economic growth rates in the country, as a way to combat brain drain and attract business to the state.

Fallon, a Democratic state representative from Des Moines, emphasized locally grown food as a source of economic strength.

“Eighty-six percent of our food is grown out of state,” Fallon said.

With Iowa’s wealth of natural resources, he said, increased food production within the state would spark economic growth.

Fallon criticized current policies, such as the Grow Iowa Values Fund, granting large corporations tax breaks, saying average citizens do not benefit from such policies.

“The state is a ship heading in the wrong direction,” he said. “Most Iowans have been neglected as far as the state government’s concerned.”

Patty Judge, Iowa’s current secretary of agriculture and a former Democratic state senator, said the key to economic improvement lies in stimulating job growth.

“I believe the answer to almost all of our social problems is a good job,” Judge said. “Nothing is more important than the creation of new jobs.”

Judge emphasized Iowa’s leading role as a major producer of renewable energy as a means of economic growth. She said Iowa possesses the raw resources necessary to spark Iowa’s economy and help alleviate the nation’s energy crunch. As governor, she said she would work to raise national awareness of Iowa’s resources such as ethanol, bio-diesel and wind power.

“We have a huge marketing job ahead of us,” she said, “but that market is barely tapped.”

Bob Vander Plaats, a Republican businessman and former high school principal from Sioux City, said his campaign will focus on economic growth as well.

“My number one priority is growing the economy in the state of Iowa,” Vander Plaats said.

He cited a U.S. Census Bureau ranking that placed Iowa at No. 48 out of the 50 states in economic growth. He said he plans to capitalize on Iowa’s strong agricultural tradition to spur growth.

“It’s time we play to our strengths in Iowa,” he said. “Agriculture is economic development in this state.”

He said he supports the use of ethanol to create an “Iowa brand of fuel” that would ignite economic growth as well as provide the nation with a cheaper alternative to imported fuel.

All three candidates agreed the Grow Iowa Values Fund, an economic package passed by the state legislature to promote growth, needs adjustment.

Fallon said he would like to see a tracking amendment added to the fund that would keep a closer count of how much money the fund actually brings into the state. He said some companies aided by the Values Fund actually cost the state money in the long run.

“The values fund is a house of cards waiting to fall under inspection,” he said.

Judge said the Iowa Values Fund works well to bring new economic activity into Iowa, but wants more emphasis put on existing Iowa businesses.

“The values fund is a recruitment piece,” she said. “We need more focus on entrepreneurial development rather than recruitment.”

Vander Plaats described the fund as a “quick fix” that doesn’t solve long term problems. He said cutting property tax and simplifying income tax would most benefit Iowa’s economy.