Calling opponent Jim Ross Lightfoot’s income tax plan “irresponsible and reckless,” gubernatorial candidate David Oman made his own suggestions for Iowa’s future in an interview Thursday with the Daily.

Oman, a 45-year-old Des Moines telecommunications executive, said he would cut Iowa’s income tax by 5 percent, i

instead of the 50 percent cut Lightfoot has proposed. The former U.S. Representative’s plan would cost the state treasury $500 million, and Oman said this would have a “serious effect.”

This drop in revenue would take more than $250 million from funding for schools, more than 10 percent of the current education budget, and Oman criticized Lightfoot for not specifying how he would make up the deficit.

“He’s never said what the impact of this cut would be. If he’s going to cut $500 million, then he better tell us where that money will come from,” Oman said.

Cutbacks in government programs, a general fund deficit or increases in other taxes would follow a tax cut such as the one Lightfoot has outlined, Oman said.

For the Iowa State student, it could have a very real effect, he added.

“It means immediately, a tuition increase. Or it means drastic cuts in programs and class offerings,” he said. “This tax proposal is over the line.”

Last year’s Iowa Legislature slashed the state income tax 10 percent after debating a 15 percent cut proposed by House Republicans. That legislation cost the state $200 million, but, Oman said, “It was affordable.”

The 5 percent additional reduction would bring the tax to the level originally suggested by GOP House members, he said.

Oman, who served as chief of staff for former Iowa Gov. Robert Ray, also faulted Lightfoot for ducking numerous voter forums held around Iowa in past months. Lightfoot detailed his tax initiative at a party gathering in Waverly on March 27.

Of the 12 forums held since December, Lightfoot has only attended one, Oman said, while the other four candidates have been to at least 11.

“It’s a little ironic that when he finally does say something, he lays out a tax plan that would be a body blow to education,” Oman said. “Lightfoot has essentially been avoiding much discussion of the issues.”

A press release from the Lightfoot campaign stated the Shenandoah businessman has made “30 joint appearances with his Republican opponents since July of 1997,” but Oman said these events have been meet-and-eat dinners where each candidate is allotted five minutes to talk, with no time provided for audience response.

“He has not gone to forums, except for this one in Waverly, where people can ask questions,” Oman said.

To Lightfoot’s credit, he has committed to a debate on April 24 sponsored by the Iowa Newspaper Association and a taping of the Iowa Public Television show “Iowa Press” on May 15.

“We look forward to debating the issues and sharing our vision for the future of Iowa,” Lightfoot said in the press release.

In addition to taxes, Oman said, he is emphasizing three key issues: educational improvement, economic stimulation and gambling curbs.

“Education is a fundamental building block of this state,” he said, describing Iowa’s schools as “drifting. We’re on cruise control,” he said. “We need to have a clear-eyed look at this issue.”

To boost the economy, “it takes a state government that’s on the cutting edge,” Oman said.

“If we don’t, we’ll see a flat, aging population paying too much in taxes for government we can’t afford,” he said, citing statistics that projected Iowa as 45th among the states for growth in the next 50 years.

As the only candidate to address the question of gambling, Oman said, he would “turn back the clock.”

Iowa’s population spends $3,000 per capita on gambling, and Oman said that expense is too much.

“We’ve got too much gambling in our society. It is hurting us as a people,” he said.

Oman officially announced his candidacy on March 13, but he has been busy in the short time since then, spending “tens of thousands of dollars” on a three-week ad campaign last month.

“And we’ll be back on the air in April,” he said.

In a Hardin County straw poll Saturday, Oman finished a “strong second” with 36 percent of the vote, he said, running behind Lightfoot’s 54 percent.

“People have responded very well to the ads,” he said. “We’re moving up.”