Iowa General Assembly spending data for 2010

MT. PLEASANT- This is the third year in which Public Interest Institute has updated the citizens of Iowa about the Iowa Vote Tally. The Iowa Vote Tally is a modified version of the National Taxpayers Union Foundation’s Vote Tally. The purpose of Iowa Vote Tally is to let you know how much of your tax dollars your Legislators voted to spend. This looks at all appropriation bills and bills that have fiscal impact tied to them. This includes funds for both the General Fund and other funds. This does not include federal dollars or block grants. This year there were 19 appropriation bills that the Iowa House and Senate voted on. These bills amounted to over $4.5 billion.

This information is being brought to you in an effort to increase the transparency concerning government spending. As State Auditor Dave Vaudt pointed out in an April 16, 2010, press release, “The Legislature’s Fiscal Year 2011 budget relies on over $700 million of one-time resources which will not be available for Fiscal Year 2012. In addition, nearly $90 million of General Fund costs are shifted to other funds. This creates a huge spending gap in the General Fund for Fiscal Year 2012 when the one-time monies go away.”1 As our state works to recover from this recession, we are not positioned well for the coming fiscal year.

The last few years’ budgets have caused a huge drain on our “Rainy Day” funds. The use of the fund is expected to reduce the “Rainy Day” fund to just “less than $200 million at the end of Fiscal Year 2011 — down nearly $400 million from the beginning of Fiscal Year 2009.”2 Vaudt concludes that “next year’s Legislature again faces a spending gap of nearly $1 billion.”3 As you can see, Iowa Lawmakers are out of easy options, as we know that the money from the federal government and the “Rainy Day” fund can’t make up a one billion dollar spending gap. Vaudt points out that “revenue would have to grow over 13% just to match this year’s true total spending.”4

As we head to the primary election on June 8 and the general election on November 2, it is important to remember that whoever wins the elections will have some hard decisions to face when the 84th Session of the Iowa Legislature convenes next January. The tables included in this publication show how your State Senator and State Representative voted concerning the spending of your taxpayer dollars. The “big spenders” voted yes to all the bills that spent your tax dollars and are at the top of each table for the House and Senate.

If you visit the www.IowaTransparency.org <www.iowatransparency.org/> website you will see the link to Iowa Vote Tally. Under the Iowa Vote Tally page you are able to see individual reports for each Legislator. The individual reports show how the Legislators voted and what the fiscal impact of the bill is. If a Legislator is absent or votes “No,” the spending is recorded as zero; otherwise the spending, the cost of the bill, is assigned to the Legislator. The individual reports show the legislation that the Legislator voted on. The legislation that the Legislators were absent for is left off the report. Take the time to check out your State Senator and State Representative and see if their voting habits are ones you want in Des Moines.

(Endnotes)

1 Press Release from Office of Auditor of State, April 16, 2010, (May 7, 2010).

2 Ibid.

3 Ibid.

4 Ibid.

Total Spending by Member of Iowa Senate – 2010

Last Name

First Name

Party

District

Sum Of Total Cost

Appel

Staci

$4,505,503,322

Beall

Daryl

$4,505,503,322

Bolkcom

Joe

$4,505,503,322

Danielson

Jeff

$4,505,503,322

Dotzler, Jr.

William A.

$4,505,503,322

Gronstal

Michael E.

$4,505,503,322

Hogg

Rob

$4,505,503,322

Kibbie

John P. “Jack”

$4,505,503,322

Quirmbach

Herman C.

$4,505,503,322

Ragan

Amanda

$4,505,503,322

Rielly

Tom

$4,505,503,322

Schmitz

Becky

$4,505,503,322

Schoenjahn

Brian

$4,505,503,322

Seng

Dr. Joe M.

$4,505,503,322

Sodders

Steve

$4,505,503,322

Stewart

Roger

$4,505,503,322

Wilhelm

Mary Jo

$4,505,503,322

Heckroth

Bill

$4,505,480,822

Hancock

Tom

$4,397,157,536

McCoy

Matt

$4,353,491,500

Courtney

Thomas G.

$4,201,542,577

Black

Dennis H.

$4,201,520,077

Dvorsky

Robert E.

$4,004,459,934

Horn

Wally E.

$3,999,925,631

Jochum

Pam

$3,891,433,219

Dearden

Dick L.

$3,587,449,974

Dandekar

Swati

$3,299,677,354

Warnstadt

Steve

$3,054,914,113

Olive

Rich

$2,750,953,368

Hatch

Jack

$2,633,576,993

Kreiman

Keith A.

$2,036,082,013

Fraise

Gene

$2,022,786,651

Hamerlinck

Shawn

$3,084,300

Ward

Pat

$3,084,300

Johnson

David

$2,760,300

Kapucian

Tim L.

$2,760,300

Noble

Larry

$2,760,300

Reynolds

Kim

$2,760,300

Feenstra

Randy

$2,737,800

Hahn

James F.

$2,737,800

McKinley

Paul

$2,737,800

Hartsuch

David

$2,587,800

Kettering

Steve

$2,263,300

Seymour

James A.

$2,090,800

Bartz

Merlin

$1,361,800

Boettger

Nancy J.

$1,211,800

Zaun

Brad

$1,037,800

Behn

Jerry

$887,800

Houser

Hubert

$735,500

Wieck

Ron

$713,000

Total Spending by Members of Iowa House – 2010

Last Name

First Name

Party

District

Sum Of Total Cost

Abdul-Samad

Ako

$4,505,503,322

Beard

John

$4,505,503,322

Bell

Paul

$4,505,503,322

Berry

Deborah

$4,505,503,322

Burt

Kerry

$4,505,503,322

Cohoon

Dennis

$4,505,503,322

Ficken

Gene

$4,505,503,322

Frevert

Marcella

$4,505,503,322

Hanson

Curt

$4,505,503,322

Hunter

Bruce

$4,505,503,322

Isenhart

Charles

$4,505,503,322

Jacoby

David

$4,505,503,322

Kearns

Jerry

$4,505,503,322

Kressig

Bob

$4,505,503,322

Lensing

Vicki

$4,505,503,322

Lykam

Jim

$4,505,503,322

Mascher

Mary

$4,505,503,322

McCarthy

Kevin

$4,505,503,322

Murphy

Pat

$4,505,503,322

Oldson

$4,505,503,322

Olson

Donovan

$4,505,503,322

Olson

Tyler

$4,505,503,322

Palmer

Eric

$4,505,503,322

Quirk

Brian

$4,505,503,322

Reasoner

Mike

$4,505,503,322

Reichert

Nathan

$4,505,503,322

Running-Marquardt

Kirsten

$4,505,503,322

Schueller

Tom

$4,505,503,322

Shomshor

Paul

100

$4,505,503,322

Smith

Mark

$4,505,503,322

Steckman

Sharon

$4,505,503,322

Swaim

Kurt

$4,505,503,322

Taylor

Todd

$4,505,503,322

Thede

Phyllis

$4,505,503,322

Thomas

Roger

$4,505,503,322

Wenthe

Andrew

$4,505,503,322

Wessel-Kroeschell

Beth

$4,505,503,322

Willems

Nate

$4,505,503,322

Winckler

Cindy

$4,505,503,322

Zirkelbach

Ray

$4,505,503,322

Petersen

Janet

$4,505,301,322

Heddens

Lisa

$4,505,179,322

Miller

Helen

$4,505,006,322

Whitead

Wes

$4,505,006,322

Ford

Wayne

$4,505,004,522

Bukta

Polly

$4,397,157,536

Gayman

Elesha

$4,396,833,536

Gaskill

Mary

$4,154,771,756

Olson

Rick

$4,154,771,756

Kuhn

Mark

$3,946,537,247

Bailey

McKinley

$3,891,433,219

Marek

Larry

$3,652,131,420

Mertz

Dolores

$3,587,472,474

Kelley

Doris

$2,513,682,972

Huser

Geri

$724,048,788

Rayhons

Henry

$111,407,586

Anderson

Rich

$3,084,300

Arnold

Rich

$3,084,300

Cownie

Peter

$3,084,300

Dolecheck

Cecil

$3,084,300

Drake

Jack

$3,084,300

Heaton

Dave

$3,084,300

Kaufmann

Jeff

$3,084,300

Koester

Kevin

$3,084,300

Lukan

Steve

$3,084,300

May

Mike

$3,084,300

Miller

Linda

$3,084,300

Olson

Steven

$3,084,300

Pettengill

Dawn

$3,084,300

Schultz

Jason

$3,084,300

Upmeyer

Linda

$3,084,300

Van Engelenhoven

Jim

$3,084,300

Alons

Dwayne

$3,061,800

Baudler

Clel

$3,061,800

Chambers

Royd

$3,061,800

De Boef

Betty

$3,061,800

Deyoe

Dave

$3,061,800

Forristall

Greg

$3,061,800

Hagenow

Chris

$3,061,800

Helland

Erik

$3,061,800

Huseman

Dan

$3,061,800

Paulsen

Kraig

$3,061,800

Schulte

Renee

$3,061,800

Soderberg

Chuck

$3,061,800

Sorenson

Kent

$3,061,800

Sweeney

Annette

$3,061,800

Tymeson

Jodi

$3,061,800

Wagner

Nick

$3,061,800

Watts

Ralph

$3,061,800

Windschitl

Matt

$3,061,800

Worthan

Gary

$3,061,800

Roberts

Rod

$2,859,800

Struyk

Doug

$2,760,300

Grassley

Pat

$2,737,800

Raecker

J. Scott

$2,610,300

Horbach

Lance

$2,587,800

Sands

Tom

$2,587,800

Tjepkes

Dave

$2,587,300

Rants

Christopher

$1,173,000

State Rep. Roger Wendt was excused beginning the end of February due to a serious health problem.

Jennifer L. Crull is an IT Specialist with Public Interest Institute.

“Reprinted by permission from IOWA TRANSPARENCY NEWSLETTER, a publication of Public Interest Institute.”

The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and not necessarily those of Public Interest Institute.

They are brought to you in the interest of a better-informed citizenry.