John Beard: "Vote 'no' on House File 45"

Former state representative John Beard of Decorah might have lost his re-election bid in November, but he hasn't lost his interest in the state legislature. Beard has written a letter to the editor calling on the public to contact Republican State Representative Bob Hager to ask Hager to vote against House File 45, which would make cuts to state funding of education.

Here is the text of the letter to the editor:

"Iowa House Republicans say their focus is on job creation and cutting taxes but many people, including business people, are concerned about some of their proposals. Though we all want fiscal responsibility in government, we do not want short-sighted cuts that will jeopardize our future.Unfortunately that is the likely result of proposed bill HF45. In order to afford 300 million in tax cuts to business, the bill makes cuts to education.These cuts are irresponsible because they make our state less competitive, and disproportionate costs to people of college age and young families with preschool kids. The cuts to preschool would affect 108 kids in Allamakee County and 248 in Winneshiek County. Research shows that children receiving preschool education achieve higher scores and are more likely to go on to college and better jobs. Research also shows that every dollar spent on preschool saves seven dollars in later costs to taxpayers. Cuts to AEAs will mean fewer psychologists and interpreters for the disabled in grades K-12. Current law mandates that special needs kids must be served, so the responsibility will shift to local districts. Our three Regents Universities will go from 77% state funding/20% student tuition to 41%state funding/47% student tuition, further discouraging young people from attending college. Community colleges are already struggling to train and retrain Iowans to meet the needs of business. In order to compete and create jobs in a global economy we must keep the innovative edge we still have by training young minds in science,technology, engineering, math and abstract thinking.

The most competitive economy in the world belongs to Switzerland because the Swiss,like billionaire Warren Buffet, think long term in making investments. They strengthen their society by investing heavily in things like education,environmental protection, and infrastructure. Included in the remaining top ten most competitive economies are five European countries, which also make the same kinds of investments in their societies. We should not shortchange our future anymore than a farmer should eat his seed stock. Our state already ranks#1 in the lowest cost of doing business, so lowering the cost of doing business through more tax cuts doesn't give us any advantage, although it might score well politically. Nationwide, businesses are sitting on 2 trillion dollars in cash; holding back on investing and hiring until the economy shows more strength and consumers(the middle class), demand more goods and services. Right now the middle class is tapped out and needs help more than Fortune 500companies. How about fixing our unfair property tax system and helping small business instead? How about closing corporate tax loopholes like combined reporting, which allows corporations to avoid taxes.

As far as attracting good jobs to the state, encouraging renewable energy production, investing in education and building "quality of life" have had the best track record in recent years with companies like Google, Microsoft and IBM all coming to Iowa. We have high quality people here and they deserve jobs like that. Lets give them the support they need by getting our priorities right. HF45 is scheduled for a vote Wednesday, January 19th. Contact Rep. Bob Hager (Bob.Hager@legis.state.ia.us) with your concerns.