Iowa Governor Terry Branstad says with lower-than-expected state tax revenue, the current state budget must be reduced by nearly 100 million dollars.
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A state panel met last week and lowered the “official” estimate of state tax collections for the current budgeting year. Branstad hopes to shield a few major budget items from cuts.
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With those spending areas OFF the cutting table, state agencies are likely targets for cuts, but Branstad says he does not anticipate state employee layoffs. During the depths of the farm crisis when he was governor in the 1980s, Branstad ordered mandatory, unpaid furloughs for state workers, as well as an across-the-board cut in state government. When he ran for governor again in 2010, Branstad was a critic of then-Governor Chet Culver’s decision to cut the state budget across the board rather than make targeted cuts.