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Legislative Session Drags
On For Another Week 

 The week of April 29th is the last week all legislators and I get paid for this 110 day session. This could mean good news as the session is winding to an end. We are working diligently to assure we are adjourned in a timely matter.

Every year I have been under the golden dome, I always end up frustrated on how we go into overtime. No successful business could survive the way the legislature conducts business by cramming in important issues and the budget in such a short period of time.

There are many important, unresolved, issues yet to tackle such as property tax reform, education reform, and Medicaid expansion, not to mention the budget.

A couple months ago Senate Democrats and House Republicans both released their spending targets for FY 2014. House Republican budget targets provided spending of $6.4 billion, an increase of $187 million (3%) over last year’s budget.

In contrast, Senate Democrat budget targets provided spending of $6.9 billion, an increase of $674 million (11%) over last year’s budget.  Not only is this level of funding unsustainable in future fiscal years, it also spends more than the State takes in on an ongoing basis.

The Senate Democrats budget spends almost half a billion more than the House for FY 2014.

Bottom line for me is both budgets spend too much money! It is my belief that if you put money in the hands of government, they will spend it. Thankfully our revenues are doing well; however, this over taxation should be sent back to the hard working Iowans.

On a positive note great news and recognition came from Urbandale Middle School this week. Google announced the 50 state winners in its sixth annual “Doodle 4 Google” competition. A contest opens to K-12th grade students across the Unites States to redesign the Google logo. This year’s competition is centered on the theme “My Best Day Ever…”

Marissa Frost, an 8th grade student from Urbandale Middle School was announced Iowa’s winner. All 50 state winners will have their doodle displayed in a special exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History in New York from May 22 – July 14. Not only was Marissa’s entry selected as the state winner, but also one of the 50 best from more than 130,000 students who submitted entries this year. Her parents are Roger & Tammy Frost of Urbandale.

Please help me by voting for Marissa’s Google logo.

You can tell them to go to:

http://www.google.com/doodle4google/vote.html#d=d4-4

Voting will be open from May 1 to May 10.

 I wanted to let you all know that my NEW Website is up, please visit at www.bradzaun.com. 

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