Branstad, Hatch square off

Sept. 21--The second debate between Republican Gov. Terry Branstad and his Democratic challenger, Jack Hatch, started out civilly enough, focusing on job creation and tax incentives.

But once the debate got around to the scandals that have touched both candidates, their exchanges before a packed auditorium at Edward Stone Middle School in Burlington became heated.

"I'm saying Iowans need to listen to the problems this governor has had over the past four years," Hatch said. "It is the most scandal-ridden administration, beginning with the Iowa Workforce Development offices that are closed, (which) the Iowa Supreme Court said was unconstitutional. It was then the Iowa Juvenile Home closed, and the district court said, 'Governor, that's unconstitutional.' "

Hatch pointed out other recent Branstad administration controversies, including the handling of secret settlements made with state employees and a lawsuit for defamation of character by Iowa Workers' Compensation Commissioner Christopher Godfrey.

"This was a good deal. In fact, the 'Site Selection' magazine, which is read by economic developers around the world, said this was the second-best economic development deal in the entire world last year." Gov. Terry Branstad, on Iowa Fertilizer Co. incentives "It was a reckless deal. It was a bad deal. It was a terrible deal. He was able to engage $110 million of state money to create 165 jobs. That is equal to $700,000 per job." State Sen. Jack Hatch, on those same incentives

"Iowans know me," Branstad said. "They know I'm honest, I'm straight-forward, I'm transparent, I've released all my taxes. They know these attacks are false. They are not correct, and the people of Iowa know that. I trust the people of Iowa. I have nothing to hide. I'm very proud of the fact when we found out about the confidentiality agreements. I signed an executive order to prevent them in the future. Senator Hatch and his friends in the Senate killed that bill, which would have made it available to the public to see what's in those personnel records and why people have either been dismissed or not hired."

Branstad defended an ad his campaign is running that claims Hatch made millions of dollars off of tax credits, but Hatch said those ads were proven false by a series of Des Moines Register articles that were published after he opened up his business to investigation.

"The fact is, Iowans don't know what's going on. And if you look at his ads attacking me, you'd think I was the one under investigation," Hatch said.

Hatch said those are not the actions of a leader, and Branstad retorted by bringing up the history of Illinois governors.

"This is Iowa, not Illinois, and most of the former governors in Illinois are in prison," he said to a thunderous ovation from the Republicans in the crowd.

Another major point of contention between the two was the Iowa Fertilizer Co. plant that is being constructed in Wever. They agree it's good for Lee County, though Hatch argued the governor made far too sweet of a deal with Orascom.

"It was initiated by the people in Lee County, the elected board of supervisors, and they provided incentives, and the state provided incentives," Branstad said.

Branstad said the deal will bring a net plus of $2.9 million in additional tax revenue for the Fort Madison School district and Lee County, as well as 1,900 construction jobs, 400 more construction jobs down the line and more than 200 permanent jobs when the plant is finished.

When a question delivered via Twitter pointed out many of the construction jobs aren't being filled by Iowans, Branstad said Iowans need more job training so they can fill those jobs. He said job training would be a priority.

"This was a good deal. In fact, the 'Site Selection' magazine, which is read by economic developers around the world, said this was the second-best economic development deal in the entire world last year," Branstad said.

That's certainly not the way Hatch sees it.

"It was a reckless deal. It was a bad deal. It was a terrible deal," Hatch said. "He was able to engage $110 million of state money to create 165 jobs. That is equal to $700,000 per job. Let me give you a balance. Gov. Vilsack, for the Siemens manufacturing plant, gave money to them to build wind blades for 240 jobs that equaled $7,000 per job. There's an imbalance. Just imagine what this area could do if we could balance those two businesses to allow us to spread the investment from the state to more businesses in more areas than just Lee County."

Hatch and Branstad continued to spar over a minimum wage hike (Hatch in favor, Branstad against), property tax reform and a possible gas tax. Though he has not leaned one way or the other on a gas tax before, Branstad talked of a possible hybrid system, noting that Iowa Department of Transportation Director Paul Trombino has offered a series of options to increase road funding.

Two of the options include raising gasoline and diesel fuel taxes, and imposing state road taxes on fuel used by farmers for tractors and combines. Other options include raising the registration fee on new vehicles from 5 percent to 6 percent, increasing permit fees for oversized and overweight vehicles, and replacing the state's current fuel tax, which varies depending on the type of fuel, with a 6 percent excise tax on fuel paid at the wholesale level.

Hatch kept his answer simple, demanding a straight-up gas tax increase. I-DOT officials have warned that city, county and state roads and bridges are facing a $215 million annual shortfall to meet critical needs. But during the four years since Branstad has returned to the Statehouse, lawmakers have done little to address the issue.

"I've offered a proposal for over two years. Ten cent gas tax, two cents a year, for the next five years," Hatch said. "Not only does Highway 61 (between Burlington and Muscatine) need to be four lanes, but Highway 20 from Fort Dodge to Sioux City, there are areas there that need four lanes. Plus the bridges in this state.

"We have the second-worst state for bridge repair in the country. Jackson County said they are just now reducing the tonnage of 44 bridges from 10 tons to 3. You can get a van of children on that 3-ton bridge, but you can't get emergency vehicles. This is a crisis."

Both men wrapped up their positions in their closing statements, and Hatch was particularly adamant about local control when it comes to economic development.

"We have to lead our state into a new area of economic explosion," Hatch said. "I want to return Iowa to the Tom Vilsack Iowa, where were focused not only on agriculture insurance, but we diversified this economy to finance information technology and advanced manufacturing. An Iowa where we are not picking winners and losers, but creating regional authorities, where we can direct the state's resources to match the priorities of our local and county leaders. To do this, we need to reorganize the economic development effort into four regions. Establish regional boards of directors."

After mentioning that his mother was born in Burlington, Branstad said he grew up on a farm, and would work hard for Iowans.

"We go to every county every year. We work hard every day to bring more good jobs to Iowa, to make Iowa the best in the nation in terms of education, to reduce the tax and regulatory burden," Branstad said. "We've reduced the size of government by over 1,400 (state employees), and we're not done yet. We're focused on things like college affordability, and reducing student debt. Two years, no increase in resident state tuition. And we're going to do more to reduce that. To make college more affordable, we propose a center for human capital enrichment, and a goal to connect every acre, so we have high-speed Internet everywhere in Iowa."

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