Governor Culver, the Wizard of IA

Governor Chet Culver released more information Monday night about his proposed budget cuts. Well, not really. The Governor and his staff rarely release unfiltered information. They prefer to hold information closely and decide what, when and which members the public can handle the truth. He and his staff spend a great amount of time and effort withholding information that could influence dialogue between Iowans and policy makers. It has never been proven the Governor’s Office has knowingly broken open access laws, but they are playing a dangerous political game.

At 7:14 p.m. last night, Culver and company emailed the Des Moines Register a 62 page document. It is not known if they sent the document to other people, but they did not send the document to Republicans in the Legislature. House Republican Leader Kraig Paulsen did not get it. Moreover, the document the Register received had so much of the document blacked out, that reporter Jason Clayworth could not tell if this “new” information was different than the summary the Governor’s Office released on October 21.

Culver spokesman Troy Price said the redactions are necessary until the cuts are approved to protect state workers from undue stress. Really? State workers who may be about to lose their livelihood might suffer some stress knowing their names are on the list, but they may appreciate the warning and many of them are able to manage their own stress. The Governor’s staff spoon feeding information does not help anybody. Also, the taxpayers deserve to know how the cuts are going to affect them. It is important the public and other policy makers be allowed to study the cuts and offer their opinions. Who knows? Somebody outside of the Governor’s Office might have a better plan.

Governor Culver is withholding information about proposed budget cuts not to protect state workers from stress, but to shield himself from the scrutiny that would ensue should his proposal see the light of day.

Using the same flawed rationale, Governor Culver did not release the savings proposals state department heads submitted nearly a year ago when he called for a 1.5% budget cut. The pressure to release these proposals intensified last month when the state finally realized the coffers were running dry. The Governor decided we were ready to handle the facts after 10 months and he relinquished. Unfortunately, Iowa cannot go back and implement many of these ideas after so much time has passed and money has been spent.

Like many Iowans, I went to see the musical Wicked at the Civic Center last month. Governor Culver reminds me of the wizard trying to manipulate Oz by withholding information and hiding behind the trappings of power. Iowa is in a financial crisis. The best way for the chief executive to chart a course through this mess is to be forthcoming with the facts, data and his plans. It is entirely possible public debate and discussion may reveal a way that is better and/or more acceptable to those he leads than what he first proposed. Trust us, Governor, we Iowans can handle the truth. Put away your black markers, start sharing all of the information and start working with us.

This entry was first published as a Des Moines Register blog entry.