Friday, December 9, 2011

Roads and Schools: Why Are Both Suffering in Iowa?

I was having a conversation a while back with a Libertarian friend of mine and over the course of our chat, he made a comment about the lottery and legalized gambling in the Great State of Iowa, and asked me if I recalled the promises that were made back when all of that was approved by our political leaders. I was quick to respond that we were “guaranteed” that we would be flush with money from gambling/lottery proceeds for education in our state. He quickly responded, “and we were promised that we would have great roads!” Kind of funny how both are short of funding today, yet when I read in the papers, the casinos in Iowa are still doing pretty good business, and it sure seems that I stand a long time in line waiting for people in front of me to purchase lottery tickets. So what gives? Honestly, I don’t know!

Maybe this is one of those things that flew under the radar, or at least mine. Perhaps the agreement that lottery proceeds would go to education was for only a few years, and that time has expired. Or it is possible that when casino licenses have been renewed or laws updated, it was changed. Regardless of the reason, my question is why did it happen? You know, taxes put on cigarettes and other tobacco products goes to subsidize anti-tobacco efforts and yet, some pretty effective programs, such as JEL, are seeing funding cut because the folks currently in power in the Des Moines don’t like them. Maybe that is what happened. Perhaps the powers that be don’t like public education in this state, and don’t see a need to keep our roads in good repair!

I understand people that don’t want taxes raised. Some of them are a bit off the deep end, in my opinion, but one has to appreciate their perspective. However, roads are vital for commerce in our state. In recent weeks I have followed a lot of wagons and haulers full of grain headed to the elevator. We have semi tractors and trailers crisscrossing our state and we all know the shape some of our roads in this part of the state are like. And, as schools are looking ahead at budget projections, and many once again are going to have to reduce teachers because of a shortfall of funds. In my opinion, it would be well worth our time to revisit those promises made a number of years ago with those gambling proceeds. The time has come to reinvest in both our roads and our kids.

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