Chet Culver & Patty Judge for Iowa

The Culver/Judge Administration has taken on tough economic times and one of the worst natural disasters in our nation’s history. Throughout it all, Governor Culver and Lt. Governor Judge have made tough decisions and had the compassion to always stand up for Iowa families. The administration has built an impressive record of accomplishments including the following highlights:

• Creating Iowa Jobs:  Even in the midst of the worst global recession since the Great Depression, Governor Culver has kept clear priorities and produced a record of economic progress.
  
  
  • I-JOBS:  Governor Culver proposed and signed into law the $875 million I-JOBS program to invest in Iowa’s economy and create jobs.  The program is paid entirely by existing gaming revenue and is being implemented without a tax increase.
  • Iowa Power Fund:  Governor Culver created this program leveraging $201 million in private investment into Iowa’s renewable energy market.  The fund is one of the most comprehensive and forward looking renewable energy plans in the country.
    
    
  These bold steps are paying off:
  
  
  • Forbes named Des Moines the number one city in America for businesses and careers and named Cedar Rapids the number one city in the nation for projected job growth. Dubuque was named the number one small city in America for projected job growth by Forbes.
  • A November 2009 Pew study called Iowa's fiscal situation the second strongest in the country. 
  • Moody’s.com projects Iowa to be one of the first 11 states to recover from the recession.
  • CNBC’s 2009 “Top States for Business” survey ranks Iowa the fourth best in the nation and first for the lowest cost of doing business.
  • In 2009, the Brookings Institute identified Greater Des Moines as one of the 20 strongest performing metropolitan areas during the recession.
    
  • The 3 major bond rating agencies have awarded Iowa their highest possible bond rating - one of only 9 states to earn the highest rating from all 3.
    
    
• Supporting Veterans:  During the Governor’s first three years in office, Governor Culver signed legislation to help National Guard members complete their education, to protect veterans from losing their jobs or their homes when they are called-up for military service, and to expand and renovate Iowa's veterans' home. This year, Iowa government did even more for our veterans. In April 2010, Iowa became the first state in the nation to address all of the U.S. Department of Defense’s recommendations to support military families. The Governor and Lt. Governor secured seven pieces of legislation for veterans related to the quality-of-life of soldiers and their families.  The Culver-Judge Administration worked with the Iowa General Assembly to act on the Department of Defense’s priorities and pass other legislation assisting Iowa’s veterans and service members:
  
  • Providing unemployment benefits to spouses who move as a result of a spouses’ deployment;
  • Enhancing housing benefits;
  • Adding more legal protections for service members;
  • Expanding parental rights for child custody when the parent is deployed including the right of service members to designate a relative of a child to exercise visitation rights in place of the service member;
  • Supplementing education-related benefits to military spouses, including a new protection for spouses who must withdraw from school because of a family deployment;
  • Creating a work group to enhance foreign language proficiency;
  • Opening state and local government facilities for military events;
  • Strengthening administrative protections in the event of the death of a service member;
  • Extending “non-professional” firearms permits for service members who are deployed by 90 days;
  • Prohibiting utilities from disconnecting service to families while a family member is deployed;
  • Creating a program to inform state employees who are military members of their rights and benefits while deployed;
    
  • Strengthening limitations on payday lenders’ activities and interest rates when lending to military personnel;
  • Adding the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary to the list of military organizations or veterans groups that are allowed to perform honor guard service on public property;
  • Requiring employers to allow holiday time off for veterans on Veterans Day; and
  • Requiring Department of Administrative Services to develop programs to inform, train, and hire qualified disabled veterans for job opportunities in state government.
    
    

• Leading the Nation in Renewable Energy: Iowa has moved up in the rankings for wind power generation as result of Governor Culver's leadership.
  
  • Iowa is now ranked second in the nation in wind power generation with 2,534 turbines across the state.
  • Iowa leads the nation in wind generation as percentage of total power output at 20%.
  • Governor Culver has worked hard to continue to bring international wind manufacturing companies to Iowa. Nine international manufacturing companies have located in Iowa as of February 2009.
  • More than 200 Iowa companies in 26 counties are now supplying the wind industry, generating more than $50 million in new revenue for Iowa companies annually.

• Streamlining Iowa Government: Governor Culver’s government efficiency initiative is projected to save nearly $300 million.

• Helping Iowa’s Kids:  Increased the number of Iowa children who will have access to quality preschool programs – over 21,000 additional kids will attend preschool through the state’s voluntary preschool program in the fall.
  Strengthened Iowa's child predator laws, and gave law enforcement more authority to remove sex offenders from areas where children are located.  Signed safe schools legislation to protect kids from bullying and harassment.
  
• Expanding Health Care Coverage:  Expanded Hawk-I, the state health insurance program for children, to ensure every Iowa child will have health care coverage. Over 57,000 kids who did not have health insurance before Governor Culver and Lt. Governor Judge took office now do.
• Supporting Medical Research:  Overturned Iowa's restrictive ban on stem cell research.
• Helping Make Iowa Smoke Free:  Signed the Smoke Free Air Act into law banning smoking in restaurants, bars and the workplace.
• Leading in Times of Crisis:  Leading the effort to rebuild from last year's floods and to prepare for and prevent future floods. Brought in over $4 billion in federal and state disaster recovery funds.
• Supporting Iowa’s Teachers:  Raised teacher pay to encourage the best teachers to stay in Iowa while providing the tools they need to give our children the highest quality education. Iowa’s average teacher salary, which had fallen to 42nd in the nation before the Governor took office, is now 26th in the nation.
• Fighting for Iowa’s Working Families:  Kept his promise to raise the state's minimum wage, which hadn't been raised in over ten years.   Expanded the earned income tax credit.