Vander Plaats: Culver’s ‘Trail of Fiscal Mismanagement Cuts a Wide Swath Across Iowa State Government’

DES MOINES – Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Vander Plaats issued the following statement concerning new revelations that a federal audit has found $2.5 million in questionable spending during Gov. Chet Culver’s tenure as Iowa Secretary of State as well as the opening of a criminal investigation into the growing scandal surrounding Iowa Film Office tax incentives:

“Every day we learn something new about Chet Culver’s complete and utter inability to manage taxpayer dollars. In that light, today’s news reports that the Iowa Secretary of State’s Office may have misspent $2.5 million of $30 million shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. Yet, Iowans are stunned by the magnitude of the budget problems this governor has created. He’s a hurricane of fiscal mismanagement that has cut a wide swath across Iowa state government.

“I’m tempted to paraphrase the late Everett Dirksen and say, ‘A million here, a million there, pretty soon, you’re talking about real money.’ But in Chet Culver’s case, Dirksen’s actual quote may be more appropriate, ‘A billion here, a billion there, pretty soon, you’re talking about real money.’ That’s because his overspending has created a projected budget shortfall this fiscal year of more than $900 million and at the rate he’s going will take us over $1 billion in no time.

“We need a governor with the determination and ability to rein in state spending. That’s what I’ll do when I’m elected. It’s great that the governor chose to fire people after the Iowa Film Office and Iowa Department of Economic Development approved what could be millions in questionable expenses but the smarter thing would have been to never let the situation happen in the first place. It’s a point I’ve made time and again: Effective leaders surround themselves with effective team members. Chet Culver clearly doesn’t get it.”

# # # #