Big Ideas for Iowa - Part Two - Government

Restructure Government to Improve Efficiency
TERRY E. BRANSTAD, governor of Iowa from 1983 to 1999, is president of Des Moines University.

During the 1980s farm crisis, Iowa established a sister state with Hebei Province, China. In a 1984 visit, our delegation learned that the Chinese symbol for crisis and opportunity is one and the same.

In normal times, the size of government tends to expand in response to the demands of various interest groups and constituencies. Cutting budgets and reducing or eliminating programs and bureaucracies are not possible in good economic times. Those who work for or depend on government programs are always going to lobby for more employees and more spending.

In times of economic crisis, private businesses and individuals cut spending and eliminate unnecessary overhead. Private-sector jobs are cut.This economic crisis provides an opportunity to change the size and structure of all levels of government in Iowa, improving efficiency and delivery of services.

At the depth of the farm crisis in 1986, we passed a massive restructuring and downsizing of state government. At the time, 38 Iowa banks had closed, and the value of Iowa farms had decreased by 63 percent. The result of our action was a smaller, more efficient and accountable state government. We went from more than 80 state agencies to 25 and got more accountability by having all department heads appointed by the governor and confirmed by two-thirds of the Senate. It saved more than $60 million annually and established stronger spending and program oversight through the

Department of Management.

There has not been a restructuring of government since.It is long overdue.



Be Really Radical: Reduce the Size of Government
FRED GRANDY, a Sioux City native and an Iowa congressman from 1987 to 1995, is host of "The Grandy and Andy Morning Show," 630 WMAL, Washington, D.C.

I first asked the editor for clarification about implementing the bold moves of the Emanuel Doctrine: "Are we talking about Iowa or Iowans?"" Iowa," I was assured. Custodians of the public sector, the governor, the Legislature, the mayor of Humboldt. As opposed to private individuals, who when left unregulated and under-taxed, inevitably grow up to be Bernie Madoff or George W. Bush.

OK, I'll play by those rules. If government is the end, I respectfully propose:
Gov. Chet Culver should quietly mobilize the Iowa National Guard and other quasi-military units at his command and without provocation attack South Dakota. (I have nothing against South Dakota, but of all states bordering Iowa, these guys would clearly be easiest to beat.)

The purpose is not to achieve military victory but to provoke intervention by the federal government and the following sequence: stern warnings to rebellious leaders in Des Moines, protracted negotiations, a fragile cease-fire and major infusions of foreign aid to placate Iowa from going rogue again. This strategy has worked like a charm for North Korea, Iran and now the Palestinian Authority.

The other option is for public officials in Iowa to go in the opposite direction of the new administration and drastically cut taxes, deregulate business and industry, reduce the size of government and in so doing make Iowa an oasis for investment and growth amid a vast national desert of spending and debt. A kind of Obama-Free State. But some ideas are just too radical for serious consideration.

Build Consensus About How to Govern Better
ROBERT RAY was governor of Iowa from 1969 to 1983.

No governor or any citizen of Iowa wants a crisis to be the catalyst for doing "the right thing," but nothing brings more consensus on "the right thing" than the necessity of the moment.

Turf battles, partisanship and bureaucratic inertia are more easily left at the door when people sit down at the table to figure out new ways of doing things. Reorganizing, streamlining, whatever you call it, is done when the need is obvious.

During the energy crisis in the late '70s, a period of double-digit inflation, we saw the value of looking at state government structure to see how well it was meeting expectations. The Governor's Economy Committee found many ways to make government better. We mobilized support to make changes because the value of better government was more evident during a stressful time.

Government grows in good times and must reduce and reshape when things go the other way. Times change, bringing us better tools of governance, such as information technology.

The worrisome demographic changes forecast by the Iowa 2010 Council nearly a decade ago and today's national economic crisis of historic proportion are unfolding in front of us.
Iowans are a fair people, and the notion of shared sacrifice is respected, if not welcomed. When the economy turns upward, and it will, Iowa's demography and slow growth will remain our challenge.

Iowans should ask, "How can we be better?" It's a rare opportunity to build consensus on how we can better govern ourselves.