Governor Tom Vilsack says Republican legislators actually cut the budget for state child abuse investigations. Following the beating death of Spirit Lake toddler Shelby Duis, Vilsack called for 100 more child abuse investigators. Republicans gave Vilsack administrators authority hire 75 more, but Vilsack says the G-O-P didn’t provide the money for their salaries. Vilsack says Republicans shorted the D-H-S child protection budget by a million dollars. He says he’ll do his best to find the resources to protect children. Vilsack says the public shouldn’t think the legislature addressed the issue, he says they did not.Vilsack’s also considering a way around the legislature’s decision to close regional Department of Human Services offices.Vilsack, however, says it’s unlikely he’ll ask legislators to address the issues in a special session this summer.Governor Vilsack says Republicans need to show a willingness to compromise if there’s any hope of passing a bill that’d make it easier for power plants to be built in Iowa. Republicans who control a majority of seats in the legislature say they need a few democrats to support the bill in order for it to pass. Vilsack says Republicans need to be willing to sit down with Democrats and find out what they want in the bill.Vilsack says democrats want some concessions that would promote energy conservation, the production of alternative energy sources and some money for low income Iowans who can’t afford the hefty heating bills of the coming winter.Vilsack says it’s all about the reliability of power.Vilsack says the power problems that’ve been happening recently in Cedar Rapids will spread across the rest of the state if new power plants aren’t built soon.
