Governor Tom Vilsack is taking discussion of the state’s budget priorities on the road. In the first half of December, Vilsack and top state managers will travel to seven differert cities to hold public meetings. This is a departure from past practice, as Governor Branstad used to hold budget hearings in his capital office in Des Moines. Vilsack says this will allow citizens to get involved in the process.The hearings will be held in Ames, Waterloo, Davenport, Iowa City, Council Bluffs, Sioux City and Des Moines. Each will last about an hour and a half.Here’s the hearing schedule: a hearing about “accountable government” will be held December 6 in the Ames Public Library. A hearing about “safe communities” will be held in Waterloo’s Public Library on December 7. On December 8, the focus will be education and the meeting will be in Davenport’s Pulbic Library. A “health care” forum will be held December 9 in the Iowa City Public Library. On December 13, the focus will be on theenvironment and the site will be the Council Bluffs Public Library. On December 14, the Governor and his entourage will be in Sioux City for a discussion of workforce, the economy and agriculture. And a general hearing will conclude the process, to be held at the Wallace State office building in Des Moines.
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