Top Republican doesn’t want to raid the road fund

The top Republican in the Iowa Legislature is sending the Democrat Governor a signal about spending on road construction projects. Last year, Governor Tom Vilsack suggested delaying some road projects and using the money elsewhere. House Speaker-elect Christopher Rants, a Republican from Sioux City, says Republicans resisted that move this past year, and will do so again in 2003. Rants says he’s unsure how the governor will fund his budget, but guesses he’ll try to take money from the road fund again. Rants asks the governor to look twice at the issue, as he says the governor tried to make the republican budget a campaign issue, and the republicans maintained control of the House and Senate, indicating Iowans support their budget. Governor Vilsack said this past spring that the decision was between concrete and kids. He said spending money building a few more miles of roadway could be delayed, but a third grader will never get to be a third grader again, and it’s important for the state to maintain its commitment to schools.