Visitors take in the view on a summer day from Pikes Peak State Park near McGregor in northeastern Iowa. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)
Well, it’s that time of year again. It’s time to load up the family truck and head to Des Moines to check out the state’s budget surplus.
Maybe you didn’t know it, but every summer the Department of Revenue opens its underground vaults where it stores the state surplus and the Taxpayer Assistance Fund. Through several layers of bulletproof glass, billions of dollars can be seen piled up in a majestic mountain of money.
It is truly an impressive sight. No one who contemplates it will ever forget it. And every year, the surplus is getting bigger. To cover more and more tax cuts.
Sure, maybe you used to take the family to one of Iowa’s state parks. Maybe rent a cabin, camp, hike in nature, see if the fish are biting. But let’s face it, state parks are so 2010. They are going to hell, abandoned and in disrepair.
You might be thinking, “Why don’t we use some of that huge surplus to properly staff and fix up state parks?” It’s clear you don’t understand conservative budgeting or fiscal responsibility. We cannot afford their radical socialism.
Making big tax cuts the state’s top priority means making tough decisions.
For example, as The Gazette’s Erin Jordan recently reported, biologists and other staff should be expelled from state fish hatcheries. They have been told they need to vacate homes in the fisheries by 2029. The homes will be destroyed or sold, but only if the buyer can move them.
So what happens if there is a flood or power outage in the fisheries that could kill state-owned fish? What if thieves come at night? Don’t be afraid because there are no employees here.
This is called rationalization, reorganization and right-sizing. Governor Kim Reynolds loves to improve government even if it makes it less functional. Good trick.
The Department of Natural Resources has already expelled park rangers from their homes within the parks they patrolled. The state did not want to spend a million dollars to fix the houses.
The department then announced that there would no longer be rangers stationed in the parks. Many will become “conservation officers,” and their law enforcement duties will cover one or more counties rather than a single park. The state says officers who live 20 miles away and perform duties that cover a much broader geographic area will have no effect on park safety.
Stop complaining. Just call 911.
State parks, according to a former DNR employee, need $100 million in repairs for a variety of facilities and services. The Republicans who control the Golden Dome of Wisdom, now redder than a tick bite, contributed $6 million. It’s all they can afford.
Water flowing from farmland, through parks and into lakes remains dirty, causing algae blooms that close beaches and prompt swimming advisories. There is little to no courage or political will on Capitol Hill, in either party, to do anything about this.
So what is the end game? Privatization of state parks? All-terrain ranger robots? Armed drones?
If you want to know what we really value, take a look at the money mountain. If you want to know how much it costs Iowa, visit the mountains of abandonment.
(319) 398-8262; todd.dorman@thegazette.com
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