DES MOINES – The Iowa Department of Management today announced that Governor Culver’s I-JOBS program was responsible for employing 7,079 Iowans in June, creating or retaining jobs in every county while strengthening the state’s infrastructure and economy. Despite this success, Republicans continue to level false attacks on the I-JOBS program.

“Terry Branstad is deliberately misleading Iowans,” said Iowa Democratic Party Chair Sue Dvorsky. “It’s time for Republicans to stop using false rhetoric to attack a program that is creating jobs and building our infrastructure without raising taxes or adding a burden to future generations. Iowans deserve real, honest leadership and that’s what they have in Chet Culver.”

Ignoring his own record yet again Terry Branstad, backed by the Republican Party of Iowa (RPI), was quick to mislead voters about I-JOBS:

Rhetoric: I-JOBS has not created any jobs.
Reality: Even Branstad’s own administration argued in 1983 that infrastructure investments would create jobs, saying “as a rule of thumb, one construction job is created for every $25,000, expended on such projects…that will in turn create 70 jobs on the secondary area…” (Spencer Daily Reporter, 1/24/83). When adjusted for inflation, Branstad’s own math shows that I-JOBS should create almost 16,000 jobs.

Rhetoric: I-JOBS has not created any long-term jobs
Reality: Since its obvious I-JOBS is already creating jobs, Branstad is backtracking and claiming I-JOBS hasn’t created any long-term jobs.This too is false. Many of these projects haven’t created any long-term jobs yet because they are still under construction. I-JOBS will create long-term jobs in two ways. First: Some projects, such as fire stations, will require additional staffing once they are complete. Second and more importantly, infrastructure investments are one of the things private sector companies look at when examining potential locations to expand or move to. Private sector employers want their job sites to be protected from flooding, be served by rapid fire, police and EMS response, to be served by good road, rail and air links, and to have quality of life attractions for their employees.

Rhetoric: Future generations will have to pay for I-JOBS
Reality: The bonding for the entire I-JOBS program is funded by existing gaming revenue, without adding any debt to the budget.

Rhetoric: The total cost of I-JOBS is $1.7 billion
Reality: Iowa’s strong economy and triple-A bond rating saved taxpayers hundreds of millions to bring the total cost of the program to around $1.1 billion. As Governor, Terry Branstad bonded a total of $4.815 billion, mostly in short-term bonds just to fill gaps in his budget. I-JOBS was bonded responsibly to ensure continued economic growth.