Democrat John Norwood says if he’s elected treasurer he’ll ensure more of the taxes Iowans pay the state are kept circulating inside the state’s borders.
Norwood says depositing that money in Iowa banks means bankers can make loans against that two-and-a-half billion dollars. Norwood is the founder of a firm that provides financial and management advice to small businesses. He says the state treasurer should be more engaged in accountability and the long-term value of state investments — including how the Iowa Public Employees Retirement System or IPERS (EYE-pers) is managed. The State Treasurer is a member of the board that oversees IPERS.
Norwood says the lowest cost bid for state funded construction projects sometimes produces shoddy work that has to be repaired at additional cost.
Norwood made his comments at the State Fair during a speech on the Des Moines Register’s Political Soapbox. Governor Chet Culver, a Democrat, required state agencies to consider project labor agreements for public works projects, but when Republican Governor Terry Branstad — Culver’s successor — took office he immediately issued an executive order to ban state funds for any project with an agreement to exclusively use union labor. Norwood is running against Roby (ROB-ee, like “Robbie”) Smith, the Republican who is running for a second term as state treasurer.
