Why 99? Perhaps Rants was humming that awful ”99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall” tune when he settled on the number.  Or maybe — since Rants was coming of age in the ’80s — he was humming the 1983-84 recording of ”99 Red Balloons” which was a one-hit wonder by Nena.

Here’s this morning’s news release from Rants:

“Good campaigns are about more than just Candidate A or Candidate B. Good campaigns are about issues facing us as Iowans, and more importantly the ideas and solutions to address those issues,” said Rep. Chris Rants, candidate for Governor from Sioux City.  “This 99 Ideas page is the place where I will present new ideas to improve Iowa.”

“Some ideas will be big – like my property tax proposal. Some will be small – like creating IowaCompareCare.com to help Iowans become better consumers of health care. No matter there size – someone, somewhere in Iowa will be impacted for the better.  In full disclosure, not all of them are original. As I travel Iowa people are always coming up to me and saying “Hey Chris, I’ve got an idea for you…” Many of those ideas will join this list.”

“I hope people will check back often, and watch as the Idea List grows until it reaches 99.”

Today’s Idea Box:

Home Mortgage 529 Plan – This idea is patterned after the 529 college savings plan. Not all kids go to college, but everyone needs a home. As the mortgage industry struggles, it would help first time home buyers to build up a reasonable down payment. It ensures that riskier loan products aren’t needed to get buyers into a home. Encourage parents and family members to make tax deductible deposits into a savings account that would grow tax free to be used for an initial down payment on a qualifying new home. The college savings account has been a tremendous success because it has both state and federal tax benefits. If Iowa does this right, we could lead other states to follow suit, with the goal of obtaining federal tax benefits as well.

Gronstal gave the state tax credits for film makers a 50-50 chance of survival.  Read the Radio Iowa story here.

Gronstal also said it is “highly likely” that Governor Culver will order an across-the-board cut in the state budget this month.  Gronstal went on to say the governor’s cut should be deep, and he warned that unless there’s a major turn-around, legislators will not be able to provide some funding restoration to areas of the budget when the 2010 session convenes in January.

“My recommendation would be to take a larger cut and then if things turn out to be better than expected, we can certainly make adjustments in the next session of the legislature, but right now I think we continue to be troubled by this national recession that’s effected our revenues just stunningly so I’d take the bigger and if we got lucky and things turn out better than expected we can always go back and fix some things, but right now things do not look like they’re getting better,” Gronstal said.

Gronstal predicted jobs in state government won’t be filled and while Gronstal said he hoped the budget cuts in agencies could be managed trhough attritution, he told reporters after the show that a “few, limited layoffs” may be necessary. 

“I think we have a very daunting task for next year’s budget,” Gronstal said on the program.  “…It is going to be a challenge and there is going to be pain.”

Gronstal ruled out raising taxes.  “I think we need to respect what’s happening to family budgets out there.  They’re going through the same kinds of struggles and we’re going to pile on by adding new taxes at the state level,” Gronstal said.  “…This isn’t the right time to be engaging in that.”

Gronstal said there might be some fee increases, however — pointing to last year’s increase in many court fees, a move Gronstal says helped finance operations of the judicial branch.

Jonathan Martin of The Politico has a story about Pawlenty’s recruitment of key political operatives like Iowa natives Terry Nelson and Sarah Taylor. Chris Cilizza of The Washington Post has a who’s who list of Pawlenty’s advisors.

Rants: Time for a “2nd Amendment” to the Iowa Constitution
“With the US Supreme Court’s decision today to revisit the 2nd Amendment, its time Iowa ensure the rights of individuals to own firearms by adopting a state equivalent of the 2nd Amendment to the Iowa Constitution,” said Rep. Chris Rants, candidate for Governor from Sioux City.

The US Supreme Court announced today that they would hear McDonald v Chicago, and review a lower court ruling that upheld a handgun ban in Chicago. Iowa is one of only six state that does not protect in its constitution the right to bear arms; the others being California, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey and New York.

“With the addition of Justice Sotomayor to the Court, defenders of the 2nd Amendment can no longer assume that it will be applied equally to state and local ordinances.  Therefore, I will be introducing a constitutional amendment next year that would protect the right of all Iowans to keep and bear arms, and it will be part of my agenda as Governor,” added Rants.

Senator Chuck Grassley (R-New Hartford, Iowa), the top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, said this morning that he didn’t think the committee would pass a bill that includes the public option.  The Finance Committee has voted down two  attempts to include a public option in the committee’s health care reform package.

“Many people would have come in supporting Nader but eventually voted for Gore, and that might not have happened if Nader had never entered the race,” said William Hedgcock, assistant professor of marketing at UI.

Hedgcock’s findings were recently published in the Journal of Marketing Research. His paper, “Could Ralph Nader’s Entrance and Exit Have Helped Al Gore?” was co-authored with Akshay Rao of the University of Minnesota and Haipeng Chen of Texas A&M University.

Here’s the research paper.  Its subtitle is:  “The Impact of Decoy Dynamics on Consumer Choice.”

Joint Statement from Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal, Senate President Jack Kibbie, House Speaker Pat Murphy, and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy

Regarding Culver-Judge Administration’s response to Film Office controversy

“We are encouraged by the steps taken by the Governor and Lt. Governor to ensure additional accountability and scrutiny with regard to the Iowa Film Office.

“It was prudent for the Governor to announce plans today to involve Attorney General Tom Miller and State Auditor David Vaudt to ensure that every fiscal and legal avenue is pursued against anyone who may have abused this program.

“We are also reassured by their commitment to lift the suspension of the program as soon as it makes sense for responsible projects.”

Iowa Film, Television, and Video Project Promotion Program

This fact sheet has been prepared to provide background information on the Iowa Film tax credit program, including the guidelines for tax credit contracts (including that expenses for production are to be submitted after completion of a project), the top five tax credit recipients, and requirements for projects to be eligible.

Procedures for Tax Credits Contracts:

• Upon completion of the project (or completion of the activities occurring in Iowa), the production company must submit a final expenditure report and any requested supporting documentation to the Department.
• Upon review and qualification of the expenditures, the Department will issue tax credit certificates to the production company and the project’s investors based on the actual amount of qualified Iowa expenditures.
• The tax credits awarded under this program cannot be claimed without a valid tax credit certificate.
• As of July 1, 2009, the film tax credits are subject to a $50 million cap, part of a $185 million cap imposed on several economic development tax credits.
• To date, 22 film projects have received $32 million in tax credits.
• Producers seeking to participate in the program must submit a formal application by the monthly deadline established by the Department.
• Projects approved for participation in the program will be asked to enter into a contract with the Department of Economic Development.
• As of July 1, 2009, projects must commence within four months of executing the contract.  One two-month extension may be granted by the Department.

Top Five Tax Credit Recipients - The following five productions are

1. Ticket Out Productions (“Ticket Out”)
2. Iowa Film Productions Services (“Splatter”)
3. Cornfield Productions (“Peacock”)
4. Changing Horses Productions (Saddle Up Documentary DVDs)
5. Changing Horses Productions (“Saddle Up with Dennis Brouse”)

Project Eligibility Requirements:

• Project must be film, television, or video episode or segment.  Advertising projects in a film, television, or video medium are also eligible.
• Project must be shot in Iowa.
• Project must expend at least $100,000 in qualified Iowa expenditures.
• Project must have an economic impact on the economy of the state or locality sufficient to justify assistance under the program.
• Project must further tourism, economic development, and population retention or growth in the state or locality.
• Project must be widely distributed beyond the Midwest region.
• Project cannot depict or describe any obscene material, as defined by Iowa Code section 728.1.
• As of July 1, 2009, project must have commitments for at least 50% of the funding before applying for assistance under the program.

Qualified Expenditures – A qualified expenditure is a payment to an Iowa resident or an Iowa-based business for the sale, rental, or furnishing of tangible personal property or for services directly related to the registered project including but not limited to:

Aircraft
; Vehicles; 
Equipment; 
Materials
; Supplies
; Accounting; 
Animals and animal care; Artistic and design services; Graphics
; Construction; 
Data and information services
; Delivery and pickup services
;Labor and personnel

**
Lighting
Makeup and hairdressing Film
Music
Photography
Sound, 
Video and related services,
Printing, 
Research
Site fees and rental
Travel related to Iowa distant locations
Trash removal and cleanup
Wardrobe

** Prior to July 1, 2009, labor and personnel does not include the director, producers, or cast members.

** After July 1, 2009, labor and personnel includes compensation paid to the principal producer, principal director, and principal cast members if they are Iowa residents or an Iowa-based business.  The amount to include is based on the following formulas:

Minimum Qualified Iowa Expenditure Maximum Compensation for Producer, Director, and Principal Cast Members Maximum Compensation for All Other Labor and Personnel

$100,000 $0 $150,000 per line item/per job category
$10 million $250,000 per person $200,000 per line item/per job category
$20 million $1 million per person $300,000 per line item/per job category

Program Details

Qualified Expenditure Tax Credit

• Prior to July 1, 2009, equal to 25% of qualified Iowa expenditures.
• After July 1, 2009, up to 25% of qualified Iowa expenditures (negotiable).
• May be transferred up to 2 times.
• May be carried-forward for up to 5 years.
Qualified Investment Tax Credit
• Prior to July 1, 2009, equal to 25% of investment in the project or 25% of qualified Iowa expenditures, whichever is less.
• After July 1, 2009, up to 25% investment in the project or 25% of qualified Iowa expenditures, whichever is less (negotiable).
• May be transferred up to 2 times.
• May be carried-forward for up to 5 years.
Income Exclusion for Qualified Vendors (administered by the Dept. of Revenue)
• Prior to July 1, 2009, Iowa-based vendors may exclude 100% of the income from a qualified expenditure directly related to the production of an approved project for Iowa-income tax purposes.
• After July 1, 2009, Iowa-based vendors may exclude 25% of the income from a qualified expenditure each year for four years.

A taxpayer claiming a qualified expenditure tax credit; a business in which such taxpayer has an equity interest; or a business in whose management such taxpayer participates is not eligible to receive this income-exclusion benefit.

Here’s the Rants “barb” directed primarily at Branstad.

Rants issues tax challenge to gubernatorial candidates

“As Iowa’s state budget situation continues to worsen, the public deserves to know how candidates for governor intend to put it right.  The last two times state government had a significant deficit, the sales tax was raised and the list of things subject to sales tax was expanded.  That is why I challenge my fellow candidates running for governor to pledge to veto any attempt to raise the sales tax, expand its base, or redirect the school infrastructure tax into the general fund,” said Rep. Chris Rants, candidate for Governor from Sioux City.

“We should not repeat the mistakes of the past, but live within our means.  I would hope my fellow Republicans, and Governor Culver would join me in taking this pledge, but I caution them not to do so lightly.  The magnitude of budget deficit is unprecedented.  It will not be easy to balance the budget, and Iowans should expect that there will be pain.  But I believe to close the budget gap with more tax revenue will only make our economic condition worse.”

Rants initially issued his challenge this weekend at the Poweshiek County GOP Town Hall Forum, however all candidates were not present.  He will again issue the challenge this evening in Mt. Pleasant, Tuesday in Pella, and Wednesday in Ames.