Money is a hot issue right now, or rather the lack of it.

Questions regarding the state budget were asked of lawmakers Friday during a meeting of the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors' Fort Dodge chapter.

The group tries to hold a meeting with local lawmakers annually.

In attendance were Rep. Dave Tjepkes, R-Gowrie; Rep. Dave Deyoe, R-Nevada; Rep. Dolores Mertz, D-Ottosen; and Rep. McKinley Bailey, D-Webster City.

"It's not going to be pretty or easy," Mertz said of the upcoming session. "In the House and Senate everything is frozen. A lot of people will probably be laid off. I'm hoping more departments can furlough their employees rather than lay off."

The budget will be the main concern of Iowa lawmakers come January, and their timetable for completion has shrunk from May 1 to March 31.

Mertz said she can see lawmakers working more than the 80-day session to iron out details, without pay.

"I agree with Dolores," Tjepkes said. "I don't know how we can run an effective session and be out by March 31."

With an 8.4 percent drop in revenue, Bailey said the state is facing an unprecedented problem.

"This is a crisis," Bailey said, "and we're all going to have to work together because this affects us all."

Tjepkes said lawmakers did see this problem when it created the budget for this fiscal year. For this reason, many Republicans voted against it.

"We all voted no on the budget bill," Tjepkes said, "not because it didn't have good intentions or because it supported good services that were needed, but because the budget far exceeded the state's ability to sustain it.

"We've been able to sense this trend as we dealt with the fallout of the national economy, and we knew there would be a day of reckoning," he said.

The day of reckoning seems to be upon Iowa as Gov. Chet Culver announced Oct. 8 a 10 percent cut across the board for state departments.

For some departments, such as agriculture, the 10 percent cut will compound the 15 percent cut they're already experiencing Deyoe said.

"That's close to a 25 percent cut for that department," Deyoe said. "That's one problem with across-the-board cuts. I wish we would've had a special session to make targeted cuts after looking at certain programs."

Tjepkes said the majority of these cuts will trickle down to personnel since that's where the bulk of budgeted money goes for state departments.

Tim Kraayenbrink - with Kraayenbrink Financial and Associates, in Fort Dodge - wanted to know why the Legislature wouldn't stand up to Gov. Culver when he asked for an extra $100 million for the budget last session.

"Everyone's got to stand up at some time," Kraayenbrink said. "The problem has become so big, it should've been thrown out. We're going to be the ones paying for this. We need lawmakers to be responsible and say no."

Bailey said he felt it was better to be part of the process and alter unnecessary provisions rather than be completely removed from the process, which is why he voted yes.

"There were a lot of positive projects in the budget that needed to be funded," Bailey said.

A question was asked of casinos' abilities to strengthen local economies. Deyoe said historically casino revenue doesn't help general budgets; the money is used for infrastructure.

None of the lawmakers were sure what would happen during the 2010 session, although they did stress the need for both parties to work together.

However, Mertz said she didn't believe any contentious issues will be brought to the floor, like gay marriage.

"I believe the issue of gay marriage should be given to the people to decide," Mertz said. "If an amendment for that comes up, I will vote in favor of it, but any controversial issues probably won't be addressed.

"I hope we don't have a lot of legislation that will take up time because we need to concentrate on the budget and get out of there. That's what we should do in my opinion."

Contact Lindsey Mutchler at (515) 573-2141 or lindsey@messengernews.net