Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad believes there is a bucket full of solutions for his state’s road and bridge funding woes, and he is determined find one that will receive bipartisan support. You could call it Iowa’s Bucket Challenge of 2015.
“My goal is to see if we can get both caucuses in both parties to agree with me on a plan,” said Branstad. “That’s what we did in 1988 and that’s what I’d like to see us do again.
“I’d like to solve the problem.”
Branstad aims to hold a December meeting with representatives of the four political caucuses in the state legislature with the goal of finding a solution to a $215 million funding shortfall for road and bridge work.
According to Branstad, the Iowa Department of Transportation has put together a number of possible fixes, and the governor believes multiple solutions will be necessary.
“What I’m hearing from Iowans more and more is they’re beginning to recognize that there are some consequences to not finding a way to get more resources into the road fund sooner rather than later,” said Senate Republican Leader Bill Dix.