DES MOINES, IA – Why should the taxpayers of Iowa pay for a government program whose function is being met by existing Iowa businesses? State Treasurer, Michael Fitzgerald, is proposing to spend $1.5 million of our money so the state can offer retirement planning services and compete with Iowa financial investment companies. Creating a government run individual retirement account (IRA) program is not a function of state government. The reason behind the plan is to provide Iowa workers with another option to open an IRA account. There are many financial investment companies in Iowa that provide this service. Many of these are in small towns and a state IRA program would be devastating to these businesses.
It is obvious that either the State Treasurer’s Office is over staffed or our State Treasurer of 33 years is becoming bored with his job, having the need to increase the size of government at the hands of private Iowa businesses. What’s next, state owned garage service centers where we can get the oil changed in our cars? It is easy to see that would result in a blow to the existing mechanic shops in Iowa; the same as what a state IRA program would do to the existing financial businesses in Iowa.
