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Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Iowa Senate committee moves budget bills as negotiations continue
The sky above the Iowa Capitol was crossed by contrails on March 11, 2025. (Photo by Kathie Obradovich/Iowa Capitol Dispatch) Though an agreement is yet to be reached on state spending for the upcoming fiscal year, the Senate Appropriations Committee moved four bills forward in a Tuesday meeting. Senators passed four budget bills through the appropriations committee Tuesday, making them available for floor debate in the chamber. This does not mean the issues causing budget bills to stall – disagreements in spending between the two chambers and calls by some senators to pass legislation related to eminent domain – have been resolved. The four bills all passed 13-9, with all Democrats and two Republicans, Sens. Sandy Salmon and David Sires, voted against. Other GOP members of the appropriations committee, including Sens. Dave Rowley and Dennis Guth, had signed onto the letter sent to Senate leadership saying they would oppose the passage of budget bills unless pipeline legislation was brought to the floor for debate, but they did not oppose the measures in the committee meeting. Though the bills did not receive full support from the majority party, the Senate spending bills on the state's education, health and human services, judicial, and Rebuild Iowa Infrastructure Fund (RIIF) budgets all passed the committee. The education and HHS appropriations bills — Senate Study Bill 1231 and Senate Study Bill 1237 respectively — are both measures where House Republicans have put forward a different budget target than Senate Republicans. Much of the focus in budget disagreements has been centered on House Republicans' ask for $14 million to continue pay supplements for education support staff, primarily paraeducators, a provision in the House standings bill. Neither the House nor Senate appropriations committees have moved on the standings appropriations bill yet. But there are other areas of disagreement. The House education appropriations bill, House Study Bill 337, includes an $8 million increase for community colleges that is not in the Senate bill. The committee advanced the Senate version of this bill without comments on the funding difference between the two chambers. However, Democrats did criticize the overall lack of funding increases going to the state's higher education system — including community colleges — in the budget bill, saying the spending proposal will lead to cost increases for Iowa families sending students to Iowa colleges and universities. Sen. Cindy Winckler, D-Davenport, said she 'can't think of a time in the history of funding education' that no new funding has gone to the state's regent universities, community colleges and Iowa tuition grants. She said she found the proposal to keep funding for higher education at the same level as the current fiscal year 'disturbing,' as the state's higher education system is critical for meeting the state's workforce needs and improving personal income growth. 'At a time when we have, by your definition, 'plenty of money,' it disturbs me that this particular budget comes with very little increase,' Winckler said. '… It's historic, and you need to be aware of when you vote for this budget, if you do, that you are underfunding the future of Iowans and the workforce. Sen. Jesse Green, R-Boone, said the budget keeps 'steady funding towards higher education.' He also said he was shocked after being elected to the Legislature to learn 'we subsidize college education to the amount that we actually do,' and said the current budget better aligns with Iowa voters' expectations for state spending. 'This year, I'll admit, when I was on the campaign trail, I had a lot of constituents ask to shrink government, literally asked us to shrink government, and here we have a status quo budget,' Green said. 'So … I think this aligns with our targets. I think this aligns with what Iowans are expecting of us at this point in time, they expect us to put more money into their hands than in the government.' Differences over nursing homes, Medicaid The Senate health and human services budget bill also has differences when compared to its House companion, House Study Bill 342. The House version has $9 million more, a total of $25 million, for nursing facility provider reimbursement rate adjustments while the Senate allocated $16 million. Another difference is the inclusion of language stating Iowa's Medicaid program funding 'shall not be used for sex reassignment surgery or treatment related to an individual's gender dysphoria diagnosis.' Blocking Medicaid coverage for transgender Iowans is something the Republican-controlled Legislature has attempted to enact before, but similar measures were struck down in courts. Supporters said this year's provision would be legal as Gov. Kim Reynolds signed into law a measure that removed gender identity as a protected class in the Iowa Civil Rights Act, one of the legal protections cited in court decisions. But Sen. Molly Donahue, D-Marion, said the provision would still be found unconstitutional under the Equal Protection Clause, pointing to the 2021 district court ruling that found a similar law prohibiting Medicaid coverage for gender-affirming care violated state civil rights laws and the Iowa constitution. 'It restricts (Medicaid coverage) based on someone's identity as transgender or non-gender conforming, and that is wrong and unconstitutional under Equal Protection,' Donahue said. The Senate language goes further than previous Iowa laws, as it applies to all medical treatment related to a person's gender dysphoria diagnosis. Keenan Crow, policy and advocacy director at One Iowa, said this provision could prevent transgender Iowans on Medicaid from accessing mental health care or other medical services not related to medically transitioning. Rep. Ann Meyer, R-Fort Dodge, said last week House Republicans support a restriction on Medicaid coverage for sex reassignment surgery and hormone therapy, but would take up language that would not affect mental health care access for individuals with gender dysphoria. The Senate Appropriations Committee did not make or recommend any amendments to the bills passed Tuesday, meaning changes would come on the Senate floor during debate on these or other areas of contention. Sen. Tim Kraayenbrink, R-Fort Dodge, the appropriations committee chair, asked for committee members to be prepared for another meeting to discuss the standings bill and any other remaining legislation as soon as compromises are reached. He said that could be as early as Thursday, but that negotiations could take longer. 'This is always kind of a time we have to be ready and able just to meet when we can meet if we want to try to get out of here as soon as we can,' Kraayenbrink said.
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Funding flat for state universities, community colleges in proposed appropriation bill
Legislation proposing state appropriations for the Iowa Department of Education, Iowa Board of Regents and more moved out of subcommittee Tuesday. (Photo by) Iowa's public universities and community colleges would see flat funding for the upcoming fiscal year if proposed education appropriation legislation is passed, causing concern for some lawmakers. Senate Study Bill 1231 would set fiscal year 2026 state funding for the Iowa Department of Education, Iowa Board of Regents and the institutions it governs, Department for the Blind and other individual programs. Under the bill, general university funding for the University of Iowa would stay at almost $223.5 million, Iowa State University funding would remain at more than $178.4 million and funding for the University of Northern Iowa would remain at almost $101.9 million. While neither the University of Iowa or Iowa State University requested any general funding increases, the University of Northern Iowa asked for an additional $2.5 million for the upcoming year, which was not reflected in the bill. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Sen. Cindy Winckler, D-Davenport, said Tuesday during a subcommittee meeting on the bill that data from the board of regents shows around 66% of the higher education system budget is driven by tuition, with less than 30% made up of state appropriations. 'I'm very concerned about the level funding for both our community colleges and our regent universities,' Winckler said. 'That would mean, as costs are going up for the provision of education, that tuition will go up, and in many cases, that is very difficult for families.' Public education is incredibly important, she said, and when the Legislature keeps funding flat for state universities and community colleges — especially with national challenges all colleges must weather — the students and families paying to attend them feel the hurt of rising costs. Funding for community colleges is listed at close to $235.9 million, the same as last year. Katrina Holck, representing Community Colleges for Iowa, said many community colleges are concerned about the proposed funding as well. Lobbyists expressed general support for the legislation during the meeting, including proposed funding of $10 million for a health care professional incentive program and more than $2.3 million for the therapeutic classroom incentive fund for school districts. Representatives of Des Moines University said in the past, the private college and the UI have been allocated funds for a loan program to either keep alumni practicing in Iowa or bring professionals back to the state to work, and expressed their wish to see it continue. 'The loan program has been really helpful for our alumni to stay here and practice or come back and practice in rural areas,' said Joseph Jones, chief of staff in the president's office at DMU. Other funds left out of the legislation mentioned by commenters included the Iowa Tuition Grant program, $14 million for paraeducators and other civil work personnel and a $335,000 ask for a dyslexia endorsement tuition reimbursement program. Subcommittee chair Sen. Jesse Green, R-Boone, said in total, the bill allocates more than $1 billion from the state general fund for fiscal year 2026, an increase of more than $7 million from last year, as well as about $33.7 million from other funds. Sen. Sandy Salmon, R-Janesville, had no comments but joined Green in signing the legislation forward. It will head to the full Senate Appropriations Committee for further review. Green praised Gov. Kim Reynolds for urging the Legislature to allocate $1 million to the UI for cancer research, as well as the health care professional incentive program. In speaking with his constituents about actions taken last year to increase starting teacher pay, Green said it has really helped rural teachers and schools, and similar efforts should continue. 'This year, when I have gone out and I've talked to the communities, it resonates with a lot of people that we need to maybe expand our rural teacher loan incentives,' Green said. 'That's something that I would like to continue to pursue in the future, for me personally.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
