Latest news with #StudyBill337
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
GOP budget agreement gives increase to community colleges but not state universities
The Iowa House Appropriations Committee moved ahead amended legislation Tuesday that would increase state funding for community colleges but not state universities. (Photo courtesy of Kirkwood Community College) Iowa community colleges would get an increase in state funds next year but state universities would not under a budget agreement between House and Senate Republicans. Budget lines in proposed Iowa House legislation for primary and secondary education programs across Iowa have shifted after negotiation with the other chamber, said Rep. Austin Harris, R-Moulton, in an appropriations committee meeting Thursday. Harris introduced an amendment to House Study Bill 337, setting the budget for Iowa Department of Education, state universities, community colleges and other education programs across the state. Numbers from the amendment reflect what was decided upon after negotiations with the Iowa Senate, he said. Iowa House and Senate Republicans reach budget agreement Rather than decrease funding for universities governed by the Iowa Board of Regents, as was proposed in the original version of the bill, the University of Iowa, University of Northern Iowa and Iowa State University would receive flat funding for the upcoming fiscal year. Community colleges would see a $7.5 million increase in funding with the amended legislation, which Harris said was 'about $7.5 million more than what the Senate initially wanted to do.' Senate legislation for education appropriations would keep funding flat for community colleges, compared to the original House bill, which would have provided an additional $8 million for the system. Rep. Timi Brown-Powers, D-Waterloo, said she would not vote in favor of the amendment, as the 'education subgroup on the amendment' preferred the previous proposed IJAG funding and had concerns about flat university funding causing families to have to pay more due to tuition increases. She added she and others are worried about cuts to special education funding. Harris said the proposed $5 million funding cut is the result of conversations with the Iowa Department of Education, in which officials said the special education division was planning to spend less than $2.5 million of the $10 million it was allocated last year. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX 'I'm not sure that we've seen the total repercussions yet of those changes within the school system, and I think that's why they're having, probably, a difficult time finding staff,' Brown-Powers said. Harris said he agreed with Brown-Powers about liking the original budget set by the House education appropriations subcommittee, but what he brought forward was the compromise that could be reached. 'I preferred, actually, all of our original numbers, not just on this budget, but all the other budgets,' Harris said. 'But that's part of negotiations.' The amendment passed, and the full bill was moved to the House floor with a 17-5 vote. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
House education budget bill decreases general funding for universities
Proposed education appropriations legislation in the Iowa House would decrease general funding for state universities. (Stock photo by) Iowa's public universities may see a reduction in their general state funding for the upcoming fiscal year, according to legislation proposed by House Republicans, but the chair of the bill's subcommittee said savings from eliminated programs and positions and funding in other areas will more than make up for it. The House Education Appropriations Subcommittee met Wednesday to discuss House Study Bill 337, which would allocate more than $1 billion in state dollars to the Iowa Department of Education, Iowa Board of Regents and its universities, community colleges, departments for the blind and deaf and more. Rep. Austin Harris, R-Moulton, chaired the subcommittee meeting and said lawmakers will continue to work on the budget, but he is pleased with its current form. 'I'm very proud of the budget that the House Republicans have put forward,' Harris said. 'I think it's in line with our principles of being fiscally responsible and restrained and making sure that we have good budget practices, also while we're making investments across the entire state.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Each of Iowa's public universities would see less general university funding from the state than what they requested, according to the bill, and less than what is proposed in the Iowa Senate's version of education appropriation legislation. The University of Iowa would receive more than $222.6 million in general university funding, according to the legislation, with Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa set to receive almost $177.7 million and just over $101.4 million, respectively. Both the UI and ISU requested flat funding for fiscal year 2026, and UNI asked for an increase of $2.5 million. Rep. Monica Kurth, D-Davenport, said it's 'very concerning' to see general funding for universities decrease when costs have kept rising. Both the UI and ISU would see a decrease of $800,000 under the bill, she said, and UNI would receive nearly $500,000 less in general funding. 'Those are our higher education institutions and to not increase their funding, to at least take into account cost of living adjustment, I think is very concerning,' Kurth said. State universities saved more than $2 million by eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion programs and positions across their campuses, Harris said, and when looking at specific university programs funded in the bill, total appropriations have actually increased. Included in the House bill is a section funding the proposed UI center for intellectual freedom with a $1.5 million appropriation, pending Gov. Kim Reynolds's signature on legislation establishing the center. Other university funding Harris noted included $4 million to the UI for rural maternal and mental health professional programs, $1 million for UI cancer research, a combined $4 million for ISU extension offices, agricultural and veterinary programs and $3 million to UNI for an in-state tuition program for students from bordering states. Both ISU and UNI would see more than $3 million in total state allocations under the bill, Harris said, and the UI would receive an increase of around $5.6 million. Other departments and organizations seeing funding increases include the Department for the Blind, Iowa School for the Deaf, Iowa PBS and loan and incentive programs. Community colleges would receive almost $243.9 million under the House legislation, about $8 million more than the Senate bill proposes. Lawmakers voiced their support for this change, but Rep. Elinor Levin, D-Iowa City, said she was concerned with the many 'status quo line items,' or budget items that have remained unchanged from last year, in the bill. Despite all of the talk about the importance of early literacy, Levin said there is no increased funding for initiatives to help with this problem in the bill, nor are there increases for postsecondary summer classes for high school students or statewide student assessments. The bill will move to the House Appropriations Committee after a 5-2 vote. 'We obviously know how the process here works, and moving forward, we're going to continue to work on the budget to hopefully get us out of here at a decent time,' Harris said. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
