Legislature begins approving final budget agreements

DES MOINES - In a sign that the Iowa legislative session - now in its fifth week of overtime - may be approaching its end, the House and Senate began approving conference committee reports to finalize the budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1.

On a party-line vote, the Senate approved $174.6 billion judicial branch budget, one of the smaller components of the $7.168 billion general fund budget.

In the House, representatives approved the judicial budget and a conference committee report calling for a $992.2 for the departments of Education, Blind and Vocational Rehabilitation, College Student Aid Commission, community colleges, Iowa Public Television and Board of Regents.

The progress on conference committee reports - essentially agreements negotiated based on separate budgets approved by the House and Senate - made Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal, D-Council Bluffs, optimistic the Legislature can complete its work this week.

'We're making quite reasonable progress working through our differences,” he said Tuesday afternoon. 'There's always a few wrinkles. I'd just say I'm a pretty good ironer.”

Speaker Kraig Paulsen, R-Hiawatha, agreed that the end is in sight.

'If we can reach resolution, which I think we can, we can move bills,” he said after the House sent the education budget to the Senate and the judicial branch budget to the governor.

So far, House and Senate leaders have reached resolution on narrowing a $166 million gap to a fraction of that.

'I would say we're close to agreement on 90 percent of the state budget,” he said when asked about the prospects for adjourning this week.

He said the process is at the point where budget negotiators 'have a hand shake and now it's the due diligence.”

The education budget

The $6.1 million increase over the current year in the education budget, House File 658, was a $14 million improvement over what the House approved earlier in the session, Rep. Cindy Winckler, D-Davenport, said. However, it's $30 million below Gov. Terry Branstad's request and $34 million less than the Senate target.

'We are definitely, intentionally underfunding programs and services,” she said.

One-time appropriations of $2.5 million for the community colleges, $2.9 million for the University of Iowa, $2.3 million for Iowa State University and $1.1 million for the University of Northern Iowa will be included in a debt reduction bill the Legislature will take up later, House Appropriations Committee Chairman Chuck Soderberg, R-Le Mars, said.

includes one-time appropriations of $2.5 million for the community colleges, $2.9 million for the University of Iowa, $2.3 million for Iowa State University and $1.1 million for the University of Northern Iowa.

However, Republicans approved HF 658 53-39. The Senate is expected to act on it Wednesday.

Both chambers approved Senate File 496 to fund the court system. The $174.6 million budget House Republicans proposed is a 'status quo budget,” Justice Systems Appropriations Committee Chairman Gary Worthan, R-Storm Lake, said.

Rep. Todd Taylor, D-Cedar Rapids, a member of the Justice Systems Appropriations Committee, said that there had been no conference committee meeting so he had no input into the agreement. He described the budget as trying to use 'yesterday's budgets to meet tomorrow's problems.”

Worthan said the budget agreement calls for using general fund money to prevent layoffs in the court system.

Although it was the GOP budget target number, the budget passed the Senate 26-24 with all Senate Republicans opposing it.

One key piece of the end game is the $1.8 billion health and human services budget - a $19.2 million decrease from this year. Negotiators for Senate Democrats and House Republicans, who have been practicing shuttle diplomacy between the chambers, said they are confident the budget won't push the session into next week.

'We're all but agreed to,” Health and Human Services Appropriations Committee Chairman Dave Heaton, R-Mount Pleasant, said. It's been difficult, 'but we are just are very, very close. Everything but signing the bill.”

He said it is premature to talk about the agreement because 'nothing is done until it's done.”

'Things are fragile and it just don't want anything to blow up. That's all,” Heaton said.