Negotiators strike deal on Iowa budget framework

DES MOINES - House and Senate negotiators emerged from five hours of closed-door talks Friday night, declaring they had reached a tentative state budget deal that will enable them to end the overtime legislative session next week.

House Speaker Kraig Paulsen, R-Hiawatha, and Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal, D-Council Bluffs, said they achieved a budget 'framework” that includes the overall general fund spending level for next fiscal year and targets for individual budget areas.

But they said they would not release details to the public until next week, once the numbers have been finalized and discussed with their caucus members.

Paulsen said some surplus money would be used to pay for one-time expenses, but overall the overall spending level meets House GOP principles - that the state not spend more money than its projected revenue, and that it not use one-time sources to pay for ongoing programs.

'I'm pleased that we've been able to come up with a framework,” Paulsen told reporters when the talks ended Friday evening. 'We found a way to balance ongoing revenue with ongoing expenses and meet the priorities of Iowans. I think it's a great thing for this building and I think it's a great thing for Iowans.”

Gronstal said the tentative agreement reflects what is doable within a divided Statehouse where Democrats control the Senate and Republicans hold a majority in the House.

'In the end, we chose compromise over gridlock,” Gronstal said. 'I felt we got the best we could with the hand that we were dealt.

'We fought long and hard for what we thought was important and in the end I think we had some success,” the Senate Democratic leader added.

Gronstal said the tentative deal included funding for K-12 schools for fiscal 2016 but not fiscal 2017 as Gov. Terry Branstad has insisted. Neither side would specify what level of supplemental state aid that school districts could expect for the next school year.

While both sides were tight-lipped on specifics, Sen. Jeff Danielson, D-Cedar Falls, said it appeared that the numbers were close to the House GOP targets, which would mean House-Senate conferences would be convening next week to downsize budget bills that had been passed by the Senate.

'Elections have consequences,” Danielson wrote in a text message.

House and Senate leaders have been holding daily closed-door negotiations since mid-May, starting about $166 million apart on the fiscal 2016 spending targets and gradually narrowing that gap but without reaching final resolution until Friday on a 'global” total for the fiscal year beginning July 1.

When budget talks began earlier this session, majority House Republicans capped fiscal 2016 state general fund spending at $7.168 billion, saying they would not spend more than the state takes in or use one-time money to fund ongoing expenses.

Majority Senate Democrats adopted Republican Gov. Terry Branstad's overall $7.341 billion spending plan, but departed with him in a number of ways to get there - although both approaches used one-time surplus money to cover 2013 commitments made to property tax relief and school reforms.

SESSION AT A GLANCE

86th Iowa General Assembly

Opened Jan. 12

Calendar days in session: 141

Senate days in session: 82

House days in session: 88

Bills/resolutions introduced: 1,289

Study bills filed: 542

Bill draft requests: 2,332

Enrolled bills/resolutions passed: 112

House makeup: 57 Republicans, 43 Democrats

Senate makeup: 26 Democrats, 24 Republicans

Governor: Terry Branstad, six-term Republican

Fiscal 2016 initial spending targets

House Republicans: $7.175 billion

Senate Democrats: $7.341 billion

Governor: $7.341 billion

Sources:

Legislative Services Agency, legislative documents