‘Late nights’ to resolve higher education budget anticipated

DES MOINES - It will mean “late nights and a lot of coffee,” but Senate Education Appropriations Chairman Brian Schoenjahn is confident a $65 million difference in the House and Senate higher education budgets can be bridged.

Senate Democrats have proposed a $34 million increase in funds for the three regent universities while House Republicans have proposed a $31 million cut.

“It's appropriate and very important that after many years of deep budget cuts forced on us because the recession that we begin to restore the funding for all the regent institutions,” said Senate Education Committee Chairman Herman Quirmbach, D-Ames.

There's no justification for the House cut, said Schoenjahn, an Arlington Democrat.

“If education is truly a priority – and it always seems to be in the campaigns, then it needs to be properly funded,” he said.

There's no question it's a priority, said House Appropriations Committee Chairman Scott Raecker, R-Urbandale. But the question is bigger than how much to spend on higher education.

“There are several large dollar differences that have to be resolved and none of them can be resolved in isolation,” Raecker said. The Senate is proposing $556 million for higher education. The governor has proposed a $20 million increase to $545 million while the House is proposing $491 million for universities and community colleges.

Another “large dollar difference” is the $20 million for skilled workforce training the Senate added, but the House has not included in its budget.

Overall, Raecker said, the amount of state assistance available for the regents universities is contingent on decisions lawmakers reach on funding Medicaid and whether the Legislature fully funds property tax credits, which is a $55 million line item in the House GOP budget plan the Senate didn't include. The Senate put $113 million in the Health Care Trust Fund, but didn't reduce their general fund spending by that amount, Raecker said.

“So we have to get that resolved before we can identify how much we can put in the education budget,” Raecker said.

The proper level of funding is likely to be determined in a conference committee where a small group senators and representatives meeting in public will do a line-by-line review of their respective budgets before agreeing on a funding level that can be voted up or down, but not amended by either chamber.

Schoenjahn and Raecker see that as a good way to resolve budget differences.

“You get in there away from the posturing and we have to give our best arguments,” said Schoenjahn, a former Starmont High School teacher.