Branstad ‘stretches’ to give Iowa schools 2.45 percent funding increase

DES MOINES - Gov. Terry Branstad said Tuesday he hopes to be able to maintain his request to boost state supplemental aid to Iowa's K-12 public schools by 2.45 percent when he presents his fiscal 2017 budget blueprint to state lawmakers next week.

'It's going to be a real big challenge,” Branstad told reporters attending a legislative forum sponsored by the Associated Press. 'When I make my budget recommendation next Tuesday, my hope is that we can get to 2.45 (percent).

'It's not going to be easy. It's going to be a real stretch. We have some real issues with the growing costs of Medicaid. Even with managed care for Medicaid, it's still growing significantly,” the governor noted. 'We have other budget needs as well, but that is a very big priority and one that I hope we can achieve.”

Branstad proposed that state aid to schools be boosted by 1.25 percent for the current school year and 2.45 percent for the fiscal year that begins July 1 when he submitted his biennial budget request last January. But since then, state revenue estimates have been set and scaled back due to weakness in the farm economy and other factors that caused the governor to hedge his school-funding expectations.

The six-term Republican said he continues to work on the recommendations he will make when he addresses a joint session of the 86th Iowa General Assembly next week, but he was hopeful the state could afford a roughly $100 million boost in school funding in fiscal 2017 with each percentage increase equaling about $41 million.

During a separate 2016 session discussion involving four leaders from the House and Senate - two Republicans and two Democrats - House Speaker-select Linda Upmeyer, R-Clear Lake, noted the House approved a 2 percent boost in K-12 funding that is awaiting Senate approval, while Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal, D-Council Bluffs, said his caucus prefers the 4 percent increase that senators sent to the House for consideration once the split-control Legislature convenes on Monday.