Spending plans for Iowa’s next budget in motion

DES MOINES — Roughly $9 of every $10 in state revenue would be poured into the next year’s state budget, while the remaining money would be set aside, under the myriad proposals from Republicans at the Iowa Capitol.

Gov. Kim Reynolds and Republicans in the majorities in the Iowa House and Senate have released their state spending plans at various points over recent weeks. On Monday, Rep. Gary Mohr, R-Bettendorf, who chairs the House’s budget committee, discussed House Republicans’ budget proposal with reporters.

State lawmakers have roughly $9 billion in state revenue available for the budget year that begins July 1, and they must draft a spending plan before finishing their work in the 2022 session of the Iowa Legislature.

Republican leaders’ budget targets are close to each other: Reynolds and Senate Republicans have proposed spending just more than $8.2 billion, while House Republicans have proposed spending just more than $8.27 billion.

That would be a little more than a 1 percent increase over the current state budget of just more than $8.1 billion.

“At some point, we will come to an agreement. At this point, I can’t tell you what that agreement will be,” Mohr said. “But (House Republicans) feel very comfortable with these numbers. We know the numbers work along with our tax cuts. And we think that’s in the best interest of the people of Iowa.”

Typically, budget work does not begin in earnest until roughly mid-March, after the state’s Revenue Estimating Commission meets to provide its latest projections.

But with an $800 million budget surplus and full reserves and emergency accounts, Republican leaders have chosen to start the budgeting process sooner than usual.

Zach Wahls, the Democratic Senate minority leader from Coralville, said he considers it an optimistic sign that budget work has already begun, although he also said he would prefer the Senate’s budget process allowed more time for public input.

Wahls also said he would prefer that more of that revenue be invested in state services and programs, like K-12 public, college and career technical education, public safety, and mental health care.

“Look, the law allows us to go up to 99 percent (of state revenue),” Wahls said. “There’s a lot of talk about wanting to return tax dollars back to Iowans. I think the best way to do that is to invest in Iowans.”

Jack Whitver, the Senate Majority Leader from Ankeny, also expressed his pleasure at the early start to the state budget work. He said that enabled legislators to craft an overall state budget while also working on the K-12 public school funding, which is a significant portion of spending — more than 43 percent in the 2021 budget year — but must be done early in the session to allow schools time to craft their budget for the next school year.

Whitver said he believes the Senate Republican budget proposal properly balances investing in state services while making room for state income tax cuts.

“I think it’s a budget (proposal) that does what I’ve said for a long time, which is allow us enough room to continue to invest in priorities while continuing to work on the tax reforms that we’ve been doing,” Whitver said. “So we’re going to continue that reliable, sustainable funding that we have been doing the last six years. And I’m confident this budget would do that.”

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