DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - Leaders in the split Iowa Legislature on Wednesday announced a compromise on spending targets for the next state budget, though details remain vague on the real financial impact of the deal.
Lawmakers in the Democratic-controlled Senate and Republican-majority House released joint budget targets that propose the state spend about $7.34 billion in the fiscal year that begins in July. That is slightly below an earlier estimate, but House leaders say it provides cushion for unexpected costs.
The key new information was a set of overall spending targets that will allow legislative subcommittees to begin work on bills that will ultimately make up the state budget. Those teams will be tasked with ironing out the details.
“We’ll work it out,” said House Speaker Linda Upmeyer, R-Clear Lake, referring to her party and Democrats. “We’ll probably get our way in funding some of the things, and they’ll probably get theirs in others.”
Both parties agreed earlier this session that the state had about $176 million in new dollars to spend, following updated revenue estimates from a panel of budget experts. The chambers agreed to spend the bulk of that new money on K-12 education.
That left limited new dollars for the rest of state government, and the target numbers propose only slightly higher spending for areas such as higher education and the judicial system. There’s no available information on how that would be split among the different groups within those large departments seeking a piece of the budget pie.
Senate Democrats, who scaled back earlier proposed targets, did not make themselves available for comment after the numbers were released. They did offer a statement by Sen. Bob Dvorsky, D-Coralville and chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee.
“Once again, we have attempted to find common ground rather than send state government into gridlock,” he said.
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