News from the Hill…
This week there wasn’t any floor action on the Iowa House Floor to make time for the subcommittees and committees to meet. Once the week is complete there will be a lot fewer bills that will be eligible for debate. This time of year there are people happy to see some bills survive and some bills not survive. At the same time there are people unhappy to see some bills survive and others not survive. So the process is a lot like life, it is all about one’s perspective.
Education Funding…
There has been a lot of talk about K-12 education funding lately. Schools are funded by a mixture of taxes coming from state collections, property taxes, sales taxes and income surtax. In addition there is a few dollars that comes from the Federal Government, but they are taxes also. Over the last five years the state has increased the amount of money sent to the school districts $570 million, a nearly 22% increase. The total investment made by taxpayers to K-12 education on a statewide average is about $10,200 per student per year. The amount most often talked about is the dollars in the Foundation Formula, or the State Cost per Pupil, which is $6,366 per student per year. But the foundation formula only makes up a portion of the investment by taxpayers. The State Legislature sets the Foundation Formula which is made up of state tax collections and property taxes. This growth quite often in the past has been referred to as a percentage of increase. This year the Iowa House has passed an increase of 1.25% increase, which would equate to a total of $6,446 per student. The Iowa Senate has passed an increase of 4% increase, which would equate to a total of $6,620 per student. Doesn’t seem that far apart. However, the difference between the total additional dollars is $112 million dollars that the state doesn’t have. The total increase from the Iowa House plan totals about $98 million of that there is about $48 million additional dollars in the Foundation Formula and $50 million towards teacher leadership package. The total increases of new spending from the Iowa Senates plan would be $159 and 51 for a total of $210 million. This year the State of Iowa has an additional $200 million to spend over what was spent last year. The House plan commits approximately half of the new money to K-12 education. That leaves an additional $100 million to invest in Health and Human Services, Public Safety, and Natural Resources. There will have to be cuts made at the state level to fund the schools at 1.25% increase. The question to the Iowa Senate would be, if you want to increase spending $210 million to the schools, where are you going to make the cuts that will need to be made? This is what they don’t want to tell you that they want to charge it to the credit card and worry about how to make that up next year. Well I have seen what happens when government spends money like that before, taxpayers always lose.
Commerce Committee…
One of the bills that survived the funnel and was passed out of the Commerce Committee this week was HSB 104. This bill is the Governor’s broadband bill to help expand the availability of broadband in Iowa. The bill establishes a grant program, but because of the lack of available funds there isn’t any money to be awarded at this time. The bill does establish criteria for the application and selection in the grant program. The grant cannot be greater than 10% of the total cost of the project and has to be used on broadband infrastructure that has the capability of twenty-five megabits of speed downloading and three megabits upload speed. The broadband infrastructure has to be installed in an area that does not have those speeds available at the time of installation.
Your Opinion Matters…
I always appreciate the people who take the time to write a letter, send an email or contact me about what is important to them. I personally read everyone; I don’t always respond if there does not seem to be a response warranted. The best way I can represent you is to know where you stand on the issues. That does not mean we will always agree, but certainly respect your opinion. I try to base my decision on facts, not emotion. I try to do what is in the best interest of the people of the district I represent, not just a few. I have told people every year that I would not permit politics to remove my integrity, my integrity is still intact. I have said that I would be willing to make the tough decisions when others buckle at the knees. I have been able to stand my ground and make the tough decisions when necessary to do what is in the best interest of the people of the district and state.
“Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.” – Abraham Lincoln
For more information on these and other bills: www.legis.iowa.gov
Until next time,
Tom Sands