News from the Hill…
The Appropriations and Ways and Means Committees each met this week. The House Appropriations Committee received and passed some of the appropriations bills that have come over from the Senate. Budget bills are being debated and passed out of one chamber and then start the process over in the other Chamber. Even with the log jam of school funding not coming to an end, the rest of the appropriations bills are starting to move. There doesn’t appear to be many positive signs on the school funding discussion, other than a new dialogue has begun.
First Week of Over Time…
We have completed the first week of the session without the clerks, and no per diem. This, coupled with the fact of farmers wanting to get home to finish their spring work, will hopefully motivate people to get along and come to a sensible agreement on spending. There are many issues hanging in limbo waiting to see if they may get their day of debate. Every time you think a particular bill is dead for the year, something will breathe new life into it, and off we go. This can make some people very happy, and others are scrambling to stop it in its tracks.
Avian Bird Flu…
There seems to be new breaks with the Avian Bird Flu each day or so. So far most of the known cases are in Northwest Iowa. While this is devastating to the individual producers, it is unknown how much of a fiscal impact this will have on the State Revenues. However, with more and more cases of the flu being found, the chance of a significant impact increases. The repopulation of birds is faster than it is for cattle or hogs, but it will still take time. So the prices paid for those commodities by consumers will go up while the income from the producers will turn into losses. So there will be a negative impact on the state, the amount is still unknown.
“Life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we react to it.” – Dennis P. Kimbro
For more information on these and other bills: www.legis.iowa.gov
Until next time,
Tom Sands