Letter to the Editor: Balance the needs of Iowa schools with the needs of taxpayers
To the Editor:
Every session the question facing the legislature is how to fit Iowans’ priorities within the constraints of state revenue.
For years, state government in Iowa operated much like it does in Washington, D.C. – spend more than they have, send taxpayers into debt, and pass hard decisions off to future lawmakers. Each year another legislature came to Des Moines, spent every last dime of taxpayer money – even money they knew wouldn’t be there the following year. The breaking point came when Governor Culver and legislative Democrats not only had spent more than the state had, they leveraged the state into debt… and then the economy dropped out. Scrambling, Governor Culver took an axe to the budget – indiscriminately slashing it by 10 percent. By far the biggest casualties of this action were Iowa’s schools.
As a result of this gross mismanagement, Iowans changed leadership in the governor’s office and the House. Since that day House Republicans outlined simple, commonsense budgeting principles. Republicans made a commitment to pass a budget which spends less than the state collects, doesn’t use one-time money to fund on-going needs, doesn’t balance the budget by intentionally underfunding programs, and returns unused tax dollars to taxpayers. This isn’t rocket science – it’s exactly how Iowa families and businesses operate.
The Revenue Estimating Committee (REC) outlined a specific revenue projection at their meeting on March 19th. The legislature is required to use that estimate which is now $7.175 billion for Fiscal Year 2016. Last year (FY 15) the state spent $6.995 billion. Simple math tells us there’s $180.9 million of revenue above what was spent last year. While the state budget is complicated, the constraints legislators must operate within isn’t.
The first decision House Republicans made was to make K-12 education the top funding priority. The first bill approved by the House in 2015 was a 1.25% increase in money for schools. Combined with previous education commitments, that’s $100 million. And remember, the state has $180.9 million in new revenue, meaning Republicans committed over half of new revenue to K-12 schools.
The rest of Iowans’ priorities like Medicaid, economic development and public safety have to fit within the remaining $80.9 million in new revenue. The increase in Medicaid alone is projected at over $200 million. It’s easy to see the problem.
Legislative Democrats have suggested a 4 percent increase in funding ($210 million), with no regard for the state’s projected revenue numbers. House Republicans have a history of passing 4 percent allowable growth, but only when revenue is there to fulfil that commitment. Democrats’ short-term thinking with no regard for what the state can afford is the same type of haphazard budgeting that led to the decimation of school funding in the Culver era.
House Republicans have ensured K-12 funding is getting the first (and biggest) bite of the apple. The problem is the apple isn’t as big as we’d hoped. Our plan balances the needs of Iowa’s schools with the needs of Iowa taxpayers, in a responsible and pragmatic way.
Rep. Kraig Paulsen
Speaker of the House
