Budget Targets Announced, Let the Negotiations Begin!
The one thing the Iowa Legislature must do each year is pass a budget. With just nine days left in the scheduled legislative session, we now have budget targets. The Governor made her budget recommendations in January. The Iowa Senate set its budget target on March 30. The Iowa House of Representatives came out with their spending target on April 10. Now the negotiations can begin.
The good news is that the House-Senate targets are only about $39 million apart and are not far off the Governor’s budget. The bad news is that they are using more than $1 billion in one-time funds to balance the budget. All three budgets spend more than the state will collect in revenues.
$9.67 billion – Governor’s Recommendation
$9.66 billion – House Target
$9.62 billion – Senate Target+
$8.47 billion – March Revenue Estimate
You can see our real-time budget tracker here. It includes the most current bill numbers, information on where the bills are in the process, and links to staff detailed budget reviews.