The leader of the Iowa Senate Democrats is calling on Republican lawmakers to finalize their annual school funding proposal, nearly a month past their deadline.
The Legislature is required to decide on school funding levels within 30 days of receiving the governor’s proposed budget. That happened in mid-January.
GOP lawmakers are currently proposing a school funding increase of no more than 2.25% – a drop from 2.5% last year and 3% the year before.
Sen. Janice Weiner, D-Iowa City, says that’s not enough, and delaying passage will make things harder for schools to meet upcoming budget deadlines.
“Governance means being responsible to the people, being responsible to Iowans. So to my colleagues, I say, do your job and stop punishing our schools with wasted time and delays.”
Weiner said school districts like Waterloo are already having to cut positions and raise property taxes, which Iowa code allows if they don’t have enough money to cover program costs.
Republican House Majority Leader Pat Grassley says the House GOP feels “very strongly” about their school funding package, but says how fast it advances depends on the willingness of other parties to negotiate.
“I don’t see us in a position where this is like, going to be rushing to the floor. If we get in a position where we can negotiate some of those other things, we’d love to get this settled and get some certainty.”