The Jeneary Journal, Week 12 (March 30, 2023)

Greetings,

Week 12 marked the end of the second funnel. This means that any bill that has not gone through a committee is not eligible for debate this year. Of course, bills from Appropriations and Ways and Means are still eligible for debate as well as any bill that leadership wishes to bring forward.

Iowa House Republicans Release Budget Target

• Late last week, Iowa House Republicans released our budget target for Fiscal Year 2024.
• Crafting the budget has looked a little different this year, because the Government Reorganization bill needed to be passed first. But now, with the bill to streamline state government passed, our caucus is ready to hit the ground running to craft the state’s budget.
• Our big budget target is $8.58 billion. This number is roughly $90 million above the Governor and the Senate’s number. There are two main reasons for this.
  • Our number includes the appropriations we’ve already passed this session that the Governor didn’t consider since her budget number is released prior to session. This includes money for the property tax rollback fix and increase in funding for public schools to 3% SSA.
  • Our number also includes about $50 million more to address a few priorities that we know are important to Iowans.
• Examples of budget priorities for Iowa House Republicans that make our number higher include:
  • More dollars for nursing homes by raising reimbursement rates. This would allow Iowa’s nursing homes caring for residents on Medicaid to be reimbursed at a higher rate.
  • Funding increase for the Department of Corrections to help with the retaining and recruitment of corrections officers. These are very tough jobs and we know the department is having a tough time hiring and keeping folks for these roles.
  • More resources to expanding Iowans’ access to quality, mental health care across the state.