Governor Terry Branstad says he believes the state can afford to send Iowa’s public schools a two-point-45 percent increase in general state aid for the next school year. “I think this is an extraordinary commitment, especially in light of the fact that we’ve had to reduce spending in other areas of the budget,” Branstad says. Branstad will release his entire plan for the entire state budget tomorrow (Tuesday).

He’s carving out a 145 million dollar increase in state support of public schools. That includes the percentage increase he’s recommending in general state aid, plus about 53 million dollars more for a teacher leadership program. Branstad says it’s a tight budget, because state tax collections are lagging.  “This year revenue is down from we anticipated it would be last year, so I think this shows that we have made an extraordinary commitment to reduce spending in other areas in order to do this,” Branstad says.

The Republican governor is urging legislators to make the decision about general school funding quickly rather than engage in a months-long stand-off like they did last year. Senate President Pam Jochum, a Democrat from Dubuque, says that’s the goal for Democrats. “Certainly all of us have a desire to get this done quickly. We don’t want to see a repeat of the 2015 session and that was what held us up,” Jochum says. “…It’s good news that the governor is above where the House currently is.”

House Republicans last year signaled they want a two percent general boost in state support of schools for the next budgeting year. House Speaker Linda Upmeyer of Clear Lake says Republicans “are committed” to making the school funding decision early. “Education is clearly a bipartisan priority in this building,” Upmeyer says. The Iowa House and Senate convened shortly after 10 a.m. this morning (Monday).

Governor Branstad will deliver his “Condition of the State” message tomorrow (Tuesday) at 10 a.m. and Branstad says there won’t be any big surprises in the speech or the budget plan he’ll present to lawmakers tomorrow (Tuesday).

(Radio Iowa)