Under the Golden Dome, Too

New bill hopes to increase spending flexibility for local schools
 
     We had a good week of debate in the House this week. We continue to focus on finding solutions for Iowans’ problems and doing what is best for our great state. 
     The Revenue Estimating Conference (REC) met this week to review their December estimates with another three months of revenue to consider – both income tax receipts and sales and use tax receipts. Their estimate is now $20 million lower than the December estimate. We should anticipate approximately $180 million in new revenue for Fiscal Year 2016, instead of $200 million. We will need to sharpen our pencil once again to make sure we are not spending more than we take in.
     The House passed three bills this week that will provide school districts with greater flexibility in how they spend their dollars. These measures will allow our local school boards to do what they were elected to do – provide our students with the best educational opportunities possible by determining how best to manage their individual budgets. These bills will provide increased flexibility for a school’s management levy (HF 515) and dropout prevention/at-risk funding programs (HF 346). 
     The third bill, HF 549, is intended to restore balance during contract negotiations for school districts and AEAs. The bill narrowly changes the binding arbitration process by making three small, yet significant changes to what an arbitrator is allowed to consider when rendering a decision on school contracts. This legislation will help prevent teacher layoffs by allowing more flexibility in the arbitration process.
     Currently, when there is an impasse in negotiations, an arbitrator is required to choose one or the other of the two parties’ final offers. Under HF 549, the arbitrator will be allowed to choose a middle ground. This allows an arbitrator to find an alternative solution that is affordable for the school district and taxpayers, while rewarding school employees for their hard work.
     The bill also requires an arbitrator to consider the wages, hours, and conditions of employment of private sector employees doing comparable work when rendering a final decision. Current law only requires an arbitrator to look at a comparison of other public sector workers.
     Finally, the bill prohibits an arbitrator from considering the school’s authority to levy taxes to finance an increase in compensation packages. Often times during negotiations, a school board’s ability to raise taxes to pay for increases beyond a school’s current budget are taken into consideration.
     Over the past four years, we have demonstrated our commitment to K-12 education by increasing funding by $400 million or 16 percent. This year, we have committed approximately $100 million in new revenue to schools – an investment of over half of the total new available revenue predicted for this year.  By prioritizing this amount of funding for education, we will have to make hard decisions about where the remainder of the new dollars will go, and we will also have to make cuts, some pretty significant, in other areas of state government.
     By providing much-needed flexibility for our local school boards to determine how best to meet the needs of their students, the bills I’ve discussed in this newsletter further demonstrate our strong commitment to our K-12 education system.
     As always, if you’d like to discuss an issue that is important to you, I’d love to hear from you. I can be reached anytime at (515) 281-4618 or linda.upmeyer@legis.iowa.gov.