One year ago at this time the General Assembly was within two weeks of adjournment and budget bills were either bouncing back and forth between the Chambers or already in subcommittee. This year, however, is an entirely different story.
With May 1 fast approaching (this is the day that legislative per diem runs out and legislators begin paying their own expenses while in Des Moines), not a single budget bill has passed either Chamber as the impasse over school funding continues.
What makes this more interesting is the fact that local school districts are legally bound to pass their own budgets for the upcoming fiscal year by April 15. Lacking clarity from the state over the amount of new supplemental state aid they can expect, many school districts will likely choose to adopt budgets either based on an anticipated growth rate of zero (assuming no resolution) or at the House level of 1.25%.
In addition, there is a real possibility that, lacking any real work to do until the budget question is resolved, House and Senate leaders may send their members home for an extended time period and bring them back only when larger budget decisions have been made.
View the Iowa Legislative Bill Tracker.