Iowa House Republicans approved a bill to increase state funding to public schools by 2.25 percent and appropriate a one-time payment of $22.6 million to schools, a measure they say is aimed at helping schools cope with inflation.
The public school funding in the House proposal is higher than the governor’s proposed budget and the Senate proposal, which would increase public school funding by just 2 percent. The House proposal is still a quarter of a percent less than the previous year’s increase in school funding.
House lawmakers amended the Senate’s proposal, which passed earlier this week, to conform to their proposal previously advanced by the chamber.
The bill, Senate File 167, would also appropriate $5.8 million to address equity in per pupil funding, $5.3 million to address equity in transportation costs, and $1 million for operational sharing funding.
The bill passed the House Thursday, 58-35 — a narrow vote in a chamber where Republicans have a supermajority or over two thirds of the vote. All 30 Democrats present on Thursday voted against the bill, with five Republican’s joining all Democrats.
Reps. Mark Cisneros, R-Muscatine; Tom Detterman, R-Camanche; Zach Dieken, R-Granville; Brian Lohse, R-Bondurant; and Thomas Moore, R-Griswold all voted against the bill.
The bill now goes back to the Senate, and if it is approved without an amendment, it will be sent to the Governor to sign. House leadership did not signal certainty on whether it will pass muster in the Senate.
Republicans said the bill provides a stable increase in funding to schools that the state can afford.
State revenues are expected to decline by almost $1 billion dollars this year, according to the state’s Revenue Estimating Conference, in large part due to income tax cuts passed by Republicans.
“This plan is responsible and a sustainable increase to our schools and this caucus, I believe most of us believe this,” Rep. Dan Gehlbach, R-Urbandale, said during floor debate on the bill. “We believe in funding students and not systems, and this is a year over year increase that we continue to see.”
At the House Republicans proposed increase, if accepted by the Senate and the Governor, 146 Iowa public school districts would have to raise property taxes under a state law that guarantees that school districts budgets increase by 101 percent year over year.
Democrats criticized Republicans, who have made reducing property taxes a top goal, and said they would be responsible for raising property taxes if they did not approve a higher increase in state funding to public schools.
“If we don’t go with the 5 percent, where’s that money going to come from to cover the deficit? Most likely increases in property taxes,” Rep. JD Scholten, D-Sioux City, said during debate referring to his local school district’s budget deficit with House Republicans school funding increase.
“Surviving means property taxes will probably increase. Thriving or 5 percent — what the Democrats are offering — means property taxes will potentially decrease,” Scholten said.
Rep. Heather Matson, D-Ankeny, proposed an amendment to the bill that would have increased school funding by 5 percent, reducing the number of districts on the budget guarantee to just 56. The amendment was shot down on party lines.
Democrats argued that a 5 percent increase in state funding to schools would allow schools to recover after what they say is more than a decade of underfunding that hasn’t kept up with inflation.
“It’s what we know our districts truly need to keep up with rising costs,” Matson said of the bill. “At my core, I believe that all Iowans deserve the chance to not just survive but thrive.”
Democrats argued that the current increase wouldn’t keep up with expected inflation over the next year, which is expected to be a little over 3 percent, further cramping school budgets.
“We see it happening as districts make plans to close buildings, offer fewer electives, raise property taxes, increase class sizes to unmanageable numbers, and as special education deficits continue to increase,” Matson said. “I want better for my kids and for every kid across Iowa, and that is why I will be voting no on this bill today. It will not set us on a path to being number one in education again.”
House Minority Leader Jennifer Konfrst, D-Windsor Heights, said continuing to underfund public education won’t help Iowa schools get back to being leaders in education like they once were.
“Our schools can be number one in the country again,” Konfrst said. “It’s what every kid in this state deserves right now, we’re again asking our students and our schools to barely survive, if at all, when they deserve to thrive.”