The Iowa Senate Democrats announced today they will host a week-long series of “Open Budget Hearings” next week at the Iowa Statehouse. Informed Iowans are schedule to speak on the impact of the significant points of disagreement between Senate Democratic proposals and those of Governor Branstad and House Republicans. The Open Budget Hearings will begin with [...]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XscmLeK1mts[/youtube] The 2010 legislative session opened on Monday, January 11th at the State Capitol. House leaders said the session will focus on help for middle class families and small businesses. Priorities include balancing the budget without raising taxes, creating good-paying jobs, strengthening Iowa schools, and making government more accountable and transparent. The House has two new members this [...]
The state’s 2008 fiscal year concluded on June 30 and fiscal year 2009 began on July 1. Preliminary reports from the non-partisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau on state general fund receipts indicate that revenue collections exceeded expectations. Fiscal Year 2008 ended with 9.4% revenue growth. This rate of collections compares with the Revenue Estimating Conference (REC) estimate of [...]
The Revenue Estimating Conference (REC) met on Friday and boosted state revenue projections for 2008 and 2009. The Legislature uses the REC estimates to craft the state budget. For Fiscal Year 2008, the REC increased estimated growth from 6.0% to 7.2%, which is $415.9 million more than the state received in FY 2007. This new estimate is $78.8 million [...]