House Passes Responsible Education Budget Bill
Rep. Guy Vander Linden (R-Oskaloosa)
by Rep. Guy Vander Linden
House File 604, the FY14/15 Education Appropriations Bill, appropriates $894.9 million in FY14 and $816.4 million in FY15 (85% of FY14) in General Fund dollars for the Department for the Blind, the College Student Aid Commission, the Department of Education, Community Colleges, Vocational Rehabilitation, Iowa Public Television, and the Board of Regents in Fiscal Year 2014. This is an increase of $33.9 million over FY 2013.
Among the notable changes from FY13:
The Department for the Blind will see a $200,000 increase. This is a step towards restoring the devastating cuts the department endured as a result of the unsustainable budget approved by Democrats resulting in the across the board cut in 2010. This increase will help them maintain services they currently provide.
Programs under the College Student Aid Commission see increases that help meet commitments to help fund student tuitions. A $300,000 increase to the National Guard Education Assistance Program was recommended to fund the level needed for returning troops seeking further education. A $1 million increase to the Iowa Tuition Grant means all students who applied reach the current maximum $4,000 cap. And a new appropriation of $2 million for New Rural Primary Care Loan Repayment will help establish physicians in rural areas that need them.
Community Colleges see a general aid increase of $10 million to help keep tuitions down for students while providing much needed workforce training programs. Vocational Rehabilitation will see a $150,000 increase to continue providing services to get Iowans back to work. Additionally, Iowa Public Television receives a $474,000 to continue providing quality programming to all Iowans.
The Board of Regents receives a $16 million increase as the legislature does its part to meet the Regents proposal for freezing tuition for students next year. The BOR requested a 2.6% increase to meet that obligation with $5.6 million for the University of Iowa, $4.4 million for Iowa State University, and $6.1 million for the University of Northern Iowa, the legislature delivered. UNI’s appropriation also includes an additional $4 million as a request by the Regents to help UNI recover from previous reductions that hit that university harder than the other two.
Clearly further discussions are needed before a final budget is presented to the Governor for a signature, but the House will continue to maintain its budget principles as we move forward.
