By the numbers: Education funding

Since last year, education funding has been a dragged-out fight in the Legislature.

“It’s very urgent that we actually get on top of this matter and settle it,” said Sen. Amy Sinclair, R-Allerton, during a legislative luncheon Friday, Jan. 29, at Lakeside Casino.

The legislative debacle on school funding, also known as supplemental state aid (SSA), dragged into the summer last year.

School districts across Iowa expected to receive $55.7 million in additional funding that had been approved by lawmakers for the 2015-16 school year.

However, Gov. Terry Branstad vetoed that line item from a budget bill in July.

Happening in session

Sinclair said, at the end of last session, the House had passed an SSA bill over to the Senate. The Senate had also passed an SSA bill over to the House. Neither chamber took those bills up to move them forward for fiscal year (FY) 17.

These bills concern the upcoming school year across Iowa, which is 2016-17, and school boards have to certify their budgets by mid-April.

Sinclair said the House recently took up the Senate’s version of the bill, amended it and sent it back to the legislators.

“I know it sounds terrible, but we didn’t agree with them, which you would think is not progress,” she said. “But, it actually is progress because that process of not agreeing allows us to get into a conference committee where we can sit down and really crunch the numbers and find out what we can do to get supplemental state aid passed.”

Percentages

Sinclair said Gov. Branstad’s budget for the year includes 2.45 percent in SSA, and the final SSA percent could be between 2 and 4 percent.

“The governor has a number between that could conceivably be where it lands,” she said. “I am not going to speculate further. I learned my lesson last year on speculations, so I won’t speculate further on what anybody will do.”

Essentially, every 1 percent in SSA is approximately $42-43 million. So, the difference between 2 and 4 percent is approximately $85 million.

Here’s some more math. If SSA is 2 percent, then schools could receive $85 million in SSA. At 4 percent, the SSA is approximately $170 million.

There have been subcommittees in the Senate on SSA for FY18.

“So, hopefully, (we’re) getting that process running so we don’t find ourselves in this place again come next January and February,” Sinclair said. “I think that’s an important step that we’re taking.”