School funding continues to be debated at the Iowa Statehouse.

Lawmakers are still trying to decide between the House’s 1.25 percent increase in supplemental state aid compared to the Senate’s proposed four percent increase.  District 24 Senator Jerry Behn says school funding makes up 55 percent of the state budget and they want to allocate more than half of the additional revenues from the Revenue Estimating Conference projections of $180 million.

Since 2002, Behn notes that six times the legislature has overpromised and underdelivered funding for schools.  Four of those six times were when the funding level was set at four percent.  He points out that they also have to fund Medicaid and other programs that make up $400 million for the 2016 fiscal year.

The Legislative Services Agency was brought in to do another study.  The report found that with current spending habits plus historic revenue growth and a four percent supplemental state aid for fiscal years 2016 and 2017, they would have to cut millions of dollars.

“That level of funding would result in the need to cut $74 million in 2016 and $500 million in 2017, just in order to balance the budget.”

Behn doesn’t believe that a four percent increase in school funding is the right tactic to take.

“So that funding level not only results in spending more than we take in, it completely eliminates the remaining surplus, and then we have to make the cuts, so we don’t violate the spending limitations law.”

The issue remains in a conference committee and Behn adds that if they can’t come to a compromise, then zero percent would be the default for school districts.