The Iowa House and Senate continue to disagree on the overall budget for the next fiscal year.

District 47 State Representative Chip Baltimore says the range of differences between both Chamber’s proposed budgets is $170 million to $240 million.  He explains that all other budget bills are in conference committees, but those can’t be debated until the overall budget numbers match up between the two Chambers.

Baltimore notes that the House’s budget takes what was spent this fiscal year plus another $181 million in spending from the projections by the Revenue Estimating Conference.  The Senate’s budget is much higher and they propose taking funds from the surplus.  Baltimore believes that’s not good financial practice and is concerned with history repeating itself.

“At the end of the 2009 fiscal year, there was no surplus leftover at all.  In the 2010 fiscal year, the revenues were not coming as projected and that’s when we had to have the 10 percent across-the-board cuts.”

He adds that the Senate will not act on any budget decisions this week, due to a Senate Democrat being gone.  Baltimore doesn’t know what it will take to solve the budget stalemate.

The next fiscal year begins on July 1st.