As the 2019 Iowa Legislative session continues, lawmakers are now getting to work on the state’s budget.

District 24 Senator Jerry Behn says first they have to pass a bill to appropriate $144 million in supplemental funds for the current fiscal year. That includes $141 million to the privatization of Medicaid, $2.5 million to indigent defense, $457,000 for utilities to the Department of Administrative Services and paying $286,000 to the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy when they had the carbon monoxide issues last year. Once that is taken care of, Behn says they can get to work on the estimated $7.6 billion budget for the 2020 fiscal year.

“The budget subs (committees) will work through them and be sure that all of the budgets align so that the bottom line number is that ($7.6 billion), provided that the House and the Senate agree that that’s the total number. So there’s going to be negotiations between the House, the Senate and the governor’s office to be sure what that final number will be.”

To hear more from Behn, listen to today’s Community State Bank in Paton Let’s Talk Greene County program.