Iowans for Tax Relief, Friday, February 26, 2010 - Session Week 7
State Budget Beginning to Take Shape

On Wednesday, February 17th, Iowa House and Senate Democrats released partial budget targets for the State Fiscal Year 2011 budget. The budget targets are a preliminary step in the state budgeting process, setting how much the Legislature intends to spend for the coming fiscal year in each of the twelve budget areas. However, the budget targets released last week only set the spending amounts for the seven Legislative Budget Subcommittees; not for the complete state budget.

These spending objectives outline $2.494 billion of the State General Fund Budget which is a little less than half of the $5.4 billion state budget. The partial budget targets do not indicate how much of Governor Culver’s spending and revenue recommendations the Legislature intends to consider.

This week, several of the Legislative Budget Subcommittees approved funding recommendations in bill draft form, but the state budget picture is not yet complete. As Legislators continue writing the state budget, look for The Watchdog to keep you up to date with details on the state budget and any proposed tax increases.

Second Major Legislative Deadline Approaching

Friday, March 5th marks another key deadline of the 2010 Legislative Session. By next Friday, Senate bills must be out of House Committees and House bills must be out of Senate Committees. This is referred to as the Second Funnel.

The Second Funnel further pares down the amount of legislation eligible for consideration by the Iowa Senate and Iowa House. However, the funnel deadline does not apply to all legislation. Ways and Means bills and Appropriations bills, where all tax and spending bills are required to be approved, are not subject to this requirement. This means our fight to protect federal deductibility will continue until the last day of the Legislative Session, which is scheduled to end on March 31st.

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