This Week at the Statehouse – Week 1

Monday, January 8th started the second session of the 87th General Assembly. This first week was largely ceremonial with remarks from legislative leaders of both parties as well as speeches from the Governor, the Chief Justice of the Iowa Supreme Court and the Adjutant General of the Iowa National Guard.

Three new lawmakers were sworn-in after winning their special elections last fall: Sen. Jim Carlin (R-Sioux City) replaces Sen. Bill Anderson who resigned to take another job; and Rep. Jon Jacobsen (R-Council Bluffs) and Rep. Phil Miller (D-Fairfield) were elected due to the deaths of Rep. Greg Forristall and Rep. Curt Hanson. Currently, the Senate has 29 Republicans, 20 Democrats and 1 independent. The House has 58 Republicans, 41 Democrats and 1 vacant seat. One more special election is being held on Jan. 16th in Sioux City to replace Sen. Carlin (formerly Rep. Carlin).

Nineteen of these current 149 lawmakers are UNI alums: Rep. Marti Anderson (D-Des Moines), Sen. Rick Bertrand (R-Sioux City), Rep. Brian Best (R-Glidden), Rep. Timi Brown-Powers (D-Waterloo), Sen. Mark Costello (R-Imogene), Sen. Jeff Danielson (D-Cedar Falls), Sen. Bill Dotzler (D-Waterloo), Rep. Chris  Hagenow (R-Windsor Heights), Sen. Rita Hart (D-Wheatland), Rep. Dave Jacoby (D-Coralville), Sen. Craig Johnson (R-Independence), Rep. Brian Meyer (D-Des Moines), Sen. Janet Petersen (D-Des Moines), Rep. Walt Rogers (R-Cedar Falls), Rep. Kirsten Running-Marquardt (D-Cedar Rapids), Rep. Sandy Salmon (R-Janesville), Rep. Ras Smith (D-Waterloo), Rep. Beth Wessel-Kroeschell (D-Ames), and Rep. Cindy Winckler (D-Davenport).

Governor Reynolds released her budget recommendations on Tuesday.  Included in her recommendations are cuts to the current fiscal year, FY 18, to the Board of Regents in the amount of $5.1 million. These cuts would come from the University of Iowa and Iowa State University; UNI is held harmless.  She is also recommending an increase of $7.25 million to the Board of Regents institutions for FY 19 in a lump sum (distribution would be determined by the Iowa Board of Regents). She is recommending UNI’s budget line-items be status quo funded; she did not recommend UNI’s new infrastructure request to modernize the Industrial Technology Center.

Governor Reynolds budget is just recommendations. The Legislature is the branch of government that actually appropriates funding for state agencies. The Governor’s budget recommendations can be found here.

UNI’s two main budget requests for FY 19 are:

• Provide an additional $2 million in financial aid for our students. An affordable education is critical to the vitality of our state’s economy and workforce. UNI is committed to student success and upholding our public charge to be open and accessible.
• Invest $36.2 million over the next three years, from the Rebuild Iowa Infrastructure Fund, to modernize and expand the Industrial Technology Center (ITC). The ITC, originally built in 1974, needs critical improvements to the infrastructure and technology we use to prepare Iowa’s future industrial, manufacturing and construction workforce. Industrial technology requirements have greatly changed since 1974 when the building opened for educating shop teachers. We now support the Iowa Department of Education’s Career and Technical Education program by preparing the teachers who teach middle and high school students in CTE careers.
• More information on our budget requests can be found here on our Panther Caucus website.

The Board of Regents held their legislative breakfast on Tuesday. Members of the Board of Regents, the presidents and student government leaders of the three universities, and the superintendent of the Iowa Educational Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired and Iowa School for the Deaf were in attendance and able to visit with lawmakers about our programs. I’ve included photos of Pres. Nook visiting with numerous lawmakers.

Lastly, several pieces of legislation have already been introduced this year. If you’d like to look at all the bills the Board of Regents is registered on, you can search lobbyist declarations here. Under Client, type in Board of Regents, State of Iowa. If you click on the Date link it will sort the list with the most recently registered at the top.

If you have any questions do not hesitate to email me at mary.braun@uni.edu.