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Your Capitol Voice: Branstad’s veto of ed funding one of my most disappointing
by Bobby Kaufmann, State Representative · Op-Ed · July 16, 2015
The Governor made final decisions on whether to sign bills or veto them recently.
I want to go over a few of those bills on which I disagree with his veto and a few items to thank him for signing. At this point the session is truly over. I am already having conversations about next year. This truly is a year-round process.
Education Funding: This is far and away one of the most disappointing vetoes of my three years in the Legislature. The Legislature worked for 45 days after the session ended, and finally came up with a compromise. Schools would get 1.25 percent for FY 16 and an additional $55 million in one-time dollars. Supplemental state aid for FY17 was not set. It was already one of the biggest disappointments of the session that agreement could not be found for FY17, meaning this fight will come again next year and schools could be uncertain again. That being said I was grateful that we reached a deal on the one-time funding because a lack of agreement would have resulted in 0 percent for the coming year.
Governor Branstad chose to veto the $55 million in one-time spending for education. His reasoning I actually agree with, but his methodology I strongly disagree. His reasoning was that one-time funding does not get built into the formula therefore it is not guaranteed for next year. He argues that this creates uncertainty and isn’t sound budgeting. He called for FY17 funding to be set. I tend to agree with all of that. The problem is that FY17 wasn’t set and 1.25 percent is not enough for our schools. If he had vetoed the one-time money and called for a special session to increase FY16 and set FY17, I would have fully supported him. It is for that reason that I cannot support his veto and strongly disagree with it. A bi-partisan group of legislators are already getting together to try and remedy this in January this coming year as opposed to more waiting.
Mental Health: The Governor vetoed the deal we had to keep two of our mental health facilities open until the end of the year. I disagree with this veto. If these two institutions really do need to be closed, I cannot support their closure until we have a concrete and tangible way to deal with all of those who are served by the institutions. Next year we also must find a solution so that fiscally responsible small counties are not being penalized for bearing the responsibility for the short falls of the larger urban counties who did not deal proactively with their budgetary issues.
Child Care: Governor Branstad vetoed a bipartisan agreement to increase child care assistance eligibility. I believe this would have helped working families and single parent-homes who are trying to work and deal with a need for child care. To not help in this area is to make it more difficult for working families on the margin to find a job and remain employed…our goal as lawmakers. I will be in touch this summer with the child care providers in the district to look at the best way to move forward.
I do also want to take a moment to highlight a few bills that were signed into law and not vetoed. I am grateful the following were signed by Governor Branstad:
Military Funerals: It is now law that there is a buffer-zone around a military funeral where people filled with hate such as the Westboro Baptists cannot protest. This had overwhelming support except from the most extreme left and right.
Physical Therapists: As a part of the “Standings” bill Governor Branstad signed into law co-pay protections for people who need physical therapy. This was a hard-fought battle that we won and I give credit to all of you back home who made my passion for this issue happen
Eminent Domain: Our fight to stop the Rock Island Clean Line continues. Legislation was not successful but we have many more avenues to pursue to make sure that this company cannot obtain the right to eminent domain. While that fight continues we were able to score a victory for property rights. For the better part of a decade land-owners in Clarke County have fought a tough battle against greedy developers who wish to condemn their land for the economic gain. This year we were finally successful in getting protections through the Senate and Governor Branstad signed it. This particular project was the first potential abuse of Iowa’s landmark legislation passed almost a decade ago protecting private property rights in this state. If this would have been allowed to happen, then Cedar or Johnson or Muscatine counties might have been next.
You may contact Rep. Kaufmann at bobby.kaufmann@legis.iowa.gov, 515-281-3221 or 1527 330th St. Wilton, IA, 52778
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