(Des Moines) Iowa House District #23 Representative Ray Sorensen said last week Iowa House Representatives released its’ budget target for the fiscal year 2024.
The Greenfield Republican says crafting the budget looked slightly different this year because the Government Reorganization bill needed to be passed first. He says the State House budget is targeted at $8.58 billion, which is 90 million above the Governor and the Senate’s number.
Representative Sorensen says there are two main reasons for this. The House budget includes the appropriations they have already passed this session that the Governor didn’t consider since her budget number is released before the session. This includes money for the property tax rollback fix and increases in funding for public schools to 3% SSA. Their budget includes about $50 million more to address a few priorities important to Iowans, like dollars for nursing homes by raising reimbursement rates. This would allow Iowa’s nursing homes caring for residents on Medicaid to be reimbursed at a higher rate and a funding increase for the Department of Corrections to help with the retaining and recruitment of corrections officers, and of course, more resources to expand Iowans’ access to quality, mental health care across the state.
