(Des Moines, IA) — Speaker Pat Grassley says House Republicans aren’t philosophically opposed to getting rid of a property tax levy that funds mental health services, they just have unanswered “technical questions” about how the state would manage the system once it’s solely financed with state tax dollars. There’s been no debate on the House or Senate floor this week as G-O-P leaders and Governor Kim Reynolds negotiate in private. Grassley said “We’re just having those conversations and working through seeing if there is a way to get a level of comfort where we can all be in agreement.” Grassley is not offering a timeline for when this dispute might be ironed out among Republicans in the House and Senate, but he said having the state take over financial responsibility for the mental health system is “not as simple” as eliminating a property tax levy.
