The Iowa House of Representatives voted to increase school funding by two percent or about $81 million. The move comes following Governor Terry Brandstad’s veto of last year’s school funding bill in July and a recommendation of a 2.45% increase for allowable growth this year. State Representative Jarad Klein of Keota says, the House looked at all sides of the state budget and the two percent was the most that lawmakers were comfortable with.
The bill now moves on to the Iowa Senate where Democratic leadership says they would like to see funding raised by four percent. Klein says he does not expect the bill to pass the Senate and thinks both chambers will agree on a number somewhere in the middle.