MASON CITY, IA--
The Branstad-Reynolds administration now has a couple of weeks under its belt. “We've started out by looking at the budget,” said Kim Reynolds, Iowa’s lieutenant governor.That's actually why Reynolds is stopping by our studios. She's been touring the state since the governor delivered the proposed budget to lawmakers yesterday.
One of the more contentious issues grabbing headlines in recent weeks is preschool. “I mean a lot of time it's under the context that we're eliminating preschool and that's just not the case,” said Reynolds.
They're proposing a funding cut from 71 to 43 million dollars. She says they think it's beneficial for families to contribute to preschool's cost. “But the goal is to take the 43 million dollars and make sure that we can get families that need help the opportunity to attend preschool,” she said.
She says they're still working on the details for that though.
The state's public universities could be facing a drop in funding.....and schools are looking at zero allowable growth for the next two years. “So it is a predictable budget, while there is no allowable growth figured in they'll be held at the same spending level, there are no cuts, there are a lot of states that are implementing cuts,” she said.
Reynolds says the budget needs to be sustainable--and that's meant shared sacrifices by all entities.
She also says they're trying to make Iowa more competitive when it comes to business. “By reducing the business tax rate or corporate tax rate from 12 to 6 percent,” she said. “In addition to that, we have also, we're reducing commercial property tax rates by 40 percent.”
Now that the administration's put their requests down on paper, lawmakers get to have their say.
“Well, now the dialogue and the debate start,” she said.
