After a two-and-a-half month suspension due to COVID-19, the 2020 Legislative Session concluded over the weekend. State Representative Dustin Hite concluded his first term in the Iowa Statehouse, and says several priorities were set aside to finish business in 12 days after resuming work on June 3rd. Hite says Iowa has had a different story when setting the upcoming budget, as during a time when many states are deeply cutting spending, Hite says the last few years of stewardship have left the state in a much stronger fiscal position than most others. Hite says approximately $7.8 billion is budgeted in the fiscal year starting on July 1.

“The bill maintains the Fiscal Year 2020 funding levels for the vast majority of line items in state government,” Hite says. “ Additionally, the state would provide additional funding to the HAWK-I program to meet the changed federal matching fund levels due to Obamacare. Funding for Medicaid would be set at $1.466 billion for the year. That amount is slightly above the current projected in the program by the state’s Medicaid Forecasting Group.”

The budget also will keep the 2.3 percent increase in supplemental state aid that the Legislature passed in early March for K-12 Education.