Post by Logan on Apr 30, 2016 0:29:02 GMT -6
The Iowa Department of Transportation faces a $4.85 million budget cut in a deal reached Friday that one lawmaker predicts could result in layoffs and closings of some state highway maintenance garages that plow snow and patch potholes.
The funding reduction was included in a conference committee report on a $373 million state transportation funding bill as the Iowa Legislature pushed for adjournment of its 2016 session. It was approved by the Iowa Senate on a 26-19 vote and passed the House 53-36.
DOT officials had asked for an extra $9.7 million for a "staffing adjustment" to cover cost increases for collective bargaining agreements, merit pay increases and state employee insurance contracts. Gov. Terry Branstad also included the $9.7 million in his budget request to the Legislature in January. But many House Republicans were opposed to paying for DOT salary hikes, particularly since lawmakers approved a 10-cent-per-gallon gasoline tax hike last year with the goal of increasing state funding for road construction projects.
A dispute over the DOT funding had become a roadblock to adjournment, so Democrats and Republicans simply decided to split the difference and agreed to a $4.85 million budget cut, said Sen. Matt McCoy, D-Des Moines, who chairs a Senate transportation budget subcommittee.
Read more: www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/2016/04/29/lawmakers-agree-485-million-iowa-dot-budget-cut/83712698/
The funding reduction was included in a conference committee report on a $373 million state transportation funding bill as the Iowa Legislature pushed for adjournment of its 2016 session. It was approved by the Iowa Senate on a 26-19 vote and passed the House 53-36.
DOT officials had asked for an extra $9.7 million for a "staffing adjustment" to cover cost increases for collective bargaining agreements, merit pay increases and state employee insurance contracts. Gov. Terry Branstad also included the $9.7 million in his budget request to the Legislature in January. But many House Republicans were opposed to paying for DOT salary hikes, particularly since lawmakers approved a 10-cent-per-gallon gasoline tax hike last year with the goal of increasing state funding for road construction projects.
A dispute over the DOT funding had become a roadblock to adjournment, so Democrats and Republicans simply decided to split the difference and agreed to a $4.85 million budget cut, said Sen. Matt McCoy, D-Des Moines, who chairs a Senate transportation budget subcommittee.
Read more: www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/2016/04/29/lawmakers-agree-485-million-iowa-dot-budget-cut/83712698/