Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal:
“We did some things on job creation in this state on making sure that the resources are there to provide for education and training of employees in this state to match the skills to the jobs that are out there and get thousands of Iowans back to work. So I’m pretty excited about some of the things we did for higher education and in particular community colleges. There are disappointments, there are disappointments in every session. I would have really loved to have gotten something done on commercial property taxes in this state. In the end we felt the plan that the Governor was advancing was one that would shift taxes to homeowners and we couldn’t go along with that.”

Video, audio and a transcript can be found at IPTV.

Senator Brian Schoenjahn of Arlington

(DES MOINES)  On Monday, May 7, the Senate voted 28-19 and the Iowa House voted 92-5 for a bipartisan, compromise education budget that includes key job creation measures.  The legislation now goes to Governor Branstad for his signature.

“When Iowa employers can’t find the workers they need, they have three bad choices: lose business to competitors, hire out-of-state, or move out of Iowa,” said Senator Brian Schoenjahn, chair of the Senate Education Budget.  “We’ve voted to invest in our community colleges so they can help Iowans fill those skilled job shortages.”

Under Senate File 2321, investment in workforce training will increase to $8 million next year, a hike of 60 percent.  The new GAP Tuition Fund, which helps Iowans earn certificates in welding, information technology and other shortage areas, will begin with a $2 million investment.  The Accelerated Career Education (ACE) program will receive $6 million.  General community college funding will increase by $13 million and the institutions will receive an additional $5 million for maintenance.

“Helping Iowans become more productive, more competitive workers is a great way to grow our economy and create new jobs in our state,” said Schoenjahn.  “Reaching the right compromise took some time but improving our economy and helping Iowans improve themselves was certainly worth it. “

The compromise budget also increases funding for Iowa’s public universities by $23 million, an amount which the Board of Regents has said will help prevent future tuition increases.  Tuition grants for private colleges were increased by 4.6 percent and funds for the National Guard tuition program were increased by 7 percent.

“By keeping tuition costs down at our public universities and private colleges, we increase educational opportunity and make it possible for Iowa’s families to send their kids to Iowa’s great colleges and universities,” said Schoenjahn.

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The first is education reform. This session, we’re building on Iowa’s tradition of excellent local schools by working to raise academic standards, increase the effectiveness of educators, and provide for innovations that enhance learning. Senate File 2284 was developed with the help of parents, teachers and students, as well as state and national experts.

While differences in the House and Senate approaches to education reform remain, we’re working to find common ground on:

• Establishing annual teacher and administrator evaluations

• Expanding the educational standards and key concepts students should know

• Competency-based education that allows students to learn at their own pace and advance quickly in subjects they enjoy

• Creating higher requirements for students entering the teaching profession

• Helping principals put more focus on improving teaching rather than non-educational administrative duties

Second, basic state funding for local school districts must be reliable and adequate to meet needs. In the Senate, we’ve approved a 4 percent increase in basic state support for local schools for the 2013-2014 school year. These dollars are used for textbooks, heating bills, technology and other necessities so that students, teachers and schools can be successful.

Iowans expect and want great local schools. The state budget has recovered and it’s time to help our schools do the same. Unfortunately, the House is again insisting on no new funding for local students.

Third, we must ensure that all Iowa students are good readers by third grade. This is a centerpiece of the Governor’s reform proposal that I wholeheartedly support. Class size affects student success, especially when children are learning to read.

We need to continue efforts to limit class sizes for kindergarten through third-graders by extending Iowa’s Early Intervention Block Grant Program—more commonly known as the “class size reduction” program—so that students get the one-on-one attention they need to get a good start in school.

• An increase in our state’s investment in education at the local level, at our community colleges and at our state universities. The Senate blocked Republican demands to close preschools, eliminate support for smaller class sizes and extra help for kids learning to read, cut community college funding and force more of the cost of college onto the backs of families.

• A significant cut in commercial property taxes that reduces taxes on every commercial property in Iowa. We need to help small businesses the most and does not shift taxes onto residential property.

• A tax cut for working families—one that will also help local businesses when families purchase milk, gas and school clothes, make car repairs and pay bills.

What else still needs to be done?

Legislation that will help create jobs and strengthen our economy tops my list. Many ideas passed the Senate with bipartisan support but weren’t taken up in the House. These ideas—developed by working closely with local business and community leaders—need to be given another look:

• Giving Iowa’s community colleges more tools to help fix our state’s shortage of skilled workers. 

• Intensifying efforts to make sure state and local tax dollars buy American and buy Iowan.

• Reducing costs for 60,000 Iowa small businesses with a state tax credit on employee health insurance costs.

• Providing consumer rebates to create jobs on solar and wind projects at residences and businesses.

When we’re done, I think we’re going to have an economy in the state of Iowa–and Iowa’s economy is in relatively good shape–where we can encourage job creation and growth, encourage businesses to come to our state, tackle a problem that’s been going on for 34 years in terms of an inequity in the tax code and provide the resources to make sure we have the skilled workers to fill the jobs that we think will come to our state.  I’m very excited about that.

“The average student graduating from one of Iowa public universities has almost $27,000 in debt,” said Senator Brian Schoenjahn of Arlington, chair of the Senate Education Budget Committee.  “That number increased by 57 percent in last decade due to falling state support for education.”

Schoenjahn, a former high school government teacher, is helping lead efforts to make college more affordable for Iowa’s middle class families.  Senate Democrats point out that the state share of college costs has fallen from 77% in 1981 to just 40% today.

“Iowa student debt is going up because the state’s investment in affordable education is going down,” Schoenjahn said.  “Iowa actually spends less overall on universities today than we did in 1996.  That’s why tuition rates have doubled and why Iowa students graduate with so much debt.”

Schoenjahn said negotiations with the Iowa House and Governor Branstad will determine how far Iowa moves to reduce student debt this year.  The Iowa Work-Study Program and the Iowa Forgivable Loan Program received zero funding last year.  Borrowing by low-income students is rising quickly, in part because need-based funding like the Iowa Grant Program was cut in half in 2011.

“President Obama is coming to Iowa because the opportunities of Iowa students are being crushed by high costs and high student debt,” Schoenjahn said.  “If we don’t solve this problem, Iowa’s middle class families won’t be able to send their own children to the public universities their tax dollars help fund.”

Last year, the longest session in recent memory, ended relatively quickly once conference committees were established. Conference committees are comprised of five legislators from the House and five from the Senate. Their task is to resolve the differences between the two chambers on key bills.

This year, Senate Democrats look forward to a side-by-side, public comparison of our differences with the House. We believe this effort will benefit educational opportunity and support job creation.

For more details on this year’s conference committees and how they work, go to http://tiny.cc/conf2012.

We are concerned that state support for our universities has fallen sharply in recent years, which has resulted in higher tuition. That’s why Iowa student debt is among the highest in the nation.

Students from UNI, and ISU and the U of I are our future leaders in education, bio-sciences, engineering, physics, business and other areas. In addition, our state universities help Iowa businesses of all sizes through direct technical assistance and technology transfers.

There are lots of good reasons to invest in our universities. Students from Iowa’s three state universities have started a new grassroots effort to spread that word in hopes of keeping a high-quality college education affordable for all Iowa families. Learn more about this effort and what our state universities do for all of us at www.facebook.com/Universitiesforabetteriowa.