Capitol Report

State Representative Danny Carroll

March 31 2005

The General Assembly is rapidly reaching that point in the session where budget decisions become the focus on most days.  There are ten major spending bills that must find agreement between the Senate, House and Governor.  The past week or two the Iowa House has passed five of those ten bills.  On Wednesday, the House passed on a party line vote the Education spending bill.  This is a major spending bill that always prompts a lot of debate.  We did, however, at the end of the day approve over $930 million for public schools, colleges, universities, libraries, public television, the School for the Deaf, and the Braille and Sight Savings School.  This represents an increase of $46 million over 2005.  In addition, we already approved an $82 million increase in funding for K-12 public schools alone.  Education at all levels remains a priority in Iowa.

In the big picture, bills passed by the House represent a sort of “offer” to the Senate where the parties share equal numbers of Democrats and Republicans.  I don’t really look forward to these next few weeks as this is the time that negotiations can get rather angry and sometimes good decisions are not always the result.  As a veteran member of the House and a member of the leadership team, I have a unique responsibility to provide responsible input to the process.  I try to be faithful to good spending habits that avoid the temptation to over-state income and under-estimate expenses.  In government, we must also avoid the temptation to postpone expenses to a future year or count future income in the current year.  These and other such practices are all to common but only do a disservice to the taxpayer.

I will make every effort to be a voice of reason and moderation in the budget process, at least to the extent that I am able.

You can reach me at home most evenings and weekends at 641-236-7043.  My home address is 244 400^th Avenue, Grinnell, Iowa 50112.  While at the Capitol, you can reach me at the House of Representatives switchboard at 515-281-3221 or by E-mail at danny.carroll@legis.state.ia.us .  My mailing address at the Capitol is House of Representatives, State Capitol, Des Moines, Iowa 50319.