State Senator Mary Jo Wilhelm joins with other Democrats in State Senate to approve a 4 percent increase in state aid to education

State Senator Mary Jo Wilhelm of Cresco and 25 other Democrats in the Iowa Senate on Tuesday voted along straight party lines to approve a four percent increase in state funding of schools for the 2017-2018 academic year.

26 Democrats voted in favor of the legislation, while 24 Republicans voted against it.  The Senate had earlier backed a four percent increase in school funding for the 2016-2017 academic year.

House Republicans have favored a 2 percent increase in state funding for 2016-2017 and have not yet weighed in on 2017-2018 figures.

After the vote, Wilhelm commented, "For more than 20 years, state law has required that writing the state budget starts with determining how much we would invest in our top priority: investing in the next generation of Iowans...Knowing how much (school districts) would receive a year and a half in advance helped school leaders make the best use of every dollar they received."