State Senator Michael Breitbach says he wants to keep state funding for school districts at its promised level

State Senator Michael Breitbach of Strawberry Point is the Chair of the Iowa Senate's Appropriations Committee.

The Iowa Senate spent three days last week in session after a lengthy recess due to the COVID-19 epidemic, days which were spent catching up on immediate issues.  Now Breitbach says as chair of the Appropriations Committee, his focus is turning to the state budget. 

Before the COVID-19 epidemic, lawmakers were aiming for a budget target of around $8 billion.  But the epidemic has changed the state's revenue estimates.

Says Breitbach, "All Iowans have been affected by our current situation and I feel it is important we keep spending as low as possible but still meet the needs of the taxpayers we serve."  He says he'd like to hold firm on the $99 million increase in K-12 funding approved by the legislature before the session was halted. 

"My goal is to keep that increase but lower overall spending to $7.752 billion. This would be very close to the budget that was passed last year," says Breitbach.