~by State Senator Jesse Green
April 16, 2021
Greetings, friends!
We have just finished up week fourteen, and the tempo of this session has certainly changed. We are now into the budgeting and appropriations time of year. This is where everyone sits on the edge of their seat wondering what will cross the finish line, and most importantly, receive funding.
The Senate has proposed a budget of $7.99 billion……..yes, BILLION!
That is such a large number from my perspective. I remember when I was little, depositing $.50 at a time at the Harcourt Bank. I grew up close to that bank, so it was convenient. Fast forward a couple more years, and I bought a gold nugget bag from the Fort Dodge Fort Museum to keep my $1s, $5s, $10s and loose change in order. My routine during those years was to make one BIG deposit after Christmas into mutual funds. These deposits would amount to about $1,000 or so of rodeo winnings or money I made from pulling weeds.
After high school when my farming career first took off, I remember shaking when writing my first check for a farm of $150,000 to the auctioneer. I was struck with fear on whether or not I’d be able to pay that loan off or not. I am so grateful that my father encouraged me to press forward with the investment. He reminded me that if I maintained an aggressive attitude of paying off debt rather than wasting money, I would be okay. During my time at the Dayton Rodeo, the budgets we were working with were around $250,000. There was a lot of pressure that came with that budget, because for one, this was much more money than I was previously trusted to work with every year. Secondly, this was not my money at all. Let me repeat, NOT MY MONEY! This reality brings a whole new dynamic to budgeting.
Now, the next budget I have to help wrestle with is your $7.99 BILLION budget. Dave Ramsey once said, “If you have a spending problem, you must begin to feel your money again.” I sense this is hard to do sometimes in this environment. It is hard to fathom this amount of money, and so many people are asking for a piece of it. I have never experienced this type of dynamic before. Imagine what newly elected officials in Washington must feel about their budgets! Under this year’s Iowa Senate budget proposal, spending increases $193 million above the previous year. Some of the most important pieces of the Senate’s budget proposal include increases of over $55 million for K-12 education, close to $100 million for health care, and an increase of over $17 million for public safety.
My work has drastically slowed down. This week we did not have a Ways and Means committee meeting which is the one “money” committee I sit on. Appropriations is the other “money” committee, and they met quite a bit this week. I am now sitting in the background on the bench waiting to get called up by my Ways and Means chairman, Senator Dan Dawson. I am grateful for his leadership and the leadership of Appropriations chairman, Senator Tim Kraayenbrink. They have a lot of pressure on their shoulders at this time.
There is still one Bottle Bill that is still alive in both the House and the Senate. I also anticipate seeing the ethanol bill cross my desk soon as well. Other than that, my job now is solely focused on making sure your questions and issues are getting answered and dealt with. If you have questions, comments, or would like to come down and see the Capitol, please give me a call at 515-351-9761.
Happy trails until we meet again next week!
