Wulf Weekly Roundup: Week 6

State Representative Derek Wulf:
Last Week much progress was made on securing a final deal for Supplemental State Aid  for K-12 Schools. On Monday, the House Appropriations Committee met to pass the Senate’s  SSA bill with an amendment. While the Senate’s bill originally called for setting SSA at 1.75%,  our amendment set SSA at 2.25%. It also included $14 million to increase pay for educational  support staff. Our goal in fighting for this funding every year for the past few years is to raise the  pay for our paraprofessionals who do such essential, difficult work.  

Throughout the week, House and Senate leadership worked to settle on an SSA bill that  could pass both chambers. The final agreement includes the following provisions: * Sets SSA at 2%. This amounts to $8,148 per student, an increase of $160 over last  school year.  

* Makes changes to the enrollment count process to ensure schools are funded accurately  based on their actual student numbers. 

* Shifts the funding source for the budget guarantee to the state, ensuring local property  taxes don’t rise to meet the budget guarantee requirement.  

* House Republicans also secured $7 million of the $14 million we originally proposed to  increase pay for paraprofessionals. House Republicans will continue to fight for the other $7  million in the appropriations negotiations later in session.  

We often hear the complaint that we are underfunding public schools, but the numbers  seem to tell a different story. According to the most recent Certified Annual Report related to  Iowa school funding, Iowa public schools spent $23,711.08 per K-12 student during the  2023-2024 school year. Here’s the breakdown: 

* The total number of students that school year was 483,698.7.  

* The average class size in Iowa is roughly 20 students. That means Iowa is spending  almost $474,000 per classroom.  

* The average teacher salary in Iowa is about $63,500. With benefits included, it is about  $85,000.  

* That means roughly $389,000 of non-teacher salary spending per classroom. Iowa’s K-12 public schools receive funding from three levels of government. Local, state and  federal governments all provide various amounts of tax dollars for K-12 school districts. Across  all three levels of funding plus various other financing sources, the total amount of taxpayer  funding in the 2023-2024 school year for public schools was about $11.6 billion. That is  certainly a significant taxpayer investment into Iowa’s K-12 public schools.  

In other committee work, last week Iowa put out nation leading legislation around  framers right to repair. Iowa House Republicans have been focused on supporting and  strengthening Iowa’s farm economy. This week, the House Agriculture Committee advanced  HSB 751 to slash the skyrocketing repair costs that are tightening the squeeze on Iowa farm  families.  

Farmers are problem-solvers known for their self-reliance. When something breaks, their  preference is to fix it themselves whenever possible. Unfortunately, as farm equipment has  become more technologically advanced, some companies have retained information that is  essential to repairing farm equipment. This bills generally require farm equipment manufacturers  to give farmers the same diagnostic and repair information, including technical updates and  software updates, that they make available to authorized repair providers. 

With repair costs skyrocketing, farmers shouldn't be forced to pay premium dealership  rates for simple fixes. By opening up the "Right to Repair," we are putting money back into the  pockets of Iowa farm families. In the middle of planting or harvest, every hour a tractor sits idle  is money lost. When something breaks in the field, farmers don't want to wait for a technician— they want the freedom to fix it themselves. 

This bill complements House File 2529, passed recently to secure the right to repair  Diesel Exhaust Fluid (DEF) systems. By advancing these bills, House Republicans are securing  the freedom to farm and proving—once again—that we have the backs of Iowa’s farm families. 

Last week marked the end of the “first funnel” and moves into the second phase of  session where many bills that have made it out of committees will now start to receive attention  in floor debate. This week will see a flurry of that floor debate which I will recap in next weeks  recap.