Friday News Roundup: Week of March 5-9

Kentucky House approves $19.5 billion budget bill

No agreement on Washington State budget; special session is called

Alaska Governor Sean Parnell adds $30.3M for school funding

Iowa Governor Terry Branstad warns Republicans against college funding cut

Kentucky House approves $19.5 billion budget bill
Legislators in the Kentucky House this week voted to approve a $19.5 billion biennial budget for fiscal years 2013 and 2014. The proposal includes 8.4 percent cuts to many state programs, as well as a 6.4 percent cut to state public universities. Governor Steve Beshear’s budget proposal, submitted to the legislature in January, included those cuts to make up for insufficient tax revenue projections to maintain current funding levels into fiscal year 2013. Additionally, lawmakers did not approve a request from the state universities to finance $450 million in construction projects using their own revenue. One lawmaker said the decision would protect the state from increasing debt, a problem that has plagued the state in recent years and led to a bond rating downgrade last year. The Senate must approve the bill before the end of the legislative session on April 15^th. More here…

No agreement on Washington State budget; special session is called
Washington State lawmakers worked this week to finish the biennial budget for fiscal years 2013 and 2014 before the session ended Thursday night, but failed to reach an agreement in time. Governor Chris Gregoire has called the legislators back for a 30-day special session to complete the budget, beginning next week. Facing a $1 billion budget shortfall, lawmakers have struggled to reach an agreement on cuts. Last week, Republicans and three conservative Democrats took over the budget process in the Democratically-controlled Senate. Democrats also hold the majority in the House, where they passed a budget proposal this week with a 53-45 vote. However, the bill was never brought to the floor in the Senate. The House Democratic bill included a provision to delay payments to public K-12 schools by one day, a budget gimmick Republicans oppose because it would push $330 million in spending into the next biennium. Though the House-passed Democratic proposal would not cut K-12 or higher education, the Senate Republican proposal would cut $44 million from K-12 education and $30 million from higher education. More here…

Alaska Governor Sean Parnell adds $30.3M for school funding
In a fiscal year 2013 budget proposal submitted several months ago to Alaska’s legislature, Governor Sean Parnell proposed funding public K-12 education at fiscal year 2012 levels. The backlash that followed from lawmakers and advocates convinced him to offer this week an amended version of the budget that adds $30.3 million to education spending for energy and transportation costs. Though the amount is close to the state Senate’s proposed $30.6 million increase for K-12 schools, Parnell’s proposal would provide funding as a one-time appropriation rather than adding it to the existing formula for schools, making it easier to cut in future years. Parnell and Republican lawmakers have warned that the state may face deficits within two to three years, and are working to contain spending now in anticipation of those challenges. More here…

Iowa Governor Terry Branstad warns Republicans against college funding cut
Iowa Governor Terry Branstad, speaking at a news conference this week, stated his intention to request funding for the state’s public universities that will exceed House Republicans’ proposal by $54 million. While House Republicans are proposing a $31 million cut for public higher education institutions below fiscal year 2012 levels, Branstad warned that the cuts could lead to tuition hikes for students. Instead, he is recommending a $23 million increase over fiscal year 2012 levels, to $545 million. That number is still below Senate Democrats’ recommendation of $556 million. It is also less than the Iowa Board of Regents requested, but Regents board president Craig Lang said that the $23 million increase would be sufficient to limit tuition increases to the already-approved 3.75 percent increase for the 2013 school year. More here…