Updates

Revenue for the existing fiscal year has come in at 6.6% year to date, while the state budgeted for a 2.1% increase.  The state's "rainy day funds" are at nearly $800 million, with over $250 million surplus.

The governor recommended that community college general funding be increased by $5.2 million (a 2.5% increase, comparable to what she recommends for K-12).  She continues level funding for the Skilled Worker and Job Creation Fund (which funds GAP, PACE, ABE/ELL, Work-based Intermediary, etc), as well as an increase from $600,000 to $1,000,000 for summer concurrent enrollment.  She recommends increasing the Last Dollar Scholarship program from $13 million to $15.8 million.  Given that the majority of recipients are in two-year programs, we believe this amount is insufficient to meet the demand next year.

Speaking of the Last Dollar Scholarship, the Iowa Student College Aid Commission will make recommendations changes to the program that address current challenges.  Among their proposals will be to allow people age 19 to be eligible for the assistance, allow students to be eligible if they are taking courses that are pre-requisite to the specific programs (which is common in many health science programs), allowing eligibility for part-time summer coursework immediately after high school graduation. Another possible change is to move the application deadline closer to semester start.

Bills that may impact community colleges include: House File 2117, which is designed to create a direct care database but may create confusion regarding graduates of some of our programs; Senate File 2057, which would require the creation of an appeal process for students who believe they've been adversely affected on grades due to political bias; and Senate Study Bill 3019, which would provide more flexibility in hiring CTE instructors.