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Iowa budget surplus

Anyone want to know one of the reasons why the State's universities continue to raise tuition???

UNDERFUNDING EDUCATION

If under funding by the state were the primary reason for the high cost of tuition, increasing that funding might make sense,.. But it's not, and it doesn't, so we shouldn't.
 
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If under funding by the state were the primary reason for the high cost of tuition, increasing that funding might make sense,.. But it's not, and it doesn't, so we shouldn't.
Spoken like someone that no longer has school age children.

Congrats.

That's a selfish POV.
 
In-state tuition at the University of Iowa is the 2nd lowest in the B1G. The three major universities in Iowa are all very affordable relative to their peers.


In-state tuition at the University of Iowa is the 2nd lowest in the B1G. The three major universities in Iowa are all very affordable relative to their peers.

You realize that pretty much falls in line with the population of the home States of each school minus Northwestern?
 
Lol. Republicans have been saying tax cuts pay for themselves since Reagan thrust us past the trillion-dollar-debt threshold almost forty years ago.

The correct answer is the state government isn’t funding shit while they continue to rake in federal money.
Maybe state and federal governments are funding too much shit. Just a thought going forward.
 
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Maybe state and federal governments are funding too much shit. Just a thought going forward.
That's the purpose of the government, imo. To serve the people. But the government bogarting massive amounts of money seems wrong to me.
 
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First, we don't have open borders.

Second, Iowa is not a border state.

And third, what does this have to do with Iowa collecting massive amounts of money with no plans to give it back?
It's just a Red State talking point.

As you've stated multiple times, the whole goal of Reynolds was to appease larger corporate interests for personal, political gain.

Having a budget surplus is good news, but that large of a surplus is actually "mismanagement".

One thought, tho...the way Reynolds has "cooked the books" in the past, the surplus probably isn't as large as announced.
 
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Hex, every year I see Iowa's surplus grow. It's great we're not in debt, but it's not great that the surplus keeps accumulating money with no idea on how to spend it. And the fact that this is happening every year, with massive amounts of money, is a concern to me. I get needing a rainy day fund. That's an excellent idea. But $2 billion isn't a rainy day. It comes across as bogarting. Either figure out how to spend this money on the people, or give it back to the people. That's my take.
 
You really got that from my post? Lol

But go swim in one of our many rivers and or lakes then get back to me. We need to invest more into cleaning those up.
Only the major rivers with barge traffic get cleanup and dredging and that's from a combo of state & federal funds.
 
First, we don't have open borders.

Second, Iowa is not a border state.

And third, what does this have to do with Iowa collecting massive amounts of money with no plans to give it back?
First- if you don't enforce the laws then you do have open borders

Second- that doesn't matter as everyone pays federal taxes

Third- because you are worried about a state that saved its money and now has the "problem" of what to do with it rather an worrying about the 20 Billion that it will cost us this year because we wont close our borders. Money that WE are literally giving away to people that aren't even citizens.
 
The open border discussion is quite interesting and I can see why democrats are so insistent that they aren’t open.

The new policy is to simply apprehend a person at the border, give them an asylum court date and release them. Republicans view it as “open” borders and democrats do not.

the discussion needs to focus around how many people should we let in for asylum
 
You realize that pretty much falls in line with the population of the home States of each school minus Northwestern?
Uh, you might want to check your math. Let's throw out NW because it is a private school. The remaining B1G schools outside of Iowa have an average tuition of $12,930. That is exactly 30% higher than Iowa at $9942. That is significant. The claim that Iowa is underfunding its major universities is bogus.
 
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This has always been my position,.. and the age of my children doesn't affect the fact that the high cost of college tuition is primarily driven by the artificially expanded customer base created by easy to get federal student loans.
And the number of university employees that do zero teaching.
 
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This has always been my position,.. and the age of my children doesn't affect the fact that the high cost of college tuition is primarily driven by the artificially expanded customer base created by easy to get federal student loans.
This time x100.
 
I'm continually amazed at the number of people that don't understand what proper funding of education results in.

Not only at the college level, but at the local, public level.

Unless someone can afford to send their kids to a private/parochial school, Iowa just continues to fall further behind. The school voucher program is not popular in this State, yet Reynolds continues to push for it. Oddly enough... the GOP base, aka rural Iowa, will be hurt the most.

I think Reynold's ultimate goal is to eliminate either ISU or UNI. Of course if that happens... she'll be long gone by the time the long term effects are felt.
 
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You need to study up then. I know lots of people who have moved their permanent residence from Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Illinois for tax purposes. Actually Iowa tax burden is way above average compared to states like Florida, Tennessee, Texas, Arizona, Georgia. Here is some data if you don't believe me.

I know of a few people that have moved from Nebraska to western Iowa because of lower taxes. My mother and step father and contemplating it.
 
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The State of Iowa's allocation of federal ARPA funds is in excess of $5 Billion. They received ~$2.5 B in May of 2021 and another $2.5 B in May of 2022. As far as I can tell the State has expended the following under the ARPA programs that are allowed:

~$237 M to the State Unemployment Trust Fund
~$3.9 M to the office of Iowa's Economic Development Authority
~$560 K to Iowa Workforce Development to advertise for IowaWorks.gov

So Iowa has spent less than 5% of its ARPA allocation so far, meaning that $4.76 B is still in the State's depositories. Cutting taxes is not an allowable use of federal ARPA funding. Thirteen states (Iowa was one of the thirteen) challenged that provision and were granted an injunction by the US District Court, Northern District of Alabama (Western Division) about a year ago. The US Treasury is of course appealing that USDC decision/injunction. IMO these states are walking down an uncertain path if they utilize the ARPA funding in such a way and the Treasury prevails and finds that States owe money back for a disallowed use.
 
And the number of university employees that do zero teaching.
There's a lot more to a college education than the actual teachers teaching a class.

It's astounding how people don't understand that fact. But if someone has an agenda, I do realize they will ignore such things.

The path that the State of Iowa is currently on is not sustainable.
 
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The growth of Iowa’s budget surplus to nearly $2 billion in fiscal year 2022 will trigger corporate tax cuts passed during this year’s legislative session, Gov. Kim Reynolds announced Tuesday.

Iowa is closing the books on fiscal year 2022 with $1.91 billion in the state’s general fund, $1.06 billion in the Taxpayer Relief Fund and $830 million in reserve funds, according to the governor’s news release. The budget year ended June 30 but the annual accrual period ends Sept. 30.

The ending balances are roughly $670 million more than the previous year’s surplus, according to Legislative Services Agency and governor’s office information.

That increase enacts corporate tax cuts passed during the 2022 legislative session. When Iowa hit $700 million in corporate income tax receipts, the law lowers the corporate tax rate from 9.8% to 8.4% and reduces the number of corporate tax rates from three to two.

Reynolds said Iowa was not expected to hit that threshold until 2027, but the state net corporate income tax receipts exceeded $850 million this year.

Reynolds said the surplus proves Iowa Republicans’ tax cutting strategy was “worth every penny.”

“Iowans want common-sense responsible policies even when it requires going against the grain,” Reynolds said in a news release. “We cut taxes when many said our budget couldn’t handle it; we kept our economy open when few others were; we chose growth over government even when it was hard. As a result, our fiscal health is strong, and our tax code is more competitive than ever.”

Democrats criticized the tax cuts, saying the move will provide less funding for needed state services in favor of giving more money to large corporations. In addition to the changes to corporate taxes, state income taxes will be reduced for all income brackets, with a single-bracket income tax scheduled to take effect by 2026.

“Instead of lowering costs for Iowans and investing in our public schools, Kim Reynolds is celebrating another huge handout she gave to some of the biggest corporations in the world, like Amazon,” Iowa House Democratic Whip Lindsay James said in a statement. “It’s more apparent than ever that Reynolds and GOP politicians in Des Moines are more interested in politics and rewarding special interests, not doing what’s best for Iowans.”
But yet they can't find a few mil to keep park rangers in the state parks.
 
Uh, you might want to check your math. Let's throw out NW because it is a private school. The remaining B1G schools outside of Iowa have an average tuition of $12,930. That is exactly 30% higher than Iowa at $9942. That is significant. The claim that Iowa is underfunding its major universities is bogus.
Uhh no it isn't.
 
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I'm continually amazed at the number of people that don't understand what proper funding of education results in.

Not only at the college level, but at the local, public level.

Unless someone can afford to send their kids to a private/parochial school, Iowa just continues to fall further behind. The school voucher program is not popular in this State, yet Reynolds continues to push for it. Oddly enough... the GOP base, aka rural Iowa, will be hurt the most.

I think Reynold's ultimate goal is to eliminate either ISU or UNI. Of course if that happens... she'll be long gone by the time the long term effects are felt.
If she can eliminate ISU, she has my vote!
 
Uh, you might want to check your math. Let's throw out NW because it is a private school. The remaining B1G schools outside of Iowa have an average tuition of $12,930. That is exactly 30% higher than Iowa at $9942. That is significant. The claim that Iowa is underfunding its major universities is bogus.
The University of Iowa Education is a great value in my book. I have a son who is Junior there, lives in an apartment (us and him split the monthly apartment/utilities...etc.) He borrows about $9200 per year for school. We pay a little extra on the tuition portion every summer to keep it at a decent overall level. He also takes some courses in the summer online through Kirkwood and Iowa Western. That will also help him keep the cost down overall. Anyway, it's a super great value for him.
 
The University of Iowa Education is a great value in my book. I have a son who is Junior there, lives in an apartment (us and him split the monthly apartment/utilities...etc.) He borrows about $9200 per year for school. We pay a little extra on the tuition portion every summer to keep it at a decent overall level. He also takes some courses in the summer online through Kirkwood and Iowa Western. That will also help him keep the cost down overall. Anyway, it's a super great value for him.
I completely agree. U of Iowa is a great value if you are in-state. My youngest did his undergrad and grad school there. Very fairly priced vs. other major universities. Taking classes at JCs is another great way to reduce cost so kudos to your son.
 
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LOL. If you don't think a 30% difference in the cost of tuition is significant then why are you even worried about the cost of tuition?
I guess I should have been more clear I didn't have any issue with the tuition cost. It was your comment regarding how you think it's bogus that Iowa underfunding the universities. They absolutely are, which is the majority of the reason why tuition is increasing.
 
I completely agree. U of Iowa is a great value if you are in-state. My youngest did his undergrad and grad school there. Very fairly priced vs. other major universities. Taking classes at JCs is another great way to reduce cost so kudos to your son.
What did you son major in? Just curious. I think there is grad school coming as well for my son.
 
I guess I should have been more clear I didn't have any issue with the tuition cost. It was your comment regarding how you think it's bogus that Iowa underfunding the universities. They absolutely are, which is the majority of the reason why tuition is increasing.
Your logic still does not make sense about Iowa "underfunding". I don't want to sound argumentative but if Iowa's tuition is 30% less than the average B1G school I could make the case the state is actually subsidizing the cost of tuition relative to our B1G peers in other states. Yes, tuition costs at all these schools are going up and have been very decades ... usually 2X the general inflation rate but there are lots of reasons for that beyond just state funding. Good article here on 10 reasons why college tuition costs so much ...

 
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What did you son major in? Just curious. I think there is grad school coming as well for my son.
He has his undergrad in Biomedical Engineering. He then got his Masters in Biomedical Engineering. The nice thing for him is he did medical research during his two years of graduate school so they basically paid for his graduate school tuition and he earned some cash with that research as well. Lots of those opportunities in grad school at Iowa.
 
I think that was the case a couple of years back but I thought the influx of federal $$$ has slowed down?

Take the federal dollars marked for infrastructure and pocket it in the state treasury for surplus bragging rights.

The typist (Governor) doesn't need no bridges.
 
Thank God Governor Reynolds is getting re-elected, De De Jar Jar and her cronies would blow through that surplus in no time and as usual have nothing to show for it.
 
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