With just under a month left of session, Representative Dustin Hite says all legislators are in budget mode at the Statehouse. He says both the House and Senate are proposing and debating many appropriations and ways and means bills for the upcoming fiscal year.

“I believe we have done a good job passing adequate and responsible spending while at the same time ensuring we are not gutting the taxpayer with increased taxation,” Hite says.

Some of the more prominent spending bills that passed this week dealt with the Rebuild Iowa Infrastructure Fund, Administration and Regulation budget, and the Health and Human Services Budget.

The Rebuild Iowa Infrastructure Fund budget invests $24 million in major and routine maintenance for state building and facilities, $5 million for the Broadband Grant Program to increase access to high-speed internet in rural Iowa, and $200 million to improve infrastructure at state facilities and Regent Universities. For the Administration and Regulation Budget, he says they included $18 million for IPERS administration to provide retirement benefits to hundreds or thousands of Iowans, $4.7 million for inspections of hospitals, and $2 million to update the Department of Revenue’s systems.