The Iowa Constitution requires that the State of Iowa have a balanced budget, but the Iowa Senate has endorsed a constitutional amendment that would enforce MORE restraints on state spending. Senator Charles Schneider, a Republican from West Des Moines, is a leading advocate for the proposal.
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Senator Pam Jochum, a democrat from Dubuque, says these proposed restraints would prevent legislators of the future from functioning in times of crisis.
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The proposed amendment would take the state LAW that currently limits state spending to 99 percent of expected tax revenue and make that LAW part of the CONSTITUTION. It also would impose a new limit on how much state spending may INCREASE from year-to-year. Over-riding these “constitutional caps” on spending would require a vote by at least two-thirds of the legislature along with the governor’s approval. Amending the state constitution takes years — and the final decision is made by voters in a statewide election. THIS proposed constitutional amendment must clear the Iowa House by 2018, and then be approved AGAIN by the House and Senate in 2019 or 2020 before it could be submitted to voters in 2020.