By O. Kay Henderson (Radio Iowa)

The governor has another week to sign or veto the remaining bills passed by the 2024 Iowa legislature. She’s already approved a billion dollar tax cut and the state spending plans for the fiscal year that begins July 1.

The $8.9 billion state budget is 4.2% higher than the current year’s spending level. The budget for the state’s court system includes a 5%salary increase for Iowa judges. The governor has signed bills that divert $10 million from Iowa’s Area Education Agencies to set up a new division in the Iowa Department of Education to oversee the AEAs. As many as 62 new state employees will be hired for the Division of Special Education.

The budget for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources includes a quarter of a million dollars to address accessibility issues at state parks.

The resolution of a disagreement between Republicans in the Iowa House and Senate means $5 million in state gambling taxes will be used to complete renovations of the Lucas State Office Building. The building, which opened in 1952, is east of the Iowa Capitol. The original plan House Republicans developed for spending gambling taxes did not include funding for the Lucas Building upgrades, while Senate Republicans suggested spending $10 million dollars on the building.

“We originally weren’t funding that project,” Representative Jacob Bossman, a Republican from Sioux City, said, “but are acknowledging this money is necessary to complete the DHHS merger and allow everybody to be housed under one roof.”

In 2022, lawmakers approved the governor’s plan to merge the Departments of Human Services and Public Health, but the agencies were housed in two different state office buildings. The Department of Health and Human Services is the largest agency in state government, with over 5000.

The Lucas building has six floors of office space and is named for Iowa’s first territorial governor, Robert Lucas.