(Radio Iowa) – A state panel has made a slight reduction, but still predicts the state will collect over 11 BILLION in taxes during the fiscal year that begins July 1st. Legislators will use today’s (Friday’s) Revenue Estimating Conference report as the basis for state spending plans and it will be cited by Republicans drafting more state tax cuts. Iowa Department of Management director Kraig Paulsen, the governor’s budget chief, is chairman of the panel.

A new member joined the tax predicting panel for today’s (Friday’s) meeting. Jeff Plagge (PLAG-ee), a northwest Iowa banker, retired at end of 2023 after serving as the State Superintendent of Banking.

House Democrats say it’s time to make public schools a priority and today’s (Friday’s) financial report shows there is no reason for Republicans to keep delaying a decision on how much the state will spend on schools.