There’s been a noticeable drop in farm income in Iowa this year, but the rest of the state’s economy is more than making up for that. The State of Iowa collected nearly 970-MILLION dollars in gros tax receipts in May. There has been only one other month in Iowa history when more taxes were taken in by the state and that was back in May of 2013.

State tax receipts for the past 11 months are more than six percent higher than during the same period in the previous fiscal year. Iowans have paid nearly 22 percent more in personal income taxes to the state. That growth in salaries and wages more than makes up for the dip in farm income.

(O.Kay Henderson/Radio Iowa)

The Iowa Senate has approved legislation designed to help more disabled motorists summon a gas station employee to pump their gas. Senator Rita Hart, a Democrat from Wheatland, has been touting this bill for the past few years. “The world has changed,” Hart says. “It’s no longer full-serve. It’s now self-serve and disabiled individuals who find it difficult or impossible to use the controls at the pumps were left out.”

The bill would not force all Iowa gas station owners to equip their pumps with new call buttons. Instead, gas stations would get a new a 500-dollar state tax credit for every “refueling assistance device” installed. The proposal cleared the Senate on a 30-to-20 vote on Tuesday afternoon, but has not yet been considered in a House committee.

(Radio Iowa)

Legislators began to take votes on key pieces of their state budget plan on Tuesday, with the House last night approving the budget bill that outlines state spending for the three public universities. However it’s unclear whether the plan will provide enough of a boost in funding to fulfill the promise of a tuition freeze for in-state students at Iowa, Iowa State and U-N-I. Senator Bob Dvorsky, a Democrat from Coralville, says the three schools are getting a one-and-a-quarter percent inflationary boost in general state support.

“It’s my understanding that they could probably live with that, so we’ll see,” Dvorsky says. “We hope that the Regents will carefully look at it.” The board that governs the universities and the governor have indicated it would require more to maintain a tuition freeze for a third consecutive year. A spokesman for the Board of Regents has declined to assess the likelihood of a tuition freeze until all the state budget details are finalized.

More state taxdollars for the Regents schools are likely to be included in another bill that’s still under development. Legislators are aiming to conclude their 2015 session by week’s end. On Tuesday the House and Senate approved a status quo spending plan for the state’s judicial branch, although more money for court operations may be included in another piece of pending legislation.

(Radio Iowa)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa lawmakers have approved a budget for the state’s judicial branch that maintains the current funding level. The Iowa House and Senate on Tuesday night approved the $174.6 million budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1. Lawmakers in the Democratic-led Senate and the Republican-majority House agreed to the compromise legislation as part of a lengthy budget negotiation.

Democrats had originally sought more funding for judicial services. Republicans said the state could not afford more ongoing spending. Judicial Branch administrators and supporters have warned that without any new dollars, there may have to be cuts. But Sen. Tom Courtney, a Democrat from Burlington, said he expected there would be additional funding for the judicial system in another budget bill.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

AREDALE, Iowa (AP) — An overturned construction crane has caused an estimated 10 gallons of diesel fuel and hydraulic oil to spill into a small creek in northern Iowa. No injuries were reported in the Butler County spill into Boylan Creek. The crane downed power lines at a construction site near Aredale.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa officials are investigating two more potential cases of bird flu in the state. Two probable cases were at farms in Clay and Hamilton counties. If the disease is confirmed, birds in the affected farms will be euthanized. The farm in Clay County has an estimated 1.1 million birds.

VERMILLION, S.D. (AP) — The death of a 29-year-old Iowa woman whose body was found in the Missouri River in southeastern South Dakota is being investigated as a homicide. Alicia Hummel, of Sioux City, Iowa, was found dead Monday in Vermillion near the Myron Grove boat launch.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Lawmakers in the Republican-led Iowa House have approved a small funding increase for the school year that starts in the fall of 2016, but the move is not expected to win favor in the Democratic-controlled Senate. The plan would provide about $125 million in new dollars in that year.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Lawmakers in the Republican-led Iowa House have approved a small funding increase for the school year that starts in the fall of 2016, but the move is not expected to win favor in the Democratic-controlled Senate.

The House on Tuesday approved a plan that would provide about $125 million in new dollars in that year, with some of the money going to a teacher leadership program. But Democrats said the funding level was inadequate. Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal said his members would not consider the proposal.

The Legislature is supposed to approve school funding levels more than a year before the academic year starts, but they often fail to meet that requirement. Lawmakers have reached a tentative agreement on funding for the coming school year.