A panel of Iowa budget experts says they expect higher than anticipated state revenue this year but remain cautious about predicting a quick recovery. The Revenue Estimating Conference on Friday afternoon increased the current year estimate of revenue to $8.07 billion or 1.9% growth from the previous year. That is up from a December estimate of 0.5% growth and $7.96 billion in revenue. This number is important because it’s what the state legislature uses to finalize the next fiscal year’s budget. The panel estimates state revenue will also increase in the following two years. If the estimated 3.8% growth for the 2022 fiscal year is realized, tax cuts approved in 2018 will not kick in. That’s because legislators require at least 4% revenue growth before lowering the tax brackets. There is pending legislation, supported by the governor, that would remove that trigger and put the next phase of tax bracket changes into effect.
The State of Iowa will get nearly $775 million in federal aid for Pre-K-12 schools. The money to pay costs associated with the COVID-19 pandemic is Iowa’s share of the $122.7 billion in emergency school relief in the American Rescue Plan recently passed by Congress. The Iowa Department of Education says the nearly $775 million is more than double what the state received in the previous federal COVID aid legislation and roughly 10 times as much as was included in the first coronavirus bailout bill. Roughly 90 percent of the money will be available to school districts, with the rest going to state-level educational efforts to address urgent issues caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
One Iowa school district is doing away with a mask mandate. The Beaman-Conrad-Liscomb-Union-Whitten School Board voted to lift the mask mandate for students and staff beginning next month April 9th. They have been revisiting the topic each month, and last week voted to simply encourage students and staff to wear a face covering. One BCLUW board member said to him the mandate wasn’t about science but simply checking a box.
Authorities say a 9-year-old girl is dead after the car in which she was riding rear-ended a school bus in northwest Iowa. The Iowa State Patrol said the West Lyon Community School District bus was stopped to pick up students when it was hit. The victim was a third grade student identified as Jessica Yeaman of Inwood. The 17-year-old driver of the car suffered serious injuries and was transported to a hospital in nearby Sioux Falls. Her condition wasn’t immediately known.
A former Four Oaks youth counselor has entered a plea of guilty to sexually abusing and exploiting a 14-year-old boy in 2018. 29-year-old Danielle Hook entered a written plea last week to amended charges of third-degree sexual abuse and sexual exploitation by a counselor or therapist. As part of a deal with prosecutors, a charge of harboring a runaway will be dismissed. Prosecutors also agreed to recommend lifetime probation for Hook when she’s sentenced May 18. Her convictions on the two counts together carry a possible sentence of up to 15 years in prison. The judge who accepted her plea ordered her to register as a sex offender for 10 years.
Linn County crews responded to a serious injury accident Saturday night. Emergency personnel arrived around 8:30 p.m. to find a vehicle driven by 17-year-old Korina Weems of Anamosa. Weems was traveling east on Sawyer Road when she lost control of her vehicle and went into the ditch, where the vehicle rolled. Weems was transported to a hospital for what is believed to be serious injuries. Weems was wearing her seatbelt at the time of the accident.
A former Sioux City councilmember has entered a plea of guilty to illegally storing and transporting several tons of toxic leaded glass processed by his now-closed recycling company. Aaron Rochester entered his plea Friday in U.S. District Court in Sioux City to unlawful storage of hazardous waste and unlawful transportation of hazardous waste. He faces up to five years in prison on each charge. No sentencing date has been set.
A couple of weekend sports notes you may have missed…the UNI football team fell to 2-3 on the season, losing at home to Missouri State 13-6 Saturday evening. But play continues for the UNI women’s basketball team, as they won their first two games in the WNIT…including Saturday, when a layup by Emerson Green with only four seconds left allowed the Panthers to edge Creighton 64-63 to advance to the Rockford regional final. UNI plays tonight against St. Louis in the round of eight, with pregame on KXEL at 6:45 p.m.
