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Senate approves bill allowing community college leaders to set state aid formula • Iowa Capital Dispatch [1]

['Kathie Obradovich', 'More From Author', '- March']

Date: 2024-03

A panel of Iowa community college leaders will set the distribution formula for state aid for their institutions under legislation approved Wednesday by the Iowa Senate.

The Iowa Senate voted 47-1 to pass Senate File 2405 and send it to the House for further debate.

The bill would eliminate the current formula used to allocate state funding to each of the state’s community colleges. Instead, a council of community college presidents and chancellors would determine the formula each year.

At least 10 of the 15 members of the council would have to agree on the formula, which would be based on college enrollments and other factors. The formula would be sent by Oct. 31 each year to the Department of Education, which would have to implement it.

The Senate defeated an amendment offered by Rep. Cindy Winckler, D-Davenport, that would have required a report to the General Assembly by Nov. 15 on how much each community college would receive and the data used to make the decision.

“And I truly support the decision of the presidents to get together and make the decisions on the funding for their community colleges. But I also believe that we need some transparency and some accountability,” Winckler said.

Sen. Tim Kraayenbrink, R-Fort Dodge, said the proposed reporting requirements were redundant because lawmakers can access the reports to the Department of Education and question the community colleges about the criteria used to determine the funding formula.

Sen. Claire Celsi, R-West Des Moines, was the only senator to vote against the bill. She said she does not believe the bill provides sufficient transparency and accountability over public money. “This bill will essentially allow a backroom meeting for community colleges to decide their own funding, which is fairly unusual as you might agree,” she said.

Kraayenbrink said he believes the community college presidents know more than lawmakers do about the needs of their institutions and he trusts them to put in place an equitable formula that “provides quality education for students who attend those institutions.”

If the bill is enacted, it would take effect in the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2025.

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