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Lawmakers make final budget decisions
Posted: 03.15.2010 at 8:08 AM
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DES MOINES, IOWA (AP) -- With estimates of expected tax revenue in hand, lawmakers will begin crafting final spending bills this week and push to beat a March 31 deadline to adjourn.
Senate Majority Leader Michael Gronstal says they'll focus on the budget after last week's estimate by the three-member Revenue Estimating Conference. The panel gave legislators a bit of good news, forecasting about a $30 million increase in revenue from earlier estimates.
As they complete the roughly $5.3 billion budget, Democrats and Republicans agreed they shouldn't spend the extra money but should put it into reserves.
The new budget will be made up of a series of spending bills that will be debated beginning Monday.
(Copyright ©2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)