State Executive Branch Budget Hearings

Each year, executive branch agencies present their projected budgets to the governor. During the last two weeks, ABI has attended budget hearings for agencies that interact frequently with Iowa businesses, such as the Department of Natural Resources, the Secretary of State, Department of Revenue, Iowa Workforce Development and the Iowa Economic Development Authority, to monitor the budgets and ensure we are aware of key programs or agency priority changes. The governor then constructs her budget with these numbers in mind. The Legislature will also develop their own budget and vet the state agencies and the respective appropriation requests through the legislative process. Although the governor’s budget is published very early in session, there is typically a lot of give and take on budget discussions, and the budget bills are almost always the final pieces of legislation that are passed and sent to the governor.