The 2018 legislative session concluded on May 5 with several bills affecting Iowa State University.

 

Most significantly, legislators allocated $8.3 million to the Board of Regents for fiscal year 19 that begins July 1, 2018. This follows the state's recent decision to take back $10.9 million from the Board of Regents for the current fiscal year (FY18), of which Iowa State University must return $5.4 million by June 30, 2018.

 

The Board of Regents had originally requested $12 million ($5 million for Iowa State) for FY19 to be used exclusively for student financial aid. The legislature did not stipulate how the $8.3 million should be dispersed among the Regents institutions or how it should be used. The Board is expected to make those determinations as well as proceed with final action on the proposed tuition increases at its next meeting, June 6-7.

 

The state appropriated $63 million of Iowa State's $100 million legislative request to build a new Veterinary Diagnostics Laboratory (VDL) over the course of five years. Adequate funding for the new facility is crucial in order to effectively respond to large-scale outbreaks that can be extremely harmful to Iowa's economy.

 

Appropriations for VDL operations, agriculture experiment station, cooperative extension services, livestock disease research, and economic development remain steady.

 

The Governor is expected to take action on the legislation in the coming weeks.

 

We are grateful for the resources the legislature committed to Iowa State. We will continue to work with our elected officials to increase investment in Iowa State University.

 

Thank you for your support through the Alliance for Iowa State. With your continued advocacy, we can move in the right direction!