House Republicans Unveil Plan For Upcoming Legislative Session

House Republicans say an honestly-balanced budget, more public education funding and a greater commitment to public safety are their top priorities for the upcoming legislative session. House Democrats say that sounds a lot like what their party has been preaching for years.

Many of the House GOP’s legislative proposals involve spending increases. Speaker Brian Bosma says his caucus wants to provide more money to public education and domestic violence prevention programs.  He’s proposing a tax credit for public school teachers to help cover out-of-pocket classroom expenses; and he wants to ensure community corrections programs are given the extra funding they need to deal with greater demand created by criminal code reform. 

House Republicans want incentives for solving the state’s infant mortality crisis. Still, Bosma says people shouldn’t expect a huge increase in expenditures.

“Because the very first item on the board to my right is that we will live within our means and also maintain stable and healthy reserves,” he said.

But House Minority Leader Scott Pelath says Republicans can make all sorts of what he calls “grandiose pronouncements” about priorities when it will all come down to maintaining a $2 billion dollar surplus.

“And the outcomes don’t matter as much as the talking point of saying that number and then using it as some evidence that the state is improving or that the people are prospering,” he said.

Pelath says Republicans wouldn’t have to include so many items on their priority list if they hadn’t shut down House Democrats’ previous attempts to deal with issues such as domestic violence and infant mortality.