With the State of Iowa’s revenues showing a budget surplus of $289 million for the end of the 2019 fiscal year, several lawmakers are pleased.

House District 47 Representative Phil Thompson is happy to tout the state’s ability to gain more money in the general fund.

“Which puts us in a good position for maybe some years the revenue estimating committee (REC) will be off. But it wasn’t an accident. It was very careful planning. We take the budget very, very seriously. We obviously want to sit on a good cash reserve. We’re really happy to have done that this year. It took a lot of careful planning and good leadership from my caucus and also from the governor.”

The Republican that represents Greene and Boone counties says the REC meets quarterly and they project what the state will receive for revenues for the next fiscal year, and the legislature uses that information for determining the budget. He says that having more of a cushion when working on the budget is a good thing.

“The worst thing that we have to do, some years, is make mid-year cuts (to the budget). When we send someone a check, we’re good for it. We want to make sure we are planning carefully and making sure that all the pieces of parcels of government that are counting on that money have good checks, and we hate making mid-year cuts. So the reserves that we are sitting on gives us a little more flexibility.”

The 2019 fiscal year was completed on June 30th. Last year’s budget surplus was $127 million.