Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds has given final approval to a roughly $7.4 billion state budget and issued a handful of vetoes to conclude this year’s legislative action.
The governor announced Friday afternoon she signed the bills making up the state budget, which goes into effect on July 1st.
The state legislature was forced to make mid-year spending cuts the past two years.
Lawmakers hope next year’s budget avoids a similar fate, even as the state cuts income tax rates starting next year.
Reynolds vetoed a proposal to immediately halt a pilot program for pretrial assessments, which will conclude this winter.
She also vetoed a bill that would have allowed self-employed workers to qualify for small-group health insurance coverage, which she said would “further destabilize” Iowa’s health insurance market.
In addition, Reynolds vetoed portions of bills dealing with pooling employee benefits, regulation of the Iowa Insurance Division and a $195,000 appropriation she said could go through a competitive bidding process.
