Iowa's Republican governor, Terry Branstad, boasted how he balanced the state's budget without raising taxes and is getting calls from California businesses looking to move.

Iowa's three regents universities would receive $545 million if Branstad signs the legislation, which is $23 million more than the institutions got this year.

In all, the Legislature approved more than $1.67 billion in spending, in areas as diverse as higher education, prisons, economic development and agriculture. The total budget for the new year is expected to come in at $6.24 billion.

Iowa lawmakers have reached a tentative agreement on education spending and plan to introduce a bill that would represent the largest commercial property tax cut in state history.

Senate GOP Leader Jerry Behn of Boone describes the split-control Legislature's difficulty in shutting down its session for a second straight year as "limping" to the finish.

Important as education may be to both Democrats and Republicans, time and money are both running out in Iowa.

The House wants to cut funding in key areas such as education and corrections, and the Senate wants increases.

The budget discussions on tap for the days to come will have to bridge spending differences that in one instance exceed $100 million.

Moving with due speed, the Iowa Senate voted 48-1 Wednesday to restore status quo funding for the Iowa Workforce Development. The money is needed to keep the agency operating through June in the aftermath of a court battle recently decided by the Iowa Supreme Court. 

Confirming Polk County Judge Brad McCall's ruling in December 2011, the Iowa Supreme Court unanimously ruled days ago that gubernatorial redirection of money struck through in a line-item veto is unconstitutional. Now, the judicial and legislative branches of government are also questioning governors' use of budget powers and whether it exceeds the bounds of proscribed power.

Not all of the measures are identical in what they seek or how far they have advanced, nor are they equally likely to pass and be signed into law. But they do share an antipathy for labor unions amid concerns about state budget deficits and a national debate over public-sector pay and pensions.

Gov. Terry Branstad won't follow the lead of Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder and reduce his salary to $1 annual to express "shared sacrifice" to help address a state budget shortfall.  Instead, Branstad collects both a $130,000 salary as governor and a state pension worth more than $50,000 from his previous service in government - a practice some critics describe as "double-dipping."

Gov.-elect Branstad has signaled he wants to reopen negotiations on the salary and benefit deal out-going Governor Chet Culver struck with AFSCME - the union representing the largest share of state workers. The future budget director said Branstad is considering a "variety of options" when it comes to contract talks. According to Roederer, Branstad also wants the unions to present their own cost-cutting proposals.

Paper arguing for an alternate form of fiscal discipline, known as Budgeting for Outcomes (BFO), which combines strategic planning, zero-based budgeting and performance budgeting in a workable, common-sense package.. BFO would help the governor and/or legislature, in California as it has in other states, build the budget in a way that delivers the results citizens want at a price they are willing to pay.

The gap between the promises Iowa has made for public employees' retirement benefits and the money set aside to pay for them has grown to $5.7 billion - a 1,643 percent increase over 11 years, State Auditor David Vaudt said.

Gov. Terry Branstad won't follow the lead of Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder and reduce his salary to $1 annual to express "shared sacrifice" to help address a state budget shortfall.  Instead, Branstad collects both a $130,000 salary as governor and a state pension worth more than $50,000 from his previous service in government - a practice some critics describe as "double-dipping."

This all boils down to who gets to pick taxpayers' pockets first, public pensioners or municipal bond investors? More people are waking up to the hard reality that when it comes to state and local government, somebody has to lose money over the next few decades. The National Association of Bond Lawyers is worried enough about it to issue "Considerations" for advising clients who think they're getting safe investments.

Despite an organized campaign to stop public pension reform, reality is beginning to break through.  One recent report outlines a possible path to long-term solutions and another details the necessity of states and municipalities finding their own way because federal bailout is impossible.  And Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel released a plan that could have been based on both reports.

Hey, young public employees, what are you going to do when your pension checks bounce after you paid in for decades? That is what will happen in many - maybe all - states and municipalities sooner or later if they do not reform right now. If you want to see the future, just look at Illinois. One citizen there did, and came up with a real reform plan that might work.

Public employees should take their pension money now and run to avoid risk of getting reduced benefits - or nothing - in the future. It's the best deal for them and for taxpayers. A growing chorus of credible voices including the Government Accountability Office, a Federal Reserve bank and now the Harvard Kennedy School Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government confirm state and local government finances are "spiraling out of control" and even draconian reforms only make it "more likely" that future benefits will paid in full.

Hey, young public employees, what are you going to do when your pension checks bounce after you paid in for decades? That is what will happen in many - maybe all - states and municipalities sooner or later if they do not reform right now. If you want to see the future, just look at Illinois. One citizen there did, and came up with a real reform plan that might work.

This is what it sounds like when the Federal Reserve Bank screams: "Much has been written about the various headwinds restraining economic activity over the near term. However, our economy also has other headwinds to confront over the medium- to-longer-term. ... the finances of some state and local governments are also under stress and in need of serious adjustments."  - Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Sandra Pianalto

Funding for universities in Iowa is currently at the center of Iowa's budget debates, with Democrat and Republican legislators taking opposite approaches.

Not only will agricultural subsidies legislation disproportionately affect the budgets of Heartland states, it also may play a more influential role in the upcoming Presidential election than a cursory count of electoral votes and voting trends indicate. 

This week's state budget update from Bob Williams, President of State Budget Solutions.

Branstad clearly feels strongly about the benefits of biennial budgets, but what makes a two year budget so different?

Two months before he leaves office after losing a bid for re-election, Iowa's Governor Chet Culver approved a new two-year contract for unionized state employees that includes a 6.13% wage increase.

Fiscal stress and strain continues in the fifty states this week as more legislators look for ways out of the black holes in which they find themselves. Solutions sought by states include delayed retirement, increased pension contributions, and furloughs.