Revenue Estimating Conference to Meet on May 29 at 1 p.m. – Legislature to Resume June 3

The Iowa Legislature is set to resume the 2020 Iowa Legislative Session on June 3, 2020.  Preceding the commencement of the session, the Iowa Revenue Estimating Conference (REC) will convene at 1 p.m. on Friday, May 29. The special meeting of the REC was requested by state lawmakers to gauge the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on state revenues. With the state budget at the forefront of legislative issues, the revenue projections released by the REC will play an important role in how lawmakers look to finalize the state’s budget for fiscal year 2021.  The REC meeting on May 29 will be livestreamed on the Legislative Service Agency’s YouTube channel.

The REC was established as a way to arrive at consensus General Fund revenue estimates to be used by both the Governor and Legislature for the budget process. Membership is comprised of the Governor or the Governor’s designee, the Director of the Legislative Services Agency, and a third person agreed upon by the other two members.

The current membership of the REC is:

·       David Roederer, Governor's Designee;

·       Holly Lyons, Fiscal Division Director of the Legislative Services Agency; and

·       David Underwood, retired CFO and Treasurer, AADG, Inc. in Mason City, Iowa.

The REC is responsible for providing periodic estimates of General Fund revenues available for the budgeting process. The estimate is composed of several pieces, including:

·       Cash tax receipts for July 1 through June 30,

·       Other receipts to the General Fund for July 1 through June 30,

·       Lottery transfers and other transfers to the General Fund for July 1 through June 30,

·       Accruals of tax receipts, other receipts, and transfer revenues associated with the fiscal year hold open period after June 30,

·       Refunds paid from fiscal year receipts, and

·       School Infrastructure Transfers from fiscal year receipts.