U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, this morning told reporters that community colleges should factor heavily into the mix of federal stimulus money expected to emerge soon.
President Obama has asked that lawmakers have an economic-stimulus package on his desk by Feb. 16. Portrayed by Obama and his congressional allies as sort of a national jump-start for the sputtering economy, the stimulus package is estimated at $850 billion - some of which will be tax cuts in keeping with the new Democratic president's intent to earn bipartisan support.
For his part, Harkin, a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, is using his influence there to push for more than $100 billion in stimulus spending on schools - $79 billion for states and school districts, $16 billion for projects at schools that involve "green energy," $3.5 billion for higher education, and $14 billion for Pell Grants or money to help college students pay for tuition.
In all of that, he said, community colleges should be a priority.
"It's community colleges where workers are often trained for jobs," Harkin said on a conference call with the Daily Times Herald and other media this morning.
House members have considered stimulus spending this week, and the Senate is expected to take it up in coming days.
If Harkin is successful in securing certain funding streams, he estimated that roughly $626 million would flow to Iowa for general education along with $79 million for K-12 school construction. Of the $46 million in higher education stimulus for Iowa, Harkin said, about half of that would go to community colleges.
Those numbers are highly speculative as the stimulus plans have not been put to full votes of either the House or Senate, and it is uncertain whether Harkin's "marks" will survive through to the final version.
Harkin, who chairs the Senate Agriculture Committee, said rural areas should receive stimulus dollars as well.
"We will be putting significant amounts of money into agriculture," Harkin said.
He asked new Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack for a list of ready-to-go projects and programs in the department.
"These are things that would be going into our small towns and communities," Harkin said.
Asked specifically where some of those dollars would go, Harkin cited rural development and businesses as well as water, sewer and electric projects.
