The State Legislature convened for its special session Tuesday, emerging late in the evening with final budgets for this fiscal year and the next fiscal year beginning July 1.

State Sen. Johnie Hammond, D-Ames, said the bills passed the House and the Senate primarily along party lines, and Gov. Tom Vilsack was expected to approve the bill.

There were few changes from previous proposals.

In an effort to try and reduce the number of furloughs for state employees, the legislature voted to offer early retirement incentives to state employees, Hammond said.

The Legislature did vote to restore $7 million in funding previously taken away from the construction of Hoover Hall on the ISU campus, Hammond said.

“That would have meant at least a $3 million loss and no building for Iowa State – because of the way the contracts are – and moving the equipment,” Hammond said.

She said the Legislature eventually agreed to give the university the authority to bond, provided it was paid back within a couple of years.

Hammond was not sure, given the current economic situation, if the university would be able to pay it back within two years, though.

Hammond said $500,000 will also be left in next year’s budget for ISU’s farm demonstration program, but neither the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture nor ISU’s economic development programs escaped the huge cuts that had been proposed.

Hammond said a resolution of intent not to increase taxes next year was also passed, but the proposal could possibly be changed since it was non-binding.

She said that doesn’t mean Democrats would want to come in right away and raise taxes.

“They just want to keep it as an option – if it seems reasonable,” Hammond said.

An amendment offered by Democrats would have taken $38 million out of the groundwater fund and used it to restore funding for the Leopold Center and economic development programs as well as more than 20 other priorities.

Nonetheless, this amendment was defeated on what nearly amounted to a straight party-line vote with maybe one Republican voting in favor, Hammond said.

Senate Majority Leader Stewart Iverson, R-Dows, said Republicans didn’t want to use the $60 million out of $1 billion in the road fund, because such action was not constitutionally protected since there was already not enough money in the fund.

“There’s already not as much gas tax coming in,” Iverson said. “We know that the amount is at least $32 million less.

“We also know that there were a number of projects delayed this year because there simply wasn’t enough money. There’s still much greater need for road and bridge repair right now.”