Iowa's state government has taken too much of your money.
Last year, Iowa's surplus was $305 million. This year, Iowa will end Fiscal Year 2021 with a whopping $1.24 billion surplus. Additionally, the state's reserve funds are full, and there's $1.054 billion will be sitting in the Taxpayer Relief fund.
Simply put, Iowa's tax code extracts far more money out of Iowan's pockets than government needs to operate.
Continuing surpluses prove Governor Reynolds's policies of prudent budgeting and pro-growth tax reform work. Iowa's fiscal house is strong and provides ample funds for government priorities. The Des Moines Register's Iowa Poll shows 57 percent of Iowans approve of how the governor has handled the state's economy.
Next year, the Iowa legislature needs to build on previous tax reforms, cut individual and corporate income tax rates, and address high property taxes.
When signing the 2021 tax reform bill into law, Governor Reynolds stated, "We are not done yet. Next year, I'll be proposing additional income tax cuts as we continue to make Iowa the most attractive place in America to open a business, raise a family, and start a career."
Reynolds has even said the ultimate goal is to eliminate Iowa's income tax. Iowa can't be complacent because other states are cutting taxes to attract both jobs and people.
Take Action:
ITR PAC supports candidates and legislators who will use the $1 BILLION in the Taxpayer Relief Fund for the reason it exists: TAX RELIEF!
Click the button to donate and help us make a difference inside the Capitol.
Progressives, led by Senators Dick Durbin and Bernie Sanders, are looking to create new regulations on credit cards that would make it more difficult for Iowans to access banking and financial services.
Why it Matters:
By placing new restrictions and regulations on credit cards, banks will have to limit their credit exposure. Many will start by charging more for credit cards and eliminating "no fee" credit cards that many consumers enjoy. It doesn't take long for regulations to show what they really are: a hidden, red tape tax.
Consumers will see other limitations on their credit cards too. The average consumer receives nearly $170 in credit card rewards per year. In total, Americans enjoy $40 billion to $50 billion annually from these types of rewards. Under the Durbin-Sanders proposal, those rewards will likely decline quickly.
The Solution:
With Democrats having a narrow margin in the U.S. Senate, we have to hope that our senators, Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst, will join their colleagues in opposing this expensive and pointless regulation.
Squares, rectangles, and hexagons are shapes the Iowa Code uses to describe the desired compact shape of a legislative district. Having that in mind, the Iowa Senate rejected the first redistricting map.
State Senator Roby Smith said, "This map includes a triangle, a pyramid, a figure eight, and a district that is so irregular it looks like the 1800s salamander known for gerrymandering."
What's Next:
The non-partisan Legislative Committee now has until November 9th to submit a second redistricting plan to legislators.
Our Take:
Iowa has one of the best redistricting processes in the country.
This is the fifth time Iowa's current redistricting process has been utilized since going into effect in 1980. Despite some legislators making the claim that rejecting the first set of maps is unprecedented, that's hardly the case. In 1990 and 2010, the first set of maps were approved. In 2000, the legislature approved the second set, and in 1980 they approved the third set.
The legislature has now rejected the first set of maps more often than they've accepted them.
ITR Vice President Chris Hagenow, a Temporary Redistrict Advisory Commission member, said, "There were legitimate concerns concerning compactness, specifically in several irregularly shaped districts. Those concerns were similar to those raised during the public hearings. We will now see if LSA can produce a map that the legislature finds more suitable."
No matter what the final map looks like, ITR PAC is already recruiting candidates and supporting legislators across the state.
Click the button to donate and help us keep our state moving forward.
Government should have to justify increased spending. Truth-in-Taxation has a proven track record of ensuring that local governments are honest, especially concerning windfalls from increased assessments and controlling property taxes’ growth.
A multi-trillion-dollar federal spending hike, backed by punitive taxes and more borrowing, could tip Iowa – and the nation – into a new case of the economic doldrums we thought we had recently left behind.
Hinson: Biden's plan to eliminate stepped-up basis would stomp on farmers. In reality, it is essentially sticking a “for sale” sign on thousands of family-owned and operated farms in Iowa.
Wouldn’t it be nice if those same local governments that share so much information with you on your property tax bill, could be just as clear and transparent when they’re making their budgets?
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, the former Democratic governor of Iowa, writes that “Biden’s Tax Changes Won’t Hurt Family Farmers” or small-business owners. Maybe he has been in Washington too long, as he has lost his grasp of today’s capital-intensive, high-risk farming economics in Iowa.
