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| Recap of the Work of the 2009 Session of the Iowa Legislature | |
| Some Steps Forward for Struggling Families in Troubled Economy | |
| Boosts Seen for Iowans Needing Help; Much Left to Do on Fiscal Stability | |
| Overall, Iowa lawmakers in 2009 took actions in 2009 that included some significant forward steps, but left plenty on the table for the future and took some steps backward. Policy brief (2 pg) PDF . (4/28/09) LATEST! | |
| Iowa's Fiscal Crisis: Perspective and Options | |
| Opportunity to Help Working Families with Earned Income Credit | |
| Expanded EITC in Tax Reform Plan — Making Work Pay | |
| Expanding Iowa’s EITC through income-tax reform now under consideration by the Legislature would help make work pay for Iowa’s low- and moderate-income families, and would make Iowa’s overall tax system better reflect Iowans’ ability to pay tax while raising a family. Backgrounder (2 pg) PDF . (4/24/09) Fact sheet with district by district impacts (2 pg) PDF . (4/24/09) | |
| Beyond 2010: Iowa Tax Reform Would Keep Benefits in Place | |
| Individuals, Businesses Would See Similar Effects in 2011-13 | |
| Iowa Department of Revenue estimates show that reforms would continue to benefit a substantial share of Iowa taxpayers, including small-business owners, during 2011 through 2013. Policy Brief (2 pg) PDF . (4/16/09) | |
| Small-Business Owners Benefit in Iowa Tax Reform Plan | |
| Most See Tax Cuts or No Change — Like Other Iowans at Those Incomes | |
| Despite the rhetoric from the big-business lobby and the anti-tax lobby, small-business owners overall in Iowa are at income levels and tax-filing status that shows they would, on balance, do better under the tax-reform plan than they do now. Policy Brief (2 pg) PDF . (4/14/09) | |
| A Step Toward Principled Tax Reform | |
| Analysis Shows Benefits to Businesses, Farms, Students — and Fairness | |
| As Iowans prepare for one of the most significant debates in years on the state's tax structure, it helps to consider the proposal in the light of accepted principles for sound tax policy. Policy Brief (4 pg) PDF . (4/9/09) Individual taxpayer scenarios HTML PDF (2 pg). (4/9/09) Individual tax bracket changes HTML PDF (1 pg). (4/21/09) News Release (2 pg) PDF . (4/9/09) Policy Brief (3 pg) PDF . (3/27/09) Beth Pearson testimony at public hearing (1 pg) PDF . (3/31/09) Iowa legislators considering tax reform should focus on facts and the long-term state fiscal health. "The rhetoric ... is over the top," says IFP's David Osterberg. News Release (1 pg) PDF . (4/2/09) | |
| Iowa's State Budget Crisis | |
| Use Stimulus Funds to Balance Budget, Maintain Essential Services | |
| Dramatically lowered revenue estimates make federal "stimulus" funds especially important to shore up the budget, and where possible, avoid cuts and layoffs that could deepen the recession in Iowa. Policy Brief (8 pg) PDF . (3/24/09) Backgrounder (1 pg) PDF . (3/24/09) News Release on REC report HTML PDF . (3/20/09) | |
| Focus on Largest Waists in Belt-Tightening | |
| General fund spending has declined as a share of the state economy, but business tax credits have grown almost unchecked and out of control. Report PDF (3 pages). News Release PDF . (2/23/09) | |
| Understanding the Revenue Roots of the Crisis | |
| Iowans can only understand the state's budget crisis by looking at the revenue roots of the problem. Tax cuts in the 1990s, and more tax breaks since, were unsustainable and prepared the state poorly for the current recession. Report PDF (6 pages). (2/19/09) | |
| How Do You Spell 'State Fiscal Relief'? | |
| Federal Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009 and the Iowa Budget | |
| State fiscal relief from the federal government recognizes that states may not deficit spend — but that state spending can help the economy while serving people in need. Backgrounder (HTML) . PDF. (2/2/09) | |
| A line by line look at the Iowa impacts of key provisions in the House and Senate economic recovery packages. PDF (1 page). (Revised 3/17/09) | |
| A Recession Budget, Not a Recessionary Budget | |
| Stop Digging: State Options to Keep Iowa Out of a Bigger Hole | |
| Iowa policy makers have options to avoid deepening the recession. Backgrounder (HTML). PDF. (2/2/09) | |
| Beyond the Spin: Iowa's Budget Realities | |
| Iowa state spending has been in line with general economic performance in the state, but spending in one area — tax credits — has grown much faster than general fund spending. | |
| Graphic perspective — two-page fact sheet shows the spending — and tax credit — realities. Backgrounder (2-page PDF) (1/23/09) | |
| Des Moines Register interview with IFP tax-policy expert Peter Fisher of the Iowa Policy Project. View the video. (1/22/09) | |
| 'Everything's on the table,' — says the Governor. That must include spending on tax credits. News release (PDF) (1/13/09) | |
| A Budget Crisis Primer — how we got here in 2009. Backgrounder (7-page PDF). (1/16/09) | |
| Open Letter — leaders must make budget-crunch choices that won't worsen recession. News release (PDF) (1/2/09) | |
| New from the Iowa Fiscal Partnership | |
| Flood Response and Iowa Children | |
| How do natural disasters, like the 2008 Iowa floods, affect children? What policies and actions can government take to mitigate these impacts? Backgrounder (PDF) (1/25/09) | |
| Local Income Surtaxes Raise Revenue, Offer Tax Choices | |
| Understanding local income surtaxes, in practice and potential for Iowa communities. Backgrounder (5-page PDF) (1/22/09) News release (PDF) (1/26/09) | |
| Holes Revealed in Iowa's Revenue Structure | |
| Newly revised state revenue estimates are pointing not just to the national recession hitting Iowa, but to holes in Iowa's revenue structure. News release (PDF). (12/12/08) | |
| Responding to the Economic Crisis: Accountability First | |
| Iowa lawmakers are almost certain to face immediate and severe budget challenges when they reconvene in January. Closing loopholes and stopping wasteful spending on tax breaks for big corporations offer an opportunity to shore up revenues to maintain critical services. Briefing paper (3-pg PDF). News release (PDF). (12/10/08) | |
| Iowa's Aging Population: A Growing State Budget Challenge | |
| Health-care and education investments are at risk for Iowa as the state's population becomes proportionately older. Full report (28-pg PDF). Executive summary (HTML or 4-pg PDF). News release (PDF). (12/01/08) | |
Setting Tax Policy for Fairness and Sustainability |
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Solutions for City Revenues in Stagnant Economy, Floods' Wake |
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| City revenue reform can encourage sustainable, responsible and fair development and allow cities to meet their revenue needs. Report (24 pg). Exec. summary (4 pg), News release. (11/13/08) | Natural Resources Funding Must Strike Balance |
| Too often in the past, natural resources funding has lost out to state budget cuts or has been raided to pay for other public programs. Any sustainable funding source to correct this problem should also be fair to all Iowa taxpayers How can this be designed? Backgrounder (4 pg). (11/12/08) Revised | |
| Lower-income non-elderly households in Iowa pay a much greater share of their meager incomes in state and local taxes than higher-income families pay. Backgrounder (4 pg). News release. (11/10/08) | |
Flooding in Iowa: A Responsible Response |
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Iowa's response to storm disasters in 2008 will have far-reaching fiscal and economic impacts for many years. Iowa lawmakers heading into the 2009 session of the General Assembly, as well as the Rebuild Iowa Advisory Commission, would do well to consider long-term consequences of policy decisions while addressing immediate needs as well. See our package of reports.
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| Persistent Problem: Uninsurance Hits 1 in 10 Iowans | |
| The number of uninsured Iowans grew by one-third in seven years, while Iowans' median income showed slight improvement in 2007 and poverty remained high. News release. (8/26/08) | |
| Iowa System Distorts Assessment of Farm Property | |
| Farm buildings and farmland need to be assessed and taxed separately as a first step toward a more understandable, fair and modern system of assessing Iowa farm property. Full report, four-page executive summary, news release. (7/17/08) | |
| Congress Usurping Local Power on Property Tax? | |
| A proposal in Congress for a property tax credit would deny help to Iowans facing the most difficult financial challenges from floods, tornadoes and mortgage foreclosures. IFP Perspective one-pager.(6/24/08) See the Des Moines Register editorial. (7/3/08) | |
| EZ Money: Enterprise Zones Now 'Monster' Program | |
| Iowa spent about $300 million in enterprise zone (EZ) subsidies from 2003-07 in a “monster” program needing a major overhaul. Report, executive summary and news release. (4/21/08) See the Des Moines Register and Radio Iowa stories. | |
| Iowans Pay for Corporations' Secret Checks; Biggest Firms Benefit | |
Household-name companies have been getting big checks at the expense of Iowa households. Report, news release and graphs. (4/16/08)
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| Ability to Pay: Tax Fairness Issues for Iowa | |
| Statewide School Infrastructure Sales Tax — Fairness Issues for Iowa | |
| Switching the School Infrastructure Local Option (SILO) sales tax to a statewide penny sales tax holds mixed implications for low-income Iowans and tax equity. Report and backgrounder. (4/4/08) | |
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| Access to child-care is an issue of "making work pay," just like the minimum wage and low-income tax credits — and updating Food Stamp benefits can reflect that. Read the backgrounder. | |
| Recent Research | |
| Iowa Taxes in Real Life | |
| New Report Notes Undocumented Immigrants Pay Iowa Taxes | |
| Undocumented immigrant families pay less in state taxes than families at similar incomes in Iowa, but they contribute over $40 million to state coffers and they receive fewer services. A new report finds that discussions focusing only on costs of undocumented immigrants can miss a big piece of the fiscal equation: the taxes immigrants pay, often without services coming to them. Read the full report or the four-page executive summary or the news release. (Oct. 25, 2007) | |
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