Research Archives for 2018

The proposed expansion of Iowa’s 529 program adds administrative complexity, reduces revenue for other needs, and disproportionately benefits high-income families.

The plan includes some desirable reforms that need not have come at the expense of essential public services that inevitably will have to be cut in the face of revenue losses. It also omits reforms that could enhance Iowa tax fairness. 

Governor Kim Reynolds’ tax proposal trades massive cuts in public services for small savings for lower-income taxpayers, larger savings for high-income taxpayers and few meaningful strides toward fairness in a system that already treats the poor poorly and raises too little revenue to avoid mid-year cuts.

Iowa is already competitive on its tax policies.

Overall the Senate plan would erode revenues, create structural budget deficits for years to come, and force cuts certain to imperil Iowa’s basic infrastructure and traditionally accepted responsibilities for its residents.

Despite chronic revenue shortfalls that have forced a series of mid-year budget cuts, senators are moving a tax-cut bill forward without even an analysis of its impact.

Neither fairness nor adequate funding of state services appear to be the focus of either bill, but let’s give serious analysis a chance.

Iowa’s lucrative research subsidy cost Iowa taxpayers $66.1 million in 2017, with very large companies once again the biggest beneficiaries and taking at least $38 million in checks from the state without paying any state income tax.

IFP Statement — IPP’s Peter Fisher: Eliminating federal deductibility and adding sales tax for online sales are good starts, but many reasons to question Governor Reynolds’ plan.

Iowa’s decision to participate in the Medicaid expansion has not only provided health insurance coverage to tens of thousands of low-wage workers, but also provided an enormous boost to the state’s economy.