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| Research | |
| Income Stagnant, Health Insurance Lacking for Iowans | |
| Over 1 in 11 Iowans Go Without Insurance | |
Iowa's health-insurance shortage is worse in the latter part of this decade than it was at the start, and median income growth is too small to note — and this is before we see the numbers for 2009. | |
| Updated Revenue Estimate, Fresh Look at Sources, Needed for Budget | |
Deteriorating revenues demand a fresh review of Iowa’s fiscal situation so policy makers can make budget decisions with the best information available. | |
| Why Iowa Should Eliminate Sales-Tax TIFs | |
| A three-page backgrounder makes the case: The sales tax TIF law that passed in the last days of the 2008 legislative session should be repealed. What were lawmakers thinking? Backgrounder (3-page PDF) (3/30/09) | |
| Graphic Perspective on Iowa's Budget Situation | |
| A two-page fact sheet uses graphs to show Iowa state spending has been in line with general economic performance in the state, but that spending in one area — tax credits — has grown much faster than general fund spending. Backgrounder (2-page PDF) (1/23/09) | |
| 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) | |
| Unaccountable Tax Breaks — Iowa's Growth Industry | |
| Watch a Des Moines Register interview with one of IFP's experts on Iowa budget and tax policy, Peter Fisher of the Iowa Policy Project, for good perspectives on Iowa's current fiscal crisis and how to deal with it. View the video. (1/22/09) | |
| 'Everything's on the Table' | |
| Governor Culver's Condition of the State message asked lawmakers to assure "everything's on the table" to balance the state budget and find savings — while upholding the promise of investments in a green economy, education and health care. Cutting wasteful spending through the tax code in secret subsidies to big companies is one thing to review. News release (PDF). (1/13/09) | |
| HOW DID WE GET TO THIS SITUATION IN 2009? A BUDGET CRISIS PRIMER: Iowa's budget situation has changed markedly since last July; what has brought Iowa to the questions we face now? Backgrounder (7-page PDF). (1/16/09) | |
| Seeing the Whole Field: Perspective for '09 Choices | |
| Iowa policy makers should address the state's budget crunch with choices that do not worsen the recession but do assure scrutiny on seldom-reviewed spending on tax breaks. Open letter (PDF). (1/02/09) | |
| 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) | |
| Who Pays Iowa Taxes? | |
| Lower-Income Iowans Pay the Most as Share of Income | |
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Iowa's state and local tax system favors the highest-income families in the state — a fairness problem compounded by the net effect of two decades of policy changes. News release, backgrounder. |
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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. | |
| 3/31/2008 | |
| Putting Fairness First | |
| • Questions for Financing Public Services in Iowa | |
| • Improving Fairness by Expanding Iowa's Earned Income Tax Credit | |
| 3/6/2008 | |
| A Capital (Gains) Offense | |
| Unnoticed But Lasting Change Undermines Iowa Tax Code | |
| 2/27/2008 | |
| Iowa's Tax-Credit Bonanza | |
| Open Ends and Closed Books: How Iowa is Giving Away the Farm | |
| 2/4/2008 | |
| Spotlight on Secret Checks | |
| Taxing Mystery: Big Benefits from Research Activities Credit, But for Whom? | |
| 10/25/2007 | |
| 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) | |
| 4/24/2007 | |
| Tracking Tax Giveaways | |
| Earthpark Plan Raises Significant Policy Questions | |
| 4/11/2007 | |
| Leveling the Playing Field | |
| How to Restore Fairness to Iowa's Corporate Income Tax by Closing Loopholes | |
| 3/27/2007 | |
| Taxing the Poor in Iowa | |
| Report Shows Need for Low-Income Tax Reform | |
| 3/14/2007 | |
| How the EITC Hits Home | |
| Where Iowans Claim the Earned Income Tax Credit | |
| 3/13/2007 | |
| Next Piece of the Puzzle | |
| After Minimum Wage, Iowa Looks at Earned Income Tax Credit | |
| 2/22/2007 | |
| Falling Below Average | |
| Why Iowa Taxes are Competitive | |
| 2/15/2007 | |
| Looking Before We Leap | |
| A Review of the Commercial Property Tax Task Force Recommendations | |
| 12/19/2006 | |
| Looking Behind the Curtain | |
| Unveiling the Problem of Tax Expenditures in Iowa | |
| 11/28/2006 | |
| Restoring Fairness and Revenue | |
| Reform Measures for Iowa's Corporate Income Tax | |
| 11/27/2006 | |
| Prescriptions and Placebos | |
| Fixing Health Care in Iowa | |
| 11/14/2006 | |
| No Longer a Leader? | |
| Investments and Student Achievement in Iowa | |
| 9/7/2006 | |
| Health Care in Iowa: A Continuing Problem of Access | |
| 4/11/2006 | |
| Revitalizing Iowa's Corporate Income Tax | |
| 3/17/2006 | |
| How Should Government Tax Incentive Stock Options? (pdf) | |
| 2/22/2006 | |
| Untaxing Seniors: A 'Solution' in Search of a Problem | |
| 1/24/2006 | |
| Securing Iowa’s Economic Future | |
| 1/9/2005 | |
| Older Iowans, Economic Security, and State Fiscal Policy (pdf) | |
| 10/19/2005 | |
| IowaCare: Need for Caution | |
| 6/6/2005 | |
| Hunger in the Heartland | |
| A Portrait of Food Need in Northeast Iowa | |
| 5/19/2005 | |
| Combating Hunger | |
| The Whos, Whys, and Hows of Food Assistance | |
| 4/19/2005 | |
| Iowa's Personal Income Tax | |
| Reform for Iowans at Any Age | |
| 2/1/2005 | |
| Our Vanishing Budgets | |
| Iowa's Response to the Fiscal Crisis in the State | |
| 1/13/2005 | |
| A Chronic Budget Crisis | |
| Can Iowa Keep Its Promises? | |
| 12/15/2004 | |
| Iowa's State Fiscal Crisis and Its Impact on Local Governments | |
| Cities and Counties Face Tough Choices and Diminished State Support | |
| 12/10/2004 | |
| Iowa's State Fiscal Crisis and Its Impact on Human Services | |
| New Holes in the Safety Net | |
| 11/22/2004 | |
| Iowa's State Fiscal Crisis and Its Impact on Education | |
| Erosion of Support at All Levels | |
| 9/29/2004 | |
| The State Fiscal Crisis, 2001-2004: Comparing Iowa's Responses to Others | |
| 9/27/2004 | |
| Average by Any Measure: State and Local Taxes in Iowa | |
| 7/26/2004 | |
| Whose Bonus? No Rationale for Adopting Federal Depreciation Options | |
| 7/9/2004 | |
| Iowa Taxes on Social Security Benefits: The Facts | |
| 6/18/2004 | |
| Rethinking Iowa's Personal Income Tax — Principle-Based Reform | |
| 4/1/2004 | |
| Property Tax Assessment in Iowa | |
| 3/8/2004 | |
| Iowa Voters and Taxes: Strong Public Support for Maintaining Services | |
| 2/4/2004 | |
| Everything You Wanted to Know about Closing Tax Loopholes... | |
| But Were Afraid to Ask | |
| 10/21/2003 | |
| What Would Real Tax Reform Look Like in Iowa? | |
| 4/29/2003 | |
| The Merits of a Cigarette Tax, with Alternative Tax Offsets | |
| 4/21/2003 | |
| How to Balance the Budget by Cutting Tax Preferences | |
| 4/9/2003 | |
| Tax Increment Financing in Iowa: What Should Be Done? | |
| 1/22/2002 | |
| Tax Policy & Economic Growth in Iowa: Who Gained in the 1990s? | |
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