Iowa will be hobbled by budget deficits as long as legislators keep avoiding a long-term solution. In this final report in the Our Vanishing Budgets series, the Iowa Fiscal Partnership examines how Iowa has balanced its budget and suggests changes that could return the state to fiscal solvency. Iowa should modernize its tax system by closing tax loopholes, broadening the sales tax base and fixing the personal income tax, researchers said. "Iowa lawmakers are returning to a chronic budget crisis, but they shouldn't be surprised," said Charles Bruner, executive director of the Child & Family Policy Center and co-author of the report for the IFP. "By raiding special funds, they have shoved budget responsibilities to the next year. It gives the illusion of balancing the budget, when in fact it's building up a structural deficit. In short, it's time for a long-range look at Iowa's tax policies."

Read the press release.
Read the executive summary and full report.
See How Iowa Balanced the Budget (Detailed version of Figure 1 from the report).