Photo: Moment RF
Iowa Senate Republicans unveiled their State income tax proposals last night and they go beyond what Governor Kim Reynolds asked for in her Condition of the State address at the start of this legislative session.
The main headline is this. Reynolds had wanted us to get to a 4% flat tax by 2026 and the State Senators want to take us to a 3.6% flat tax by 2028.
"We have over-collected taxes to the tune of several billion dollars," Republican Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver was reported as saying. "We have over $2 billion in our Taxpayer Relief Fund right now that will help with these tax cuts. When we over-collect tax dollars as Republicans, we promised to give it back. And that's what this tax plan is."
The proposal also cuts the corporate tax rate by 2%, bringing the rate down from 9.8% today to a flat 7.8%. The plan also gets rid of all taxes on retirement income, expands military pay exemption to the National Guard and exempts income from cash rent or farm crop shares for farmers.
The Democrats don't like it. Senate Democratic Leader Zach Wahls issued a written statement.
"Senate Republicans won’t solve the Reynolds Workforce Crisis with another tax giveaway to millionaires and big corporations. The Republican plan would result in higher taxes for hardworking Iowans and the defunding of public education, public safety, and health care services. Senate Democrats are focused on putting more money into the pockets of hardworking Iowans. That includes targeted tax cuts for middle-class families, expanding access to affordable child care and paid family leave, fully funding our schools, and making job training and apprenticeships available and affordable for all Iowans.”
What do you think? Do you like it?