Media Center
Check out the latest news releases from Common Good Iowa. For media inquiries, contact deputy director Mike Owen.
[CGI News] Iowa research giveaway: $54.4 million in business perks in '24
An annual report on Iowa's Research Activities Tax Credit once again showed the state's generosity to business, with $54.5 million in credits claimed in 2024, the vast majority to large companies and two-thirds paid out as subsidy checks to companies that owed no state income tax.
[CGI News] ‘Paving the High Road’: Better policy for construction jobs
Job quality provisions in federal initiatives for infrastructure improvements and energy systems will help redirect Iowa’s construction industry and lawmakers toward high-road policies with long-term benefits for Iowa. A new report from Common Good Iowa identifies trends that feed low-road practices toward workers and communities, and threaten a thriving construction industry in the state.
CGI News: Iowa jobs show slow growth
Iowa’s job market is in a slow-growth mode as Governor Kim Reynolds and legislative leaders suppress worker rights and advance counterproductive policies that hold back our economy.
CGI News: Tax panel should hear, "Let Trump tax cuts expire"
Political showmanship won’t obscure the reality of deficits, debt and inequity when the U.S. House Ways & Means chair stages a pro-Trump Tax Cut hearing at the Iowa State Fair.
Guest opinion: Iowa's tax and budget fantasy world
It might not be this year, or next, but Iowans in the near future will realize the destructive course set by Governor Kim Reynolds and the tax-cutting leadership of the Legislature.
Guest opinion: Tax cuts over healthy moms and kids
In a matter of days Governor Reynolds signed two bills that, at first blush, may seem to have little in common. But they are driven by the same impulses: prioritizing tax cuts over Iowans’ healthy futures.
Guest opinion: Iowa lawmakers: Our tax system is broken; let’s break it some more
Forget the adage: “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” In the Iowa Legislature, it’s different: “We broke it, so let’s break it some more, and then make sure nobody can fix it.”That in short is the picture of tax-cut proposals gaining steam in Iowa.
Guest opinion: Republicans' superminority plan betrays democracy, voters and Iowa's future
Legislators are elected for a two- or four-year term that expires. Lawmakers in office today have no rightful claim to tie the hands of their successors. The same goes for voters.
CGI News: 1 in 6 Iowa working families can't make it on earnings alone
Despite encouraging wage gains in the last couple of years, 1 in 6 working households in Iowa cannot meet basic needs on their earnings alone. Over half of single parents are falling short, according to the latest edition of the Cost of Living in Iowa from Common Good Iowa.
CGI News: Iowa research giveaway: More perks for the profitable
Iowa's most lucrative business tax credit gave away nearly $85 million in 2023 to companies, mostly to very large companies and much as checks to companies that paid no state income tax. It's part of a longtime trend, but reforms may paint a different picture in 2025.