CGI Statement: Sad day for Iowa, common good, and common sense
DES MOINES, Iowa (Feb. 24, 2022) — Common Good Iowa today released the following statement from executive director Anne Discher:
“Tax policy is the foundation of public services that support Iowans and our economy. That foundation took a hit today. The tax bill that the state Senate has passed and sent over to the House sets Iowa on a steep path to the bottom.
“It’s a giveaway for the wealthiest Iowans, that fully phased in, will cost $1.9 billion a year. There is no way to sustain that kind of revenue reduction against a state budget that is currently around $8 billion — not without tough, unpopular cuts to services Iowans care about.
“Iowans care about good schools for their children and their grandchildren. Iowans care if clean drinking water comes out of their taps and if it’s safe to swim in Iowa lakes in the summer. They care about affordable, safe child care. They want to know they can find mental health care for their kids.
“These tax cuts imperil every one of these priorities.
“The disastrous tax-cut experiment in Kansas in the last decade should have been a lesson, of both economics and common sense. Bill boosters justify severe cuts based on a surplus built on long-term underfunding of key priorities and a short-term boost in the economy driven by federal pandemic aid. It will not last.
“And many — but not all — Iowans will pay the price. Our already upside-down tax system will become even more tilted to the wealthy. Lower- and middle-income Iowans will be at an even further disadvantage. Property taxes and sales taxes will become a bigger share of state and local revenues.
“Before today’s kindergartners graduate, schools will close, teachers will leave, and families will see some combination of fewer course options and higher property taxes.
“Iowa, once known for transparency, has let its guard down. In less than 24 hours, legislators hatched their deals in back rooms and made an unwarranted rush to the floor. They will now promote their bill as the largest tax cut in state history and make big promises that time is certain to prove hollow.
“This is a sad day for Iowans.”
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