Governor Reynolds Pro-Growth Agenda

Governor Kim Reynolds, in her Condition of the State address, outlined a pro-growth policy agenda that will continue to strengthen Iowa’s economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, she also proposed a bold education reform package that will create more opportunities for parents and children across Iowa. As the [...]

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Eliminate Barriers to Open Enrollment

The COVID-19 pandemic is changing the discussion over education delivery in Iowa. Many Iowa parents are struggling with their children learning from home or balancing a hybrid system of in-school and online learning. In addition, many children are being impacted by the “COVID slide” and are falling behind academically. This [...]

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Creating a Friendly Business Climate

The Tax Foundation ranks Iowa as one of the top ten worst states for business climate. Iowa’s high tax rates not only discourage economic growth, but they make our state less competitive. South Dakota has no state income tax and Iowa is losing ground to our neighbor because they have [...]

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The Need for Tax Fairness

Sales taxes, or taxes on consumption, are considered the least harmful in comparison to income and corporate taxes. This does not mean a state should have a high sales tax, because this too would be harmful for economic growth. States should work to establish a tax code that has low [...]

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Conservative Budgeting is the Best Path Forward

The Revenue Estimating Conference (REC), which is tasked with the difficult job of projecting state revenues, held their December meeting and is estimating Iowa will collect $8.2 billion in revenue for Fiscal Year (FY) 2022. The REC also increased the current FY 2021 estimate to $7.9 billion, which is a [...]

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Allowing Greater Choice in Education

The COVID-19 pandemic is greatly impacting how Iowans view education. As a result, many students across Iowa are either learning completely online or in a hybrid model of online and in-class learning. Parents are being forced to balance work from home as well as facilitate their children’s online learning. Many [...]

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The Near-Term Future of Healthcare Reform

By Dr. Christopher Peters With President-Elect Joe Biden’s administration due to take over in just over a month the nation will be faced with either a divided Congress or a razor-thin Democratic majority. What might we expect in the realm of healthcare reform in the near future? Probably not [...]

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Creating Opportunity in 2021

On January 11, 2021, the Iowa legislature is scheduled to reconvene. Besides crafting a budget, the legislature will also be confronted with the challenge of creating policies to help stimulate the economic recovery from COVID-19. Governor Kim Reynolds and the Republicans in the legislature have been following a policy of [...]

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Iowa’s Inheritance Tax Punishes Families

Iowa’s is one of six states that still levies an inheritance tax. This obsolete tax not only punishes the individual who has died, but also punishes the intended recipient. Previous Iowa legislatures have eliminated the inheritance tax for spouses and other lineal beneficiaries. Yet, the tax remains for non-lineal recipients. [...]

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Protection for the Taxpayer

During the 2019 Iowa legislative session, the legislature passed a property tax accountability and transparency law. This new law was modeled after Utah’s Truth-in-Taxation law, which is considered the most “taxpayer friendly law.” The 2019 law requires local governments such as counties and cities to hold a public hearing if [...]

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Inheritance Tax Penalizes Those Already Suffering

Iowa is one of six states that levies an inheritance tax. The other five states include Nebraska, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Maryland. Indiana is the most recent state to repeal its inheritance tax in 2013. Even several high tax states do not have an inheritance tax. Previous Iowa legislatures [...]

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Empowering Parents with the Right to Choose

We all know a teacher who has greatly influenced our life, but sadly faith in public education is eroding. A Gallop poll found that in 2019 only 29 percent of Americans were confident in the public-school system. Increasingly, public schools are embracing and teaching questionable ideologies, such as The New [...]

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Iowa’s Roadmap to Economic Growth

On January 11, 2021 the Iowa legislature is scheduled to convene. A major priority of the legislative session will be taking measures to aid in the COVID-19 economic recovery. The pandemic continues to cause uncertainty as the virus is once again intensifying throughout the Midwest. To help Iowa’s economy recover [...]

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Providing the Best Educational Opportunities for All

The COVID-19 pandemic is impacting all aspects of life. The pandemic is especially changing the way Americans think about education. COVID has forced many schools to adopt a hybrid model of in-class and online learning. Many parents, who are working from home, are finding themselves balancing both work and guiding [...]

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What is the Future of Health Care Policy?

By Dr. Christopher Peters Right now, we have no choice but to wait for votes to be counted and 2020’s election results to become final. Those tallies will eventually tell us who will not only occupy the Oval Office but also control the United States Congress. While we wait, [...]

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The Importance of Iowa’s Tax Climate

Tax rates matter. They determine how much income an individual or business must pay to the government. For every dollar taken away by taxes, it is one less dollar an individual, family, or business has to save, spend, or invest. Tax rates also play a big role in how competitive [...]

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Household Budgeting Should Apply to Government

Should we build our deck? This is the question that one Iowa family shared with us recently. For years, this family has been saving to build a deck on the back of their house, but with the current economic uncertainty they are trying to decide whether this is the best [...]

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Placing Kids First in Education

By Walt Rogers As a former state legislator my top priority was and still is education. Perhaps one of the most memorable and heartfelt moments occurred when I chaired an Iowa House subcommittee hearing on a bill proposing Education Savings Accounts (ESAs). An emotional mother testified that her “public [...]

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Governor Reynolds Pro-Growth Agenda

Governor Reynolds Pro-Growth Agenda

Governor Kim Reynolds, in her Condition of the State address, outlined a pro-growth policy agenda that will continue to strengthen ...

Eliminate Barriers to Open Enrollment

Eliminate Barriers to Open Enrollment

The COVID-19 pandemic is changing the discussion over education delivery in Iowa. Many Iowa parents are struggling with their children ...

Creating a Friendly Business Climate

Creating a Friendly Business Climate

The Tax Foundation ranks Iowa as one of the top ten worst states for business climate. Iowa’s high tax rates ...

The Need for Tax Fairness

The Need for Tax Fairness

Sales taxes, or taxes on consumption, are considered the least harmful in comparison to income and corporate taxes. This does ...

Conservative Budgeting is the Best Path Forward

Conservative Budgeting is the Best Path Forward

The Revenue Estimating Conference (REC), which is tasked with the difficult job of projecting state revenues, held their December meeting ...

Allowing Greater Choice in Education

Allowing Greater Choice in Education

The COVID-19 pandemic is greatly impacting how Iowans view education. As a result, many students across Iowa are either learning ...

The Near-Term Future of Healthcare Reform

The Near-Term Future of Healthcare Reform

By Dr. Christopher Peters With President-Elect Joe Biden’s administration due to take over in just over a month the ...

Creating Opportunity in 2021

Creating Opportunity in 2021

On January 11, 2021, the Iowa legislature is scheduled to reconvene. Besides crafting a budget, the legislature will also be ...