Iowa Senate leader sees ‘outside chance’ for tax reform this year

DES MOINES - Iowa lawmakers hope to wrap up the 2017 session this month, but Senate President Jack Whitver thinks there's an 'outside chance” tax reform can be accomplished

However, the Ankeny Republican said it will be hard to do this year because of the state's revenue and budget situation.

'The reality of the situation is our budget is a little tighter than we had hoped,” Whitver said during taping of Iowa Public Television's Iowa Press Friday. Lawmakers had to cut the current year budget by nearly $120 million in January and tap the cash reserve fund for about $130 million last month. So majority Republicans want to 'do the fiscally responsible thing and get the budget under control before looking at reform.”

Reforming Iowa's taxes is one of the reasons he ran in 2010, Whitver said, and something he's been working on since.

'I was hoping we could get to it this year, but it's looking more and more like this might be a 2018 issue,” he said. Whitver acknowledged it won't get any easier in an election year, but 'frankly, to have real, true, lasting, impactful tax reform is a complicated process.”

As GOP senators look at reform possibilities, everything is on the table, including federal deductibility and tax credits, Whitver said. His priority is lowering individual income tax rates because that would affect the most Iowans and Iowa small businesses.

'The states that are growing and thriving and are prospering right now are the states with the lowest - or even no income tax,” he said. 'I'm not sitting here today saying next year we're going to eliminate the income tax, but the lower we can go on that, I think research shows we can be more prosperous.”

Not only would lower individual income tax rates affect most Iowa taxpayers, but Whitver said it would benefit small business owners like him. His food and fitness businesses are 'pass through” businesses that pay individual income tax.

'When you talk about corporate tax reform, that really isn't that big a part of our state budget,” he said. 'What we really need to do is reform the individual tax code and that would help thousands of small business owners across the state.”

He ruled out a sales tax increase unless it is accompanied by 'major tax reform.”

Looking at the final weeks of the session, Whitver predicts the GOP House and Senate majorities are going to iron out differences in their respective 20-week abortion ban bills. The House version called for a 72-hour waiting period and contained no exceptions for fetal anomalies. The Senate bill included a 24-hour waiting period between the time a woman meets with her doctor and has the procedure. It also allowed an exception for abortions beyond 20 weeks in the case of a fetal anomaly.

Whitver also said lawmakers will provide more money for water quality efforts, will not dismantle the Des Moines Water Works, will ban texting while driving and said that if traffic enforcement cameras aren't banned they will be 'heavily regulated.”

Iowa Press can be seen at 7 p.m. Friday and noon Sunday on IPTV, at 8:30 a.m. Saturday on IPTV World and online at IPTV.org.

l Comments: (319) 398-8375; james.lynch@thegazette.com