Iowans shortchanged by tax cuts

The governor has declared and the Legislature has agreed that the state surplus represents having collected too much in taxes, and that it should be returned to the people by cutting income taxes, somehow skewed heavily to go to her campaign donors and rich people.

My view is that the surplus represents services that the people have paid for, but the governor and legislature decided should be shortchanged or not delivered at all.

A few items from that list:

Public school funding has increased less than inflation for several years, mental health facilities closed, forcing families to have to travel farther to receive services and reducing the availability of inpatient services, corrections funding shortchanged, increasing dangers to staff and inmates at prisons and overloading parole officers. State parks are underfunded, resulting in inadequate maintenance, and the deferred maintenance at ranger residences now has become the excuse to force rangers out of ranger residences in the parks, which will increase response times when they are needed.

They choose to remove funding for measuring water quality, so that they can lie about the abysmal water quality in Iowa's lakes and streams with little fear that anyone will quote actual measurements to contradict their claims.

These are a few of the things Iowans have paid for, but Republicans have decided Iowans don't deserve to get.

The theft was not the tax collection. The theft is in the refusal to deliver the services. Sending big tax cuts to a favored few aggravates the malfeasance.

Martin Smith

Cedar Rapids