Corbett’s think tank has ideas

So Cedar Rapids Mayor Ron Corbett's 'Engage Iowa” think tank has released its very first thought - an intriguing proposal for hitting two big policy 'challenges” with one penny.

Goal one is lowering Iowa's marginal income tax rate and removing deductions that make it look artificially high, stopping what Corbett says is a flow of wealth to other states. Goal two is finding additional tax dollars to stop a flow of agricultural pollutants into Iowa waterways, what he dubbed a 'water quality crisis.”

He unveiled his think tank's work product on Monday in a speech to the Cedar Rapids Rotary Club. 'What we're advocating for today is how we can begin the discussion,” Corbett said. He didn't list goal No. 3, a possible run for governor in 2018.

The glue holding together his unusual tax reform/water quality proposal is a potential one-cent state sales tax increase.

A three-eighths-cent share of that penny, more than $150 million annually, automatically would flow into a constitutionally protected natural resources trust fund created by voters in 2010. As much as $80 million would be spent on reducing agricultural runoff carrying nitrates and other pollutants into waterways. Corbett also would call on the private sector to provide a $40 million match.

The remaining five-eights, $216 million, would offset revenues lost through income tax reforms. Couple those bucks with the elimination of most deductions for Iowans earning more than $10,000, and Iowa's tax rate would be cut from 8.98 percent, fourth-highest nationally, to below 3 percent. The state would collect the same total tax revenues.

This big target will, of course, be bombed from all sides. Some Republicans want deep tax cuts with no revenue trade-offs, don't want to erase federal deductibility and aren't keen on environmental spending. Some Democrats will see a regressive sales tax being used to create a flatter income tax for wealthy earners. A fair number of environmentalists want stiff regulations, not taxpayer-funded incentives, to force farmers to curtail pollution. And some of that criticism will be appropriate. Details, devils, etc.

But at a time when hyperpartisan, apoplectic pipe dreams dominate our political landscape, this shot of plausible pragmatism is welcome. It's a proposal actually seeking to accomplish something important within the realistic parameters of governing. What a concept.

I'm not sure Corbett, a Republican, would love the comparison, but it reminds me of stuff Democrat Tom Vilsack used to float as governor. Vilsack saw his opponents as potential partners who might work with him if he reached out. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't.

But contrast that approach with our current governor, who sees his opponents as obstacles to sidestep, insult or hoodwink. Contrast it with a caucus campaign filled with candidates swearing they can move mountains, win wars and build walls simply by loudly dictating demands.

Of course, Corbett's tank also a product of political ambition. But its first round of ideas seem more substantive than overt electioneering. Engage Iowa actually seems to be interested in engaging Iowans.

l Comments: (319) 398-8452; todd.dorman@thegazette.com