Iowa’s state budget should invest in priorities

All we know for certain is that the Iowa Legislature will reconvene for the 2024 session on Monday morning. As for what they’ll do after that, we only have hints.

Judging by a series of legislative preview articles written by Gazette and Len Enterprises Statehouse reporters, top Republican leaders who run the House and Senate are keeping their plans close to the vest. Republican Kim Reynolds isn’t talking at all, having refused to be interviewed for the series.

Reynolds will give her Condition of the State speech on Tuesday evening, which may reveal more details on what the Republican agenda will look like. At least we hope so.

Republican leaders asked about addressing a shortage of hundreds of thousands of child care slots and the loss of providers talked mostly about what lawmakers passed last year. No new plans have been offered.

After approving multiple bills attacking the rights of LGBTQ Iowans, in particular transgender and nonbinary kids, leaders say they have no plan to return to those topics in 2024. But some Republicans want to pursue a Religious Freedom Restoration Act that would allow discriminatory actions against LGBTQ Iowans and other groups based on religious beliefs. It’s an unneeded bill that will spark yet another culture war battle.

And, of course, Republicans are talking about accelerating tax cuts passed previously and potentially passing new tax cuts. Gov. Kim Reynolds has said she wants to eliminate the state income tax by the time her term ends in 2026.

Tax cuts are slowly crippling the state’s ability to provide needed funding for children’s mental health, state universities, public schools, health and human services, among other items that should be state priorities. Iowa’s water remains dirty. Our state parks need investments. Our nursing homes are being left without timely inspections, endangering residents.

Instead, the Republican top priority has been the passing billions of dollars’ worth of tax cuts. To keep the cuts from blowing up the budget, the majority has underfunded needs so billions in “surplus” dollars can be socked away. The Republican-created Taxpayer Relief Fund contains $3.7 billion.

It’s been a wealth shift, with most of the tax cut benefits going to wealthy earners while underfunded schools, university tuition increases and diminished services hurt middle and low-income Iowans. Lawmakers have shifted the funding burden to local governments, where property tax increases exceed income tax cuts.

Republicans argue tax cuts make Iowa more attractive to newcomers. But the true cost of those cuts – tainted natural resources, poorly funded public education and inadequate basic services – also makes Iowa less attractive to young professionals. Add in open hostility toward LGBTQ Iowans and limits on teaching authentic history, and Iowa doesn’t live up to its new slogan. “Freedom to Flourish.”

Republicans should refrain from further tax cuts and use our socked away surplus to make needed investments improving the lives of all Iowans.

(319) 398-8262; editorial@thegazette.com