|
Increasing the cigarette
tax by 80 cents per pack and increasing property taxes (due to the
elimination of the Ag Land Tax Credit) is the wrong thing to do if
the goal is to keep Iowa competitive with other states. House
Republicans are committed to lowering taxes, specifically property
taxes, in order to improve the state’s economic climate. We are
also committed to helping border communities with ideas like the
Texarkana proposal, and raising the cigarette tax by 80 cents (which
will make Iowa’s tax higher than any state in the Midwest) will
force smokers to cross state lines or use the Internet to buy
cigarettes.
The 800 pound gorilla in
the room continues to be state employee salaries. The cost to the
taxpayers of the first three collective bargaining agreements
negotiated by Gov. Vilsack was over $1 billion. The new package
will likely cost $200 million in FY 06 and FY 07. Unless changes
are made to Chapter 20 (the rules governing the collective
bargaining process), salaries will continue to eat up more and more
of available general fund revenue (your tax dollars).
W & M’S
PASSES IRC UPDATE
On Monday, January 31, the
House Ways and Means Committee unanimously approved House Study Bill
36 (now House File 186).
House File 186– Internal
Revenue Code Update (IRC)
This bill is the annual
Internal Revenue Code Update as proposed to the Legislature by the
Iowa Department of Revenue. It includes into Iowa income tax law
the federal income tax changes enacted by Congress since 2003.
Some important provisions
within HF 186 are:
-Allowing the deduction for
contributions to health savings accounts,
-Allowing a deduction for
teachers for up to $250 for out-of-pocket classroom expenses,
-Allowing an itemized
deduction for contributions made in January, 2005, for relief of
victims of the Indian Ocean tsunami to be deducted on the 2004 tax
return.
Ways
& Means Update
Bills introduced in committee this week:
House Study Bill 109- An
Act relating to the financing of telecommunications projects and
facilities by cities, including requirements regarding feasibility
studies and reports, requiring sealed bids and approval by city
voters.
Bills passed out of
committee this week:
No bills passed committee
this week. |
Week
in Review Archives