Senator Boulton’s April 7 Newsletter

From the Desk of Senator Boulton: GOP Majority’s Taxation “Shell Game” about to hit Property Taxpayers

I’ve been raising this concern since my arrival in the Iowa Senate seven years ago: when big income tax cuts and escalating corporate tax credits, exemptions, and giveaways continue to drive taxation policy, look out for where the difference has to be made up.

We have seen commercial property tax eliminations require a “backfill” of state funds to local governments – and then watched as the state walked away from that backfill commitment.

We’ve seen an error in last year’s tax bill cause local governments to believe they had more tax revenue available for essential services in the current budget year than they actually received.

And now there are calls to eliminate the state income tax completely — adding intense pressure to sales and property taxes to make up that missing revenue to ensure our roads are safe, our schools are funded, and police and fire protection are not compromised.

While I’ve worked with my colleagues on protections for property tax payers with fixed incomes and other limitations designed to prevent shock increases in tax liabilities for Iowans, I fear we are just at the beginning of a growing imbalance in tax policies that will leave working Iowans and retirees shouldering an unfair property tax burden while some highly-profitable corporations get a pass. It’s short-sighted planning, and I’m committed to continuing to work for a fairer tax system that doesn’t pass the buck to local governments and lead to unjust tax outcomes.

That said, there are things to know and consider as new property tax valuations and assessments raise concerns for our personal and family budgets:

You can contact the assessor’s office and request an informal review of your assessment through April 25th.
You can file a formal protest with the county board of review between now and May 1st.The forms for that process are available through the assessor’s office.
The increased assessed value does NOT necessarily mean an increase in taxation at the same level. In fact, the state’s residential rollback law limits taxable value increases to 3 percent.

More information on the review and protest process is available here.

Finally, the state Property Assessment Appeals Board (PAAB) will provide a free online presentation on April 12 explaining the state’s process for protesting a property tax assessment. Covered topics will include property assessment basics; understanding assessment listings and valuation; requesting an informal assessment review from your county assessor; filing a protest with your local board of review; explaining the grounds for protesting assessments; and options for appealing a board’s decision. The webinar is scheduled for 12 p.m. on April 12. You can register here.

While I hope the above information is helpful, please know that I’ll continued to be a vocal opponent of the escalating individual taxpayer consequences being felt from our state’s economic development planning relying too heavily on corporate tax credits, exemptions, and giveaways — things that blow major holes in the state budget and leave the rest of Iowans paying to repair the financial damage.

Budgets with no numbers?!

This week, Iowa Senate Republicans advanced budget bills out of committee, but there was one big catch: those budgets contained no numbers!

The Statehouse press corps took note of this strange and perhaps unprecedented move, calling out Republicans’ “placeholder” budgets that push the state spending plan through the legislative process without the review and discussion Iowans rightfully expect.

They even quoted Democratic Sen. Bill Dotzler, as he tried to make sense of budgets without numbers:

“You appear to be experts at three-card monte. People don’t know what the numbers are, they don’t know where the employees in the state of Iowa are going to be. We don’t have any of that information,” said Sen. Bill Dotzler, D-Waterloo. “It’s kind of like a shell game.”

This is no way to govern. Iowa taxpayers deserve transparency.

An Update from the Second Legislative Funnel

The Senate passed a major procedural deadline session last week, the so-called Second Funnel, in which most bills must pass one chamber and win committee approval in the other in order to remain eligible for passage.

Many controversial bills remain on the calendar this year, including a dangerous expansion of child-labor laws, school book bans and curriculum censorship, and expensive and unnecessary new red tape for families in need.

But the news isn’t all bad. We continue to see positive, bipartisan bills moving ahead, and at least a few bad ideas falling off the agenda.

Not all bad: These good bills could still become law

SF 417 and HF 475 prohibit unfair real estate contracts that target older Iowans.
SF 182 and HF 665 give communities another way to provide affordable housing and address problem properties.
HF 272 and SF 186 ensure adoptive parents get the same rights and benefits as parents of biological children.
SF 316 and HF 472 help veterinarians work with law enforcement to combat animal abuse.

The funnel worked: These bad bills won’t become law this year

SF 516 would have made it harder to expand public conservation and recreation lands.
SF 136 would have repealed Iowa’s gender balance requirement for state boards.
SF 357 would have reinstated the death penalty.
SF 481 would have cut unemployment benefits for some Iowans with larger families.
SF 297 would have allowed healthcare providers to discriminate based on personal religious beliefs.
SF 313 would have reduced firefighter training hours.

Quick Updates

Medicaid eligibility reviews. With the end of expanded Medicaid coverage under the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency, Iowa HHS is starting eligibility reviews for Medicaid members. Starting this month, Medicaid members begin receiving eligibility review forms in the mail. If you or someone you know receives healthcare coverage through Iowa Medicaid, keep an eye out for this form, and return it promptly to ensure your coverage is not disrupted. Additionally, if you have moved within the last 2 years, call HHS at 877-347-5678 to confirm that your address is up to date. For more information and resources click here.
Cracking down on child labor. The U.S. Departments of Labor and Health and Human Services announced this week a Memorandum of Agreement to advance ongoing efforts fighting child labor exploitation. The agreement will help identify places and employers where children are likely being exploited, and facilitate increased coordination and information-sharing between departments to prevent child labor violations and ensure that victims have access to critical services.
14 years of marriage equality. This past Monday marked 14 years since Iowa became the third state in the nation to legalize marriage equality for LGBTQ couples. Unfortunately, marriage equality is still under attack today by Iowa Republicans, who introduced a bill to ban gay marriage in Iowa earlier this year. Iowa Senate Democrats proudly support marriage equality for ALL Iowans.
High school classes, college credit. A recent Joint Enrollment Report showed over 50,000 Iowa high school students enrolled in college-level courses while still in high school, earning both college and high school credits simultaneously. These students earned a total of 1,804 awards along with their high school diploma, an increase of 60 percent from the previous year. The total number of awards earned included 580 associate degrees, 283 diplomas and 941 certificates.
Safe Schools Convention. The deadline to register for Iowa Safe Schools’ GovCon is April 17. Since its inception in 2005, GovCon has grown to be the largest LGBTQ youth conference in the nation. This year’s keynote speaker is Andrew Fuller, the Iowa baker who won the Netflix game show “Is It Cake?”
988 is a lifeline. People feeling anxious or depressed, parents concerned about their child dying by suicide, and families touched by addiction contact 988 every day. But without sufficient funding for the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline in Iowa, these calls and texts are routed to national backup centers in states like California or New York. Senate Democrats support funding for 988 centers based in Iowa and staffed by Iowans who understand the struggles of our neighbors and can better support individuals in crisis.