Iowans for Tax Relief is launching a campaign to push a proposed constitutional amendment that would make it harder to raise state income taxes in Iowa. The group wants voters to approve a change that would require two-thirds support in the legislature before income taxes on individuals or corporations can go up.
Chris Hagenow said the point of the effort is simple: to make voters aware that the amendment is on the back of the general election ballot. That placement matters because many people may not notice it unless they are looking closely, even though the proposal would change how future tax increases are approved.
Under current rules, Iowa income taxes can be raised with a simple majority of lawmakers. The amendment would replace that threshold with two-thirds support, giving tax increases a much steeper climb and making them, in Hagenow’s words, a last resort for lawmakers making state spending decisions. Iowans for Tax Relief has also set up a website called make tax hikes harder dot com to promote the campaign.
The proposal is not new to the legislature. It won approval twice from Republicans in the Iowa Legislature, and Republican Governor Kim Reynolds has voiced support for the concept. Since Reynolds took office in May of 2017, she has signed legislation that lowered Iowa’s individual income tax to a flat rate of three-point-eight percent, cut the corporate income tax and eliminated state income taxes on retirement income.
That support has not ended the fight. Democrats who oppose the supermajority requirement say it would worsen a state budget crisis by limiting lawmakers’ ability to respond. That is the basic divide now: one side says the amendment would protect taxpayers from easy tax hikes, while the other says it would make it harder for Iowa to deal with a financial squeeze when state spending decisions get tight.
For voters, the decision is straightforward even if the timing is not fully spelled out: the amendment is headed for the general election ballot, and the campaign now underway is aimed at making sure they notice it before they vote. Hagenow and his group are betting that once voters understand what the measure would do, the answer will be to lock in a higher bar for any future income tax increase.
