By mid-July, the corn in Iowa was getting hip-high. So, unfortunately, was the state’s flood of corporate tax credits.
In a column that originally ran in the Des Moines Journal and has since been reprinted in newspapers across the state, CEA President John C. Mozena and TEF-Iowa Policy Director John Hendrickson helped Iowans understand what $431.6 million dollars in tax credits could be paying for:
To put that amount of money in context, that’s more money than the state government spends on a whole host of agencies, programs and services that millions of Iowans depend on. For instance, that tax credit bill would be enough to fund the combined general fund appropriations this year for the Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, Department of Natural Resources and Department of Public Health; Iowa Economic Development Authority, Iowa Workforce Development and Iowa Vocational Rehabilitation Services. In addition, it could also cover the general fund appropriations for the Child Development, College Student Aid Commission, Community College State General Aid and Secondary Career & Technical Education programs within the Department of Education.