States are choosing two very different paths. High-tax, high-spending states are running growing deficits, while reform-oriented states are cutting income taxes, controlling spending, and becoming more competitive. The push to eliminate income taxes is accelerating. States like Missouri, Louisiana, West Virginia, and especially South Carolina are using revenue triggers and disciplined budgeting to...
Regulatory reform is a structural issue of governance and accountability, centered on who makes the rules that shape Iowa’s economy and whether major policy decisions are made by elected lawmakers or unelected agencies. Large, costly regulations act as a hidden tax on Iowans, raising prices, slowing growth, and reducing opportunity—yet often take effect without the same scrutiny applied to major s...
Rollback limits how fast taxable values grow—not how much governments tax. Iowa’s rollback prevents rapid increases in assessed property values from automatically turning into equally rapid increases in taxable value, providing predictability for taxpayers, but it does not cap local government spending or levy rates. The 3% cap is statewide and interacts with agriculture through the “Ag Tie.” Resi...
Governor Kim Reynolds made clear in her Condition of the State address that Iowa’s property tax burden can no longer be ignored. The demand for reform cuts across geography and income. High property taxes affect seniors on fixed incomes, families struggling to make ends meet, small business owners, and young Iowans trying to save for their first home. “Whether you live in a small town, growing su...
Iowa ranks 4th nationally for education freedom, earning top marks in the 2026 Index of State Education Freedom for expanding educational options and reducing barriers for families. Governor Kim Reynolds’ student-first reforms are driving the results, including universal Education Savings Accounts, expanded charter schools, and easier open enrollment—giving parents more control regardless of incom...
Immigration enforcement is a federal responsibility that depends on local cooperation. Local officials are not meant to enforce immigration law themselves, but when they cooperate with federal authorities—by transferring custody after criminal cases are resolved—enforcement occurs quietly and efficiently, largely out of public view. When states or cities refuse to cooperate, enforcement becomes m...
Gov. Reynolds and the Legislature have an opportunity to make the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence especially meaningful by restoring balance between taxpayers and their local governments. By limiting spending, Iowa can protect the property rights that are the very foundation of American liberty.
Property tax reform has moved quickly into action in 2026, with Republicans in both chambers and Governor Kim Reynolds advancing comprehensive proposals aimed at slowing property tax growth and addressing long-standing structural problems in Iowa’s system. The Senate, Governor, and House proposals share common goals but take different approaches, including caps on local government revenue growth, ...
“As the Founders saw it, the right to property was not simply an economic concept and was much more than owning a bit of land. It was a first principle of liberty,” Spalding argued. Property is not limited to land or a home; it also includes financial assets.
Iowa’s budget remains structurally sound, but spending is accelerating: The FY 2026 budget totals about $9.4 billion—up more than 5 percent year over year—raising sustainability concerns even as lawmakers face a $1 billion shortfall that is not a true deficit due to large reserve balances. Strong reserves and credit ratings provide a cushion, not a blank check: Iowa closed FY 2025 with nearly $1.9...
The Bears want a new, publicly supported stadium despite taxpayers still paying for the last one. The team does not own Soldier Field, can exit its lease early, and is pursuing a “world-class” stadium even as Chicago taxpayers remain on the hook for more than $350 million in remaining renovation debt — potentially paying for years after the Bears leave. Taxes and subsidies are central to the reloc...
Affordability pressures are real, but government spending helped cause them. Massive federal COVID-era spending—and unchecked state and local program expansion—flooded the economy with dollars, fueled inflation, and worsened affordability, meaning government should first examine its own role before proposing new interventions. Not all “affordability solutions” are rooted in free-market principles....
Property tax reform has emerged as the central policy issue of the 2026 legislative session, with Governor Reynolds and leaders in both chambers making it a top priority in their opening remarks and early legislative action. Lawmakers across parties agree that rising property taxes—up more than 107% over the past 20 years—are hurting Iowa families, businesses, and rural communities, and that meani...
Iowa school districts such as Boone and Cedar Rapids are proposing major budget cuts, yet their per-pupil spending has risen sharply over the past five years and now sits well above the national average, with Iowa averaging over $22,000 per student. This growth was driven largely by school board spending decisions and the temporary influx of federal pandemic relief funds that masked enrollment dec...
Iowa’s growing reliance on federal funding exposes the state to fiscal risk, policy mandates, and uncertainty driven by Washington, D.C. The Iowa Fiscal Independence Act would improve transparency, disclosure, and legislative oversight of federal funds to help lawmakers and taxpayers understand and manage those risks. By taking proactive steps toward fiscal independence, Iowa can strengthen state ...
Iowa lawmakers have an opportunity to strengthen long-term taxpayer protections by advancing constitutional amendments that require a two-thirds legislative vote to raise income taxes and permanently protect the state’s flat tax. Supermajority requirements and flat-tax protections are widely supported by voters, common in other states, and serve as effective checks on unchecked spending and future...
Iowa currently lacks a clear process to prevent a state government shutdown if a budget is not passed on time, creating uncertainty for taxpayers and essential services. A budget-continuation, or “no shutdown,” rule would ensure government operations continue by temporarily extending the prior year’s budget during impasses or emergencies. Adopting such a rule would promote stability, limit politic...
Conservative budgeting is the foundation of fiscal conservatism and the key to sustaining Iowa’s tax reforms. Spending growth has accelerated in recent budgets, even as economic uncertainty and revenue pressures increase. As lawmakers craft the FY 2027 budget, spending discipline will be essential to protecting Iowa’s fiscal stability and future tax relief. As economist Art Laffer has observed, “g...
Property tax reform is shaping up to be the defining issue of Iowa’s upcoming legislative session, with bipartisan attention and growing public pressure. Rising property taxes are driven by unchecked local government spending, not by isolated flaws in the tax system. A firm 2% cap on property tax growth is essential to delivering real, lasting relief, and must be central to any serious reform effo...
Iowa has transformed its income tax system from one of the nation’s worst to a flat 3.8% rate, cutting the top rate by nearly 60% and dramatically improving the state’s tax competitiveness. This reform was made possible by conservative budgeting and spending discipline, which allowed Iowa to lower rates responsibly while maintaining strong reserves and fiscal stability. As other states continue t...
Rising property taxes are straining Iowa households and undermining affordability, highlighting the need for reform that protects both taxpayers’ budgets and their fundamental property rights. Property rights are a core American principle, rooted in the Founding era and affirmed by thinkers like James Otis and Barry Goldwater, who warned that excessive taxation erodes individual freedom as much as...
Student enrollment declined in 2025: Iowa’s K–12 enrollment in public, charter, and private schools fell by about 1 percent in 2025, driven primarily by a 1.5 percent drop—more than 7,000 students—in public school enrollment. Public school trends drive overall enrollment, not private school growth: While private school enrollment increased modestly in 2025, those gains account for only about one-t...
Theodore Christianson argued that unchecked government spending inevitably fuels higher taxes, bureaucracy, and reduced economic freedom, warning that government growth tends to feed on itself regardless of good intentions. He believed meaningful fiscal restraint required structural “brakes,” not rhetoric, including consolidated agencies, strict budget oversight, friction between spenders and budg...
The ”joy riding” of government spending continues. Whether it is the $38 trillion national debt or the 108 percent increase in Iowa property tax collections over the past 20 years. Christianson understood the cause, government spending, and without limiting spending the situation would only deteriorate.