ITR Foundation continues to engage directly with Iowans across the state, participating in a Central Iowa President’s Day event where Policy Director John Hendrickson reflected on the life and principles of native Iowan President Herbert Hoover. Hoover’s Iowa roots shaped his lifelong belief in self-reliance and limited government, from his humanitarian leadership during World War I to his emphasi...
Iowa’s Certificate of Need (CON) laws restrict when providers can build, expand, or add services, requiring state approval for major projects and expenditures. The process protects incumbent providers from competition. Recent proposals would significantly narrow CON requirements. Senator Kara Warme’s broad reform bill cleared the first legislative funnel by being passed out of Committee last week....
Iowa currently lacks a formal budget-continuation policy, meaning that if lawmakers fail to pass a General Fund budget by July 1, funding for many programs could technically lapse — creating uncertainty and potential separation-of-powers concerns. Senate File 2388, a proposed “no-shutdown rule,” would allow existing appropriations to automatically continue (excluding one-time spending) if a new bu...
Stronger Legislative Oversight: Major regulations would require public transparency, detailed economic analysis, and approval by the Legislature before taking effect — ensuring elected lawmakers have final authority over costly rules. Independent Judicial Review: Courts would apply de novo review to major rules, meaning judges interpret the law independently rather than deferring to agency interpr...
George Washington was the indispensable leader of the American founding, held the new Republic together—from commanding the Continental Army, to presiding over the Constitutional Convention, to serving as the nation’s first President and peacefully relinquishing power. His moral authority was essential to the Constitution’s adoption and early stability, as he quelled internal unrest, navigated fie...
The need for more qualified workers is a bipartisan issue in Iowa. Regardless of a rural or urban setting, workforce is still a concern for many employers and communities. State policymakers have been responsive to this concern, and they have actively been easing regulatory burdens in recent years. This includes reducing barriers to employment and ensuring that unnecessary roadblocks do not deter ...
Medicaid has become Iowa’s largest welfare program, enrolling nearly one in five residents and consuming about one-quarter of the state budget, with rapid growth since the 2014 expansion. Rising welfare costs are straining taxpayers and crowding out core priorities, while contributing to workforce challenges and long-term dependency. Federal reforms create an opportunity for Iowa to lead, by enfor...
Key takeaways: Download a PDF of the full report. Iowa’s welfare system is at a crossroads. What were once temporary safety-net programs designed to protect the truly vulnerable have steadily expanded into sprawling systems that now touch nearly every corner of state government—and consume an ever-growing share of taxpayer resources. Nowhere is this more evident than in Medicaid and food […...
On March 3, 2026, voters in 12 Iowa school districts will decide public measures affecting property taxes and long-term school spending, including nine PPEL increases or renewals and three Revenue Purpose Statements (RPS). If approved, these measures could represent more than $150 million in potential property tax collections over the next decade, while RPS proposals would allow districts to redir...
Sarah Curry of Iowans for Tax Relief Foundation says this is the time to voice your opinions to elected leaders. "April is when we have public hearings," Curry says. "Waiting until April is almost too late because they've done all of this legwork and they've gotten up to that point for taxpayers to then come in and say, 'That's too much,' or 'We're spending too much,' 'The tax rate's too high' or ...
Rising spending is driving rising property taxes. Lawmakers across the country are increasingly acknowledging that escalating local government spending — whether in schools, cities, or counties — is the root cause of higher property tax burdens. “Buying down” property taxes with state dollars has failed. Efforts in states like Vermont, Iowa, and Nebraska to offset property taxes with general fund ...
What is often labeled “de-banking” is largely the result of an outdated and rigid federal regulatory framework rooted in the 1970s Bank Secrecy Act that incentivizes banks to over-comply to avoid severe penalties. Political signaling by regulators, combined with strict confidentiality rules around Suspicious Activity Reports, leaves banks cautious and opaque, fueling public frustration and percept...
School boards control spending and every budget involves choices. While administrators draft proposals, boards hold the legal responsibility to set priorities. Claims that “we have no choice” should be questioned, because budgeting always involves tradeoffs in programs, staffing, compensation, benefits, and district structure. Spending decisions should be evaluated through a per-pupil and outcomes...
The Iowa landscape in winter is frozen, still, and largely dormant. The Iowa Legislature, on the other hand, is anything but once it convenes each January. This year is no exception. Within the first two weeks of the 2026 session, lawmakers introduced three major property tax reform bills—an early burst of activity we believe signals meaningful opportunities for taxpayer wins in the months ahead.
Abraham Lincoln’s legacy is most often framed around the Civil War and slavery, but his economic philosophy—particularly his support for protectionism and economic nationalism—is frequently overlooked. Influenced by the Whig and Federalist traditions and leaders like Henry Clay, Lincoln championed the American System, which emphasized protective tariffs, a national bank, and internal improvements ...
A lawsuit challenges Jefferson’s use of taxpayer dollars after the city transferred $800,000 from its Water Plant Construction Fund into economic development and TIF-related accounts. Plaintiffs argue the transfer violated Iowa law and public process, claiming the city neither demonstrated a lawful surplus nor created a binding repayment obligation, and failed to follow required budget amendment p...
ITR Foundation is taking the property tax conversation directly to Iowans, engaging grassroots audiences alongside elected officials and candidates to address the real-world impact of rising property taxes. The data show a clear problem: Iowa property taxes have grown by more than 100 percent over the past two decades, far outpacing population growth and inflation, driven primarily by sustained gr...
Tax reform without structural limits is temporary, as spending pressures and special interests will eventually overwhelm even well-designed tax cuts unless constitutional guardrails are put in place. Two key constitutional protections—a supermajority requirement for tax increases and protection of the flat tax—work together to restrain spending, reduce special-interest influence, and preserve econ...
Tax debates are fundamentally imbalanced, treating government spending as virtuous while portraying taxpayers as selfish for wanting to keep more of what they earn. Spending pressures, not taxpayer capacity, drive tax increases, with policymakers and special interests too often defaulting to higher taxes rather than spending restraint. Tax reform alone is insufficient without structural limits, as...
The Iowa legislature is currently considering three major property tax reform measures. Each of the proposed measures contains a provision that would cap the growth of property taxes at or around 2%. In response, local governments are sounding the alarm that placing a 2% property tax cap would endanger vital services such as police and fire. This argument is nothing new, and the familiar chorus h...
Iowa’s Certificate of Need law has failed its original purpose, acting as a barrier to access, competition, and innovation by allowing existing providers to block new services and facilities—often to the detriment of patients. Two Senate bills this session represent the most meaningful CON reform in years, easing restrictions on mental health facility expansion and sharply narrowing when CON revie...
All three property tax reform plans share a core idea: a 2% annual cap on property tax revenue growth for cities and counties, aimed at slowing rising property tax bills for Iowa homeowners. Local government critics claim a 2% cap is unworkable, arguing it would undermine public safety, infrastructure, and basic services, but those claims ignore what’s already happening on the ground. Dozens of Io...
Tax revolts are a recurring feature of American history, from the founding era through Proposition 13 in the 1970s, and the Tea Party movement, each reshaping tax policy and political priorities in its time. Today, property taxes are again reaching a breaking point, with taxpayers nationwide demanding relief and states pursuing widely different strategies—from caps and assessment limits to outrigh...
Governor Reynolds has proposed a $9.6 billion FY27 budget that modestly increases spending while education and health services, driven primarily by K-12 funding and Medicaid, continue to dominate state expenditures, consuming roughly 84 percent of the General Fund. Although Iowa is projecting a $1.2 billion revenue shortfall due to the fully phased-in 3.8 percent flat tax, this reflects a planned ...