April 16, 2026

New Graduation Rates Are a Starting Point, Not the Final Answer

Graduation rates are a useful, but incomplete, measure: They show whether students are finishing school and provide public accountability, but they don’t fully capture academic readiness or learning outcomes. Iowa results are mixed: From 2024–2025, graduation rates rose slightly statewide (+0.5%) with more districts increasing than decreasing, but over five years, rates declined overall (-1.4%). Context matters when interpreting changes: Large swings, especially in smaller districts, can reflect small student count changes, and gaps between graduation rates and academic performance may warrant closer scrutiny.

ITR Foundation Education
March 2, 2026

Praised by Insiders, Sued by Citizens

Award-winning revitalization faces legal challenge. Even as Jefferson earns praise for downtown redevelopment, it is defending a lawsuit alleging it improperly moved about $800,000 from its water utility fund to economic development accounts. The dispute centers on process and safeguards. Plaintiffs argue the city failed to prove a lawful surplus, skipped required budget steps, and did not establish repayment — raising concerns about redirecting restricted utility funds. The broader issue is trust and fiscal discipline. Good government is not just visible results; it requires strict adherence to law and protection of core services to maintain public confidence.

ITR Foundation Taxes, Spending, & Budget
February 26, 2026

Iowa Roots and Limited Government Principles Shine at President’s Day Event

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 emphasis on civil society and local action over centralized federal control. The event underscores ITR Foundation’s broader mission to educate beyond the Capitol, connecting history, first principles, and public policy while engaging authentically with communities across Iowa.

ITR Foundation Taxes, Spending, & Budget
February 25, 2026

Lawmakers Move CON Reform Past Key Legislative Deadline

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. Reform would expand access and reduce costs, especially in rural Iowa. By loosening regulatory barriers and encouraging competition, lawmakers can help providers respond more quickly to the demand for health care services while promoting affordability and innovation.

ITR Foundation Governance
February 20, 2026

Iowa’s Welfare System Is Broken—and Now There’s a Path to Fix It

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 enforcing work requirements, tightening eligibility, limiting loopholes, and restoring accountability. To better understand the scope and trajectory of Iowa’s welfare system, ITR Foundation commissioned a comprehensive report outlining both the challenges and the path forward. This article offers the highlights of that analysis.  For readers seeking a deeper dive,  the full report is accessible in the links above.

ITR Foundation Taxes, Spending, & Budget
February 19, 2026

Low-Turnout Election, Long-Term Taxes: What’s at Stake on March 3

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 redirect sales tax revenue from property tax relief to infrastructure projects. With historically low turnout in March special elections, a small percentage of voters may determine tax policy in their communities for years to come.

ITR Foundation Education
February 18, 2026

KCCI Investigates: What to consider as local government plans FY 2027 budgets

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 whatever.” She says you want to talk to your elected officials. Iowans for Tax Relief offered points for school district taxpayers to consider at this point in the budgeting process. While some districts say they are going to make program or job cuts, Curry says there’s usually more than one way to address facing a smaller budget. Then there are trends for taxpayers to think over, such as Iowa’s declining birthrate. “Schools are funded on a per-student basis,” Curry says. “So when you have less kids, you get less money.”

ITR Foundation Education
February 10, 2026

Did Jefferson Raid Its Water Fund? Lawsuit Puts City Finances Under Scrutiny

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 procedures. The case raises broader concerns about transparency and taxpayer trust, highlighting the risks of diverting funds and the potential for residents to pay twice through higher future rates or taxes.

ITR Foundation Taxes, Spending, & Budget
February 9, 2026

ITR Foundation Brings the Property Tax Conversation Directly to Iowans

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 growth in local government spending rather than assessments alone. Meaningful property tax relief requires spending discipline, including reasonable caps on revenue growth, to complement Iowa’s recent income tax reforms and ensure taxpayers, homeowners, farmers, and small businesses are not squeezed by unchecked local spending.

ITR Foundation Taxes, Spending, & Budget
February 5, 2026

Iowa Moves to Restore Health Care Competition

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 review is required for health care investments. While the proposals stop short of full repeal, they move Iowa in the right direction, reducing regulatory bottlenecks and signaling a shift toward a health care system driven by patient needs rather than gatekeeping.

ITR Foundation Taxes, Spending, & Budget
January 27, 2026

Session Preview: Regulatory Reform

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 spending or tax decisions. REINS-style reforms emphasize legislative oversight, transparency, and separation of powers, seeking to restore lawmaking authority to the legislature while ensuring agencies implement the law as written, not expand it through regulation.

ITR Foundation Governance
January 22, 2026

Three Plans, One Goal as Legislation is Introduced

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, changes to assessment practices, shifts in school funding, limits on TIF, and varying mixes of exemptions, freezes, and tax base adjustments. The House proposal stands out by prioritizing transparency and structural restraint, improving property tax disclosure statements and avoiding targeted exemptions or freezes for specific groups, reflecting a broader debate over how to provide relief while minimizing unintended consequences.

ITR Foundation Taxes, Spending, & Budget
January 20, 2026

7 things to know about the Chicago Bears stadium debate

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 relocation fight. The Bears are seeking massive infrastructure support and tax breaks, and Chicago’s high sales, labor, and commercial property taxes put it at a disadvantage compared to nearby states — illustrating how public policy decisions can influence where teams, businesses, and families choose to locate. Stadium subsidies often gamble public dollars on uncertain returns. Promises of economic growth and revitalization frequently fail to materialize, leaving taxpayers responsible for long-term debt, lost revenue, and ongoing maintenance while teams retain mobility and leverage — a pattern on full display in Chicago’s stadium saga.

ITR Foundation Taxes, Spending, & Budget
January 20, 2026

Affordability Is a Real Problem, But Price Controls Aren’t the Solution

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. Proposals like the Credit Card Competition Act rely on government intervention and controls and mandates, risking unintended consequences that undermine consumer choice, market efficiency, and financial innovation. Price controls on credit card interchange fees would likely do more harm than good. Interchange fees support fraud protection, payment security, and access to credit; government efforts to cap or regulate them exceed the proper role of government and could ultimately raise costs or reduce benefits for consumers.

ITR Foundation Governance
January 13, 2026

Session Preview: Fiscal Independence Act

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 sovereignty, protect taxpayers, and reduce vulnerability to federal budget disruptions. Iowa’s finances are increasingly shaped by decisions made in Washington, not Des Moines. As federal funding grows more uncertain, the cost (and risk) of that dependence becomes harder for taxpayers to ignore.

ITR Foundation Taxes, Spending, & Budget
January 13, 2026

Session Preview: Constitutional Amendments

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 tax increases. Enshrining these safeguards in the Iowa Constitution would preserve recent tax reforms, promote economic growth, and provide taxpayers with lasting confidence that Iowa’s tax system will remain fair, simple, and competitive.

ITR Foundation Taxes, Spending, & Budget
January 10, 2026

Session Preview: Conservative Budgeting

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, “government spending is taxation, pure and simple.” For that reason, the starting point for any sound tax policy discussion must be spending restraint. The state budget is the foundational product of each legislative session, shaping other policy debates and determining whether past tax reforms can be sustained.

ITR Foundation Taxes, Spending, & Budget
January 9, 2026

Session Preview: Property Taxes

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 effort. As Iowa lawmakers return to the Capitol, one issue has emerged as the defining policy debate of the upcoming legislative session: property taxes. 

ITR Foundation Taxes, Spending, & Budget
November 7, 2025

KCCI: Property tax reform looms after split Iowa school bond results

“Property taxes are an issue. And I think voters are being more picky,” said Sarah Curry with Iowans for Tax Relief, a group that advocates for lower taxes.

Curry says that while some metro voters were willing to accept higher taxes to fund new schools, many Iowans elsewhere were not.

“When we look statewide, there were actually 25 bonds that passed and 33 failed. Knoxville, Panorama, I-35 — all of those measures failed,” Curry said.

ITR Foundation Media
July 15, 2024

Iowans Seek Protection From Property Taxes and Income Taxes; Grapple with Inflation

The most recent Iowans for Tax Relief Foundation Poll, conducted by Cygnal, shows a majority of Iowans want protections from property taxes and income taxes, while also demonstrating that Donald Trump has widened his lead over Joe Biden as November’s election nears. Almost 70 percent (69.6%) of those surveyed want the State Legislature to limit the growth of property taxes […]

ITR Foundation Taxes, Spending, & Budget
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Let’s be honest, big government is big bureaucracy, and common sense tells us big bureaucracy is ineffective. That’s why ITR Foundation works to:

  • Research principled solutions
  • Educate Iowans about our solutions
  • Activate Iowans in support of our solutions

By applying the principles of limited government, free enterprise, and the rule of law to public policy, we can ensure all Iowans will have the opportunity to succeed.

ITR Foundation set the policy groundwork for many recent taxpayer victories in Iowa:

  • Increased property tax transparency and spending restraint
  • A 3.8% flat individual income tax rate
  • Elimination of income taxes on retirement income
  • Elimination of inheritance tax
  • Creating a path to reduce corporate income tax to 5.5%
  • Phasing-out special tax incentives in the corporate tax code
  • Banning local universal basic income programs