On Tuesday, November 3, 2026, Iowa voters will have the opportunity to place a permanent taxpayer protection into the state constitution.
The proposed amendment, which would make it harder for politicians to raise your taxes, has already been approved twice by the Iowa Legislature. Now, the question will be decided by Iowa voters at the ballot box.
Voters will be asked to approve this amendment to the Iowa Constitution:
Any bill to increase the individual income tax rate or the corporate income tax rate, or the rate of any other type of tax based upon income or legal and special reserves, shall require the affirmative votes of at least two-thirds of the members elected to each house of the legislature for passage. Further, the two-thirds majority vote requirement applies to the passage of a bill to establish a new tax on any type of income or legal and special reserves imposed by the state. The requirement excludes taxes imposed at the option of a local government. A lawsuit challenging the proper enactment of a bill under this section must be filed no later than one year following the enactment.
Put simply, the amendment would require a two-thirds vote of both chambers of the Iowa Legislature before any increase to the state income tax could become law.
Requiring a supermajority vote to increase taxes is not a new idea. At least 16 states currently have some form of supermajority requirement in either their constitution or state law. These states are politically diverse. Progressive states such as California and Oregon have supermajority requirements, as do swing states such as Arizona and Wisconsin, and more conservative states such as Mississippi and Oklahoma. Arkansas has the nation's longest-standing supermajority requirement, having adopted it in 1934.
According to polling conducted in June 2026, nearly 74% of Iowa voters support this protection. That includes 72% of independent voters and 60% of Democrat voters, indicating broad bipartisan support.
Similar levels of support were also recorded in polling conducted in 2025, 2024, and 2023.
For more than 40 years, Iowa had one of the highest individual income tax rates in the country. In 1975, the state's top rate increased to 13%. As recently as 2018, when Iowa's top rate was 8.98%, only four states imposed higher individual income tax rates.
Beginning in 2019, Iowa enacted four rounds of income tax reductions. Since 2025, all Iowans have paid a single flat income tax rate of 3.8%.
If approved by voters, this protection would be effective immediately, heading into a 2027 legislative session with a new governor in office and new legislators serving in the Iowa House and Senate.
Amending the Iowa Constitution requires the exact same proposal to be approved by two separately elected General Assemblies before being submitted to voters for ratification. A simple majority of voters must then approve the amendment in a statewide election.
During the final weekend of the 2026 legislative session, the Iowa House approved the proposal for a second time, placing it on the November 3, 2026, general election ballot.
If approved, this amendment would mean tax hikes remain a last resort, rather than an easy way for politicians to fund their spending increases. After so many years of heavy tax burdens, Iowa has finally built a tax code that is simpler and fairer. Now, families and businesses are able to keep more of their own money that they worked so hard to earn.
While this amendment would put the taxpayer’s interests ahead of government, it would not mean that the legislature could never raise the income tax. It would, however, require politicians to build a broad coalition of support within Iowa’s House and Senate before handing higher tax bills to Iowans.
This November, Iowa taxpayers are on the ballot.
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