ITR Live: Iowa Politics and Conservative Policy

Chris, John and John are back to discuss two new bills running through legislature that could provide meaningful new protections for Iowa taxpayers. SSB1207 and HSB232 are identical bills that each contain two new proposed Iowa constitutional amendments. The first proposal is a requirement for a 2/3rds vote of the legislature for any new income tax increase. The second proposal would constitutiona...

A recent article in the Washington Post laments Iowa's recent shift to the right politically, and claims that Iowa is now the "Florida of the North." The ITR Live Crew of uneducated hillbillies from flyover country discuss whether or not that is the insult it was intended to be. John walks through numbers from the recent Revenue Estimating Conference, and how the stage is set for eve...

ITR Live is back with a roundup of this week in Iowa politics, including a review of Tuesday's elections, with ballot measures that failed in Urbandale and Bettendorf. Specifically, we take a look at how ITR information made a difference in the Urbandale election and what happens when voters are given clear information about what these proposals mean to individual property tax bills.   The Io...

Today is the annual celebration of ITR Live's own John Hendrickson.  We celebrate today with special election coverage, with over half of Iowans voting on bond referenda and other ballot measures.  All or part of thirty-five Iowa counties will hold special elections that include bond questions totaling nearly $400 million in potential new spending.  Today's episode also has special...

ITR Live has a special guest today: John Mozena from the Center for Economic Accountability. Governments at all levels around the country give out stunning amount of tax credits and incentives in the name of economic development. Even though Iowa has a strong record of tax reform in recent years, our great state is not immune from these handouts.  Do these incentives really matter, and are th...

Recently, Governor Reynolds signed into law the fix to the calculation of residential rollback. During the debate over this bill, several local governments and legislators claimed that this technical fix would cause all sorts of budgets cuts, including police and fire protection.   Now we know the rest of the story. Kudos to the Des Moines Register (yes, really), for digging into the aftermat...

Chris and John have a recap of the annual ITR/NFIB annual Tax and Small Business Luncheon held this week in Des Moines. Speakers at the event were Rep. Bobby Kaufmann, House Ways and Means Chairman, Kraig Paulsen, Direction of the Iowa Departments of Revenue and Management, and Sen. Jack Whitver, Senate Majority Leader.   All three of these speaker had terrific insights on what is happening w...

Alan Ostergren from the Kirkwood Institute is back on ITR Live. Kirkwood Institute has joined forces with Pacific Legal Foundation to challenge Iowa's Certificate of Need law on behalf of midwives.  Under Iowa's current CON laws, hospitals hold veto power over new birth centers, and prevents midwives like those in this lawsuit from offering Iowa’s expectant mothers a safe alternative to exist...

Iowa's most inconsistently-scheduled conservative podcast is back with a roundup of what's going on in Iowa this week. The legislature has passed a fix for the residential property tax rollback calculation.  Several communities across Iowa have local ballot measures coming up on March 7th. ITR Foundation has details of major bond referendums in Iowa. John also has information on which compani...

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds made an appearance at the Cato Institute and ITR Live is back with several thoughts about the Governor's performance. Iowa has a long list of significant conservative reforms over the recent past, and Governor Reynolds does a fantastic job of showcasing those victories to the nation.  As the 2023 legislative session moves forward, attention will soon turn to the sta...

Who is the most loyal listener of the ITR Live podcast?  John knows who, and has a special message for this best friend of the show.   We continue a series of conversations about property tax reforms and local government in Iowa. Did you know that there are over 30 different unique levies that cities in Iowa can assess?  Sarah Curry is on the the podcast today to help explain how to...

When it comes to property taxes in Iowa, who is on the side of the local taxpayer? Senate Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dan Dawson answers that question with a few choice words from the floor of the Iowa Senate about the work of local government and their taxpayer-funded lobbyists on a bill that would protect individual Iowans from over-taxation.   But this wasn't Senator Dawson's best wo...

This exciting, fun-filled, action-packed episode of ITR Live is an in-depth look at an Iowa Senate subcommittee this week on property tax the rollback calculation for residential properties. While the bill itself would save residential homeowners on their individual property bill for next year, we go deeper to examine the forces at play inside the Capitol. With an army of lobbyists, local elected...

Chris and John are back in this episode of ITR Live to discuss Kim Reynolds vs. Randi Weingarten and Franklin Roosevelt vs. Alf Landon in the 1936 Presidential Election. Is raw data enough to make decisions about modern public policy, or should we lean on history as well? You can read John's full review of the book ""Roosevelt Sweeps Nation: FDR’s 1936 Landslide and the Triumph of the Liberal Idea...

Good news: The school choice movement in Iowa just saw the culmination of ten years worth of work on Educational Savings Accounts. On Tuesday, Governor Kim Reynolds signed HF 58 into law, which establishes universal ESAs in Iowa. After the bill signing ceremony in the Capitol rotunda, Chris Hagenow is back behind the microphone with a recap of the event.   Bad News: Legendary conservative com...

ITR Live begins this episode on location in Davos Switzerland for John's appearance at the World Economic Forum.  Not only do we kick things off with a special musical treat, but John's message for the globalist neo-liberal glitterati is sure to entertain as well.   Once again, we are faced with another sky-is-falling bit of drama with the looming federal debt ceiling.  Chris Ingsta...

Some Iowans rush to buy groceries before a major winter storm, while  Chris and John instead take to the microphones to discuss regulatory  reform.  Why does reducing government regulation really matter?  Was is  the impact on freedom and opportunity of a burdensome regulatory  climate?  Chris cracks open a cold Dr. Pepper Zero while John provides  some answ...

Iowa's property tax system is not only expensive, it is incredibly complicated as well. Assessments, millage rates, equalization, rollbacks, and the ag-tie - what does it all mean? Chris, John and Sarah are here to help makes some sense out of how we calculate property taxes in Iowa.  More importantly, how does this inform the conversation about how to reform Iowa property taxes? Should the s...

Chris and John are back to take a look at where conservatives are winning. In Washington DC the jury is still out on the deal struck between the freedom caucus holdouts and new House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.  Is simply defunding the new IRS agents enough to satisfy? In Iowa, conservatives have racked up win after win, and there is almost certainly more to come. What's in store for this legisla...

After a holiday break, it's a new year and ITR Live is back to work.  Unfortunately, Congress is struggling to to do anything at all. Chris, John and Victoria bring their red-hot takes on Kevin McCarthy and the elusive Speaker's gavel. Thankfully, it doesn't work like this in Iowa. The 90th Iowa General Assembly convenes on Monday and lawmakers are ready to hit the ground running. What is the...

With a healthy state budget, lower income and corporate tax rates, the elimination of retirement income tax, and the legislature eyeing property tax reform, 2023 should be a great year for taxpayers.  As big a year as 2023 will be for Iowa taxpayers, it should only be the start of a groundbreaking decade!  John Hendrickson has details on all of the tax changes that will be going into eff...

No stockings have been hung over the fireplace, but this episode is the ITR Live attempt to get ready for Christmas. This episode brings a gift for Iowa policymakers: the new ITR Foundation Property Tax Toolkit .  This report has a history of property taxes in the state of Iowa has a series of policy ideas to reform Iowa's overall property tax system.   You can read the full ITR Foundati...

On this episode of ITR Live we discuss the recent forecast of the State Revenue Estimating Conference (REC).  The REC projects that the state will continue to collect far more in tax revenue that is needed for the state budget.  The REC estimate also reveals that the 2023 income tax cut is having less of an impact on state revenue collections than originally expected.  The most rece...

This fun-filled, action-packed episode of ITR Live is a free-wheeling trip that begins with current conflicts in European monarchies, travels to the end of an election contest in Davenport, Iowa and finishes with the battle between President Biden and Santa Claus.

The Democratic National Committee recent set its 2024 calendar for their presidential nominating process.  The DNC removed Iowa from the early part of the schedule, and putting Iowa's first-in-the-nation status in peril.  ITR Live takes a look at the recent history of the Iowa caucuses and what led to this decision.  Will this make the overall process of electing our President bette...