This Is The Point
Recently, the Iowa House and Senate passed a bill, soon after signed by the governor, to reform Iowa’s income tax laws. They noted that Iowa’s budget surplus was so big, it was only right to return those tax dollars to Iowans. And for what they’re worth, polls support the move.
Last week, the March numbers from the Revenue Estimating Conference came in; these are the numbers projecting Iowa’s income over the next months and years, to help state officials in budgeting.
Sure enough, the numbers show strong revenue for the next fiscal year. After 2023, the revenue numbers drop. Those are the facts.
But some on the left, including some in the media with an agenda, said the reduction in revenue was horrible because it showed that the state could not afford these tax cuts and they should not be allowed to go into effect.
First, the cuts have trigger points so that if revenues fall below a certain level, corporate tax cuts don’t kick in.
But more importantly, those screaming because the revenue sky is falling missed the entire point…this is exactly, and I mean almost to the penny, what was supposed to happen.
We had too much of a budget surplus…so the state cut the amount of tax dollars paid by citizens. By definition, that means less revenue. So not only does a drop in revenue not show that the cuts were a bad idea, it showed exactly what was intended by putting the cuts into effect.
Some are so conditioned to having government be in control that they can’t conceive of independent, free thinking citizens handling their own money. They saw less revenue as the sky falling.
Instead, the reality is that government will not be needlessly expanding because of too much revenue. Instead, we the people can keep more of our money and decide what to do with it. Clearly a foreign concept for some who overreacted last week.
